TeaChat

Today I brewed the last of a sample of Balhyocha Noeul from o5 Tea. Brewed according to their instructions it's very light compared to yancha. Very enjoyable, and probably won't keep me up tonight. Tomorrow I'm going to try the Balhyocha Saebyok. I have enough to brew it more intensely to get a sense of the difference brewing style makes. I'm thinking of buying full packages of these teas as they're still in stock.

Does anyone have another vendor of Balhyocha to recommend?

Good green tea offers some. Balhyocha is a bit odd, as it really is a giant category of Korean tea, basically balhyocha is any non green Korean tea. So when something is just called balhyocha you might not exactly know what you are getting. You can have balhyocha that is similar to a chinese hong cha, you can have balhyocha that is similar to an oolong, or even a yellow tea.

Balhyocha often is sometimes given other names sometimes it is even called a black tea, or an oolong tea, or given the name hwang cha ( Chinese for yellow tea if my understanding is correct), I have not experimented enough to know if these are well defined sub styles, or just different people giving different naming conventions to the same style of tea.

Phoenix Teashop in the Pacific northwest I think still offers a tea called "Dan Cha" a hong cha style balhyocha, and as I know who their supplier is, they may soon start carrying another Balhyocha, as their supplier recently started offering it.

Sometimes I must laugh at myself & just enjoy the tea. What oolong am I drinking now? I don't know.
After starting to imagine that I could thrive on the pleasure derived from tea at its best, I find a couple of teaspoons of oolong in an unmarked foil packet...
It is very good, & I don't know when, where, or how I got it.
So much for this amateur matching pots w/ teas etc. I will still try to get it right, but I hope humbly & w/ humor & w/o worry.
How good to have such a good, mysterious oolong on a cold, snowy night!

AdamMY wrote:Good green tea offers some. Balhyocha is a bit odd, as it really is a giant category of Korean tea, basically balhyocha is any non green Korean tea. So when something is just called balhyocha you might not exactly know what you are getting. You can have balhyocha that is similar to a chinese hong cha, you can have balhyocha that is similar to an oolong, or even a yellow tea.

Balhyocha often is sometimes given other names sometimes it is even called a black tea, or an oolong tea, or given the name hwang cha ( Chinese for yellow tea if my understanding is correct), I have not experimented enough to know if these are well defined sub styles, or just different people giving different naming conventions to the same style of tea.

Phoenix Teashop in the Pacific northwest I think still offers a tea called "Dan Cha" a hong cha style balhyocha, and as I know who their supplier is, they may soon start carrying another Balhyocha, as their supplier recently started offering it.

Balhyocha should also be aged from a few months to a few years. This is another element that will vary greatly between producers. I have drunk many of these teas and can't remember any two being similar except certain flavors. I would reach into my pocket for any good balhyocha over a Korean green tea. I know this would probably go against many Korean tea drinkers opinions.

Tead Off wrote:I would reach into my pocket for any good balhyocha over a Korean green tea. I know this would probably go against many Korean tea drinkers opinions.

I can definitely agree with that whole heartedly! I have had some (to me ) very great Korean Green Teas, but when you have a very enjoyable Balhyocha it just seems in a whole different category.

12 Elegant Beauty Dancong from DTH

Peaches in heavy syrup...though with minimal sweetness. Good contrasting minerality makes it interesting. No floral notes which is nice for a change. Mouthfeel is above average. Enjoyable tea overall.

2011 Tie Luo Han from MTR . I love a good TLH. The there is plenty of herbal, cacao goodness . At times it even had a taste that I only have gotten from Puerh in its transition to becoming mellow. a very nice calming qi was noticable by the second sip, though not much caffeine. This is a perfect Yancha for being snowed in.

ZeDa oolong Tea from Good Green Tea. A Korean Balhyocha which it calls an Oolong tea. Brewing Grandpa style in my Seong Il Teabowl.

Inspired by another topic, found some winter 2011 Ali Shan oolong from Norbu and am enjoying it now.

Autumn Handmade Dong Ding Oolong - master grade 2011

a 10g free inclusion in my 1st order from five star tea, apparently selected by their teamaster

v pleasant, nice long finish, id like more of this guy's picks

59-hour HK roasted TGY from my larger zini oolong pot in a large, flared Jingdezhen cup. I've resolved my oolong storage issues by purchasing some Italian-made swingtop jars that seal up nice and airtight.

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/fido-jars ... ids/f33489

Mine have the blue tops and they are just the right size for 150g at a time. I keep them under the coffee (now tea) table for easy access.

I'm at around infusion seven. Recovering from pretty severe food poisoning and the TGY definitely has me feeling better, especially after a relatively tea-free weekend in the former Portuguese colony of Macau. Life without good tea is nowhere near as much fun!

Jing Tea Shop Xiao Hong Pao.

Still not hitting the spot. Hoped it would as I have really been craving a roasted tea.

AdamMY wrote:Jing Tea Shop Xiao Hong Pao.

Still not hitting the spot. Hoped it would as I have really been craving a roasted tea.

Xiao Hong Pao's always seem to be a little thin to me as far as Yan Cha is concerned. Xiao Hong Pao, Qi Lan, or Huang Guan Yin have never really satisfied the way a good version of Shui Xian, Tie Luo Han, Rou Gui, or even Bai Ji Guan does in my opinion. Which Yan Cha is your favorite?

puerhking wrote:12 Elegant Beauty Dancong from DTH

Peaches in heavy syrup...though with minimal sweetness. Good contrasting minerality makes it interesting. No floral notes which is nice for a change. Mouthfeel is above average. Enjoyable tea overall.

How do you find the DTH Phoenix teas Puerking? How do they hold up to other vendor's in term of quality in regards to the price? I'm asking because I haven't had the opportunity to try many Phoenix teas yet.

I got myself some snow orchid phoenix oolong about a year ago from DTH, my first venture into phoenix teas. I found the tea pleasant but a little harsh at places (when overbrewed) that accentuated the roast flavour in the first couple of infusions that I was not too fond of.

However had an urge to drink this tea the other day and brewed it up in 100 ml gaiwan. Had a mighty fine session. Mouthfeel, kuwei, huigan, all very good. Like a good raw puerh in terms of energy and mouthfeel, but with a great fruity oolong taste. The tea seemed to have mellowed out perfectly after a year on the shelf, the slightly off roast-flavour had completely dissipated. Really enjoyed the tea. Tried again two days later in a smaller gaiwan, now did not work out that well this time. I think a lot of it down to the fact that the first time I used just the right amount of tea, plus a too small gaiwan can be real finicky.

Having a good chunk of time to get stuff done in my office, I am brewing up a nice session of tea. Found I had a sample of Gui Fei Fragrant Oolong, its not bad, but I have had it for so long I forgot where it came from.