How would you brew a Dan Cong?

by **RussianSoul** » Jul 17th, '08, 17:35

How would you brew a Dan Cong?

by RussianSoul » Jul 17th, '08, 17:35

I have tried Feng Huang Dan Cong from TeaSpring that I got from the wonderful Oolong Box. I must say that I am underwhelmed with it. It is a nice tea, smooth and a little toasty, but nothing fabulous as I expected from its famous name and the well regarded vendor.

Here's how I brewed: YiXing, 4g, 6oz, boiling water, 1m, 1m, 1.5m. Perhaps, it needs to be brewed differently.

How would you brew a Dan Cong?

by **Smells_Familiar** » Jul 17th, '08, 23:44

by Smells_Familiar » Jul 17th, '08, 23:44

I've only brewed dancong's gungfu style, so I don't know how much help I'll be. I'll try anyway. Of course, the amount of leaf, length of infusions, and cut off point will be determined by the tea itself and personal preference. With that said, in a 2 ounce giawan I'll use ~ 5 grams of leaf. 205*F water (basicly just off boil) my infusion times look basicly like 15s, 5, 5, 5, 5, 10, 20, 40, 90, done. A good dancong should last this long, with the last couple infusions becoming slightly more bitter. Hope this helps...

by **Smells_Familiar** » Jul 19th, '08, 12:22

by Smells_Familiar » Jul 19th, '08, 12:22

Alright, alright, not a lota action in this dancong topic. Not much movement in the previous dancong topic either... hmmm.. no love for Dan?

Does anyone gongfu dancong differently than I do????

Does anyone brew dancong western style around these parts????

by **silverneedles** » Jul 19th, '08, 13:21

by silverneedles » Jul 19th, '08, 13:21

i do most teas in 10oz plastic dixie cups :shock:

(~8oz water)
4oz gaiwan when i feel extra special

dan cong 'phoenix oolong' did it cup, gaiwan, & in a yixing
flavor came out the same
just play with the quantity and time if you have enough leaf

i use 180F water on mine, dont know how much leaf

...just throw some in there ...(it'd be interesting to get a scale and see how much leaf i've been using these years... heh)
~2-3min in 8oz water... probably 1-2 min in yixing, longer time on subsequent infusions.

also did it cold & room temp and comes out delicious.

i love dan cong flavor (at least the one i have from Zhong Guo Cha)

by **Smells_Familiar** » Jul 19th, '08, 15:14

by Smells_Familiar » Jul 19th, '08, 15:14

silverneedles wrote:i do most teas in 10oz plastic dixie cups (~8oz water)

you slut! kidding...I'm kidding...

silverneedles wrote:also did it cold & room temp and comes out delicious.

Vvvverry interesting! I'monna have to try this. Thanks for the luscious inspiration!

silverneedles wrote:i love dan cong flavor

and smell!!!....ME TOO!!!!
brothers in arms!

by **Beidao** » Jul 19th, '08, 15:37

by Beidao » Jul 19th, '08, 15:37

I use a gaiwan, water off boil, 15 sec, 15 again, 20, 25. Don't have a scale but I cover the bottom of the gaiwan and add a wee bit more. I like it very much. In fact, it's the only tea I've been drinking at home for more than a week. I have it every day and it's soon gone, all of it

by **silverneedles** » Jul 19th, '08, 15:38

by silverneedles » Jul 19th, '08, 15:38

hehehehe slut,... tho technically i'd be a man wh*re

...should do some cold-brew DC ....mmmm...right about now would be goood

by **RussianSoul** » Jul 19th, '08, 15:51

by RussianSoul » Jul 19th, '08, 15:51

Great! Thanks for the ideas! I am going to gong fu with lots of leaf and very short steeps.

by **Salsero** » Jul 19th, '08, 18:46

by Salsero » Jul 19th, '08, 18:46

Smells_Familiar wrote:I've only brewed dancong's gungfu style, so I don't know how much help I'll be. I'll try anyway. Of course, the amount of leaf, length of infusions, and cut off point will be determined by the tea itself and personal preference. With that said, in a 2 ounce giawan I'll use ~ 5 grams of leaf. 205*F water (basicly just off boil) my infusion times look basicly like 15s, 5, 5, 5, 5, 10, 20, 40, 90, done. A good dancong should last this long, with the last couple infusions becoming slightly more bitter. Hope this helps...

This is pretty much what I do. Typically: 4.0 g in 100 ml gaiwan, off boil: no rinse, infusions: 20 s, 25 s, 30, 35 s, 45 s, 1 m, 1 m, 70 s, 90 s and often more.

DC's have very little taste but tend to be all about aroma, maybe a little viscosity or oily feeling on the lips. A good one will go 15 to 20 steeps, all very light. They can be very astringent if you brew them too long. You will find a great deal of variation from one offering to another. I have had maybe twenty of them and can not say for sure at this point if I even like them really.

by **RussianSoul** » Jul 19th, '08, 21:42

by RussianSoul » Jul 19th, '08, 21:42

Thank you, Sal!

I have copied both S_F's and Sal's directions into my tea notes and will be trying my Dan Cong gong fu style some time soon.

by **Beidao** » Jul 20th, '08, 06:34

by Beidao » Jul 20th, '08, 06:34

Salsero wrote:DC's have very little taste but tend to be all about aroma

Interesting. The DC I'm drinking now has a very strong flower taste. If I didn't know better I'd guess it was flavoured. I sometimes also get a very strong feeling of hot water with honey, the sort I drank when I was small and had a cold. If I make longer steeps it tastes roasted and nutty.

by **Salsero** » Jul 20th, '08, 11:54

by Salsero » Jul 20th, '08, 11:54

Beidao wrote:The DC I'm drinking now has a very strong flower taste.

In my little version of the world, I might well interpret a flowery taste as an aroma.

by **Beidao** » Jul 20th, '08, 13:23

by Beidao » Jul 20th, '08, 13:23

Salsero wrote:
Beidao wrote:The DC I'm drinking now has a very strong flower taste.
In my little version of the world, I might well interpret a flowery taste as an aroma.

Interesting. Could you explain? Maybe it's the language. I don't have a clear picture in my mind of what aroma is - always thought of it as smell, aroma theraphy and such. But then, I don't understand what astrigent is either :roll:

by **Salsero** » Jul 20th, '08, 18:59

by Salsero » Jul 20th, '08, 18:59

Beidao wrote: Could you explain? Maybe it's the language. I don't have a clear picture in my mind of what aroma is - always thought of it as smell, aroma theraphy and such. But then, I don't understand what astrigent is either

I have always had trouble distinguishing between taste and aroma also. Strictly speaking there are only 4 tastes -- sweet, sour, bitter, salty -- unless you count umami, then there are 5. Everything else we sense through the nose which is a far more sophisticated spectrum of sensations than taste.

"Astringency" is a drying, puckering mouthfeel, sometimes described as "sandpapery." Red wines often have high astringency. In moderate amounts, astringency can be pleasant in tea; in large amounts, it can make it undrinkable, like if you oversteep or in some very young sheng puerhs. I often refer to excess astringency as roughness on the mouth or throat.

by **Beidao** » Jul 21st, '08, 14:45

by Beidao » Jul 21st, '08, 14:45

Great explanation, thankyou