TeaChat

Jay would you like to share your brewing procedure with us?

I'm always open to improve my gongfu skills.

1967 Baozhong OriginTea
10 grams in a 90 ml Gaiwan
http://www.origintea.net/oolong/older-oolongs

From the baozhong tasting initiative.

It has taken me about five days of drinking this to feel qualified to comment. Maybe I am still not qualified, but here it goes.

The leaf was quite small and more Wuyi-like. Very dark colored.
The brew was exceptionally dark and rich hued, apparently unlike the taste of the liquid.
The initial 10 brews left me thinking this was a tea past it's prime. The sourness had faded to a woodsy shadow. But there was a persistent depth that appeared. I would liken it to a nicely aged puerh, when one gets to the final handful of hours long brews.

Four days later and now the taste now almost sits so low as to be experienced in one's gums! It also stretches to the far back upper palate. Even after days and days of abuse, the liquor continues to be remarkable dark and rich in color.

Excellent weather for drinking tea today. I started the morning with some Heritage Beidou 2012 from Red Blossom brewed in a Petr Novak shib. And this afternoon I brewed some Mi Lan Xiang, also from Red Blossom, using Lin Ceramics teaware.

2011 Gong Xiang Dan Cong from Tea Habitat, brightened and polished by Petr's Tree Bark pot. Enchanting stuff.

Math,

Maybe you or the guys here can help me improve mine!

I use boiling or near boiling (97+ degrees C) water to fill and wash over my pot, inside and out, lid and all, and then fill my pitcher or cup, depending on whether or not I'm using a cha hai. I prefer to use my infuser mugs for green oolongs. I pour the water over the inside and outside of my cha hai, and if it's a cup, I wash all the way to the rim. I leave the last vessel filled, and then pour it over the pot in the next step.

Then I fill my pot. You want to use enough tea, but not too much; this is something you need to work out with your brewing vessel and tea. With my high fire stuff I layer. I put enough tea in the pot to cover the very bottom of my shuipings, but just. Then I crush a thin layer of tea over this layer, and cover with a third layer. I adjust the first and last layers to get everything nice and even.

My rinse water isn't quite 100 degrees C most of the time. I fill the pot and let the tea sit for 10-40 seconds depending on my mood. Then I pour it into the next vessel (all over the vessel, inside and out, to get it clean and warmed). I let the tea sit until I feel it has expanded enough, but hasn't lost too much heat, and then I pour on the hot water--as hot as I can get it in my electric kettle. I hold the switch down until the boiling of the water can get no louder. I then pour it into the pot, inside and out, to the very top. I put the lid on, and then pour more water over the pot and into the hole until a little comes out the spot.

I then pour on the hot tea from the cup all over the pot, but not into the hole in the lid. Once the pot is dry, it's time for that first brew! The length of each brew, for me, depends on what I feel the tea needs from experience.

MTR high fire TGY

Reliable.

last of a sample-pack of Dong Ding Oolong

from Teaspring

in China

Yunnanese Bai Yun from Norbu. So good, as always, that I wonder (as always!) why I don't drink it more often. Fruity, sweet, mellow, soothing.

Some TKY - AA Fall 2012, nothing special.

Had a nice semi fermented dong ding brewed in a nice Taiwanese pot on a nice cool morning. The ethereal sweetness in the aroma, flavor and body really makes a nice day nicer.

Teaism wrote:Had a nice semi fermented dong ding brewed in a nice Taiwanese pot on a nice cool morning. The ethereal sweetness in the aroma, flavor and body really makes a nice day nicer.

Teaism,
Sounds like an uplifting moment in time. Is the Dong Ding semi-fermented (lightly aged) or semi-oxidized ( as any wulong) or semi-roasted? I've not encountered too many fermented/aged Dong Ding teas but for one 30 year aged Dong Ding processed in Tie Guan Yin style from a small shop in Taizhong, Taiwan. Out of curiosity, what is the Taiwanese pot, made by whom? I'm always curious to learn any new Taiwanese potters.

Blessings!

茶藝-TeaArt08 wrote:

Teaism wrote:Had a nice semi fermented dong ding brewed in a nice Taiwanese pot on a nice cool morning. The ethereal sweetness in the aroma, flavor and body really makes a nice day nicer.

Teaism,
Sounds like an uplifting moment in time. Is the Dong Ding semi-fermented (lightly aged) or semi-oxidized ( as any wulong) or semi-roasted? I've not encountered too many fermented/aged Dong Ding teas but for one 30 year aged Dong Ding processed in Tie Guan Yin style from a small shop in Taizhong, Taiwan. Out of curiosity, what is the Taiwanese pot, made by whom? I'm always curious to learn any new Taiwanese potters.

Blessings!

Hi
Thanks for your interest.

The pot was done by Shui Ching Chai in 2008. Somehow I like to brew Taiwan tea with Taiwan pots, beside Gaiwan. I have more than 10 of very good Taiwanese pots and plan to go there in December to get some more. I was a big big fan of Taiwanese tea in the 90s and drank them from temmuko bowl done by Jiang Yu Thing. Those days the Taiwan tea was superb... A few tea leaves will fill the room with nice aroma. This one I had is quite close to those 90s Dong Ding. Medium fermented and roasted and aged a little. I am aging some other nice Taiwanese tea too incl Dayuling which I bought from Taiwan when I was there. Hmmm it is always a pleasure when comes to a very good Taiwanese tea.

Testing some Baguashan Gui Fei.

茶藝-TeaArt08 wrote:

Teaism wrote:Had a nice semi fermented dong ding brewed in a nice Taiwanese pot on a nice cool morning. The ethereal sweetness in the aroma, flavor and body really makes a nice day nicer.

Teaism,
Sounds like an uplifting moment in time. Is the Dong Ding semi-fermented (lightly aged) or semi-oxidized ( as any wulong) or semi-roasted? I've not encountered too many fermented/aged Dong Ding teas but for one 30 year aged Dong Ding processed in Tie Guan Yin style from a small shop in Taizhong, Taiwan. Out of curiosity, what is the Taiwanese pot, made by whom? I'm always curious to learn any new Taiwanese potters.

Blessings!

Just for the record, aging and fermentation are not the same thing when it comes to oolong teas. Aging is simply the storing of tea and the prevention of too much oxidation and moisture from rendering it flat. Fermentation is a process using bacteria, heat, & moisture. The bacteria are either introduced into the product or using the existing bacteria inherent in the region in a controlled atmosphere. Oolongs are oxidized to various degrees, not fermented.

Tead Off wrote:

茶藝-TeaArt08 wrote:

Teaism wrote:Had a nice semi fermented dong ding brewed in a nice Taiwanese pot on a nice cool morning. The ethereal sweetness in the aroma, flavor and body really makes a nice day nicer.

Teaism,
Sounds like an uplifting moment in time. Is the Dong Ding semi-fermented (lightly aged) or semi-oxidized ( as any wulong) or semi-roasted? I've not encountered too many fermented/aged Dong Ding teas but for one 30 year aged Dong Ding processed in Tie Guan Yin style from a small shop in Taizhong, Taiwan. Out of curiosity, what is the Taiwanese pot, made by whom? I'm always curious to learn any new Taiwanese potters.

Blessings!

Just for the record, aging and fermentation are not the same thing when it comes to oolong teas. Aging is simply the storing of tea and the prevention of too much oxidation and moisture from rendering it flat. Fermentation is a process using bacteria, heat, & moisture. The bacteria are either introduced into the product or using the existing bacteria inherent in the region in a controlled atmosphere. Oolongs are oxidized to various degrees, not fermented.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge, my friend.