Taiwanese oolong brewing

Owes its flavors to oxidation levels between green & black tea.


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Dec 1st, '11, 20:30
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Re: Taiwanese oolong brewing

by BioHorn » Dec 1st, '11, 20:30

Alex wrote:I dont know how much I use....probably 4-5 grams per 100ml.

I never go over 90c with some Taiwan oolongs. I always feel over 90c brings out a sharpness from scorching the leaves on some of the really nice Alishans I've had. Once its out no drop in temp brings back down and the leaves are ruined. This is on some of Taiwan oolongs I've had from the highest quality to the lowest.

As with all things tea its a personal thing though. I like it smooth, sweet and subtle

I do 30 sec brew which I drink. then let it sit and then do a 15, 30 45ish then it kind of goes in to feel and last couple/few are minutes long.

With the greenest of tieguanyins though I cant stand anything less then 98c and feel like a huge amount is missing if I dont start out with that temp.
I brewed up some TeaMasters Spring 2010 Ali Shan Gao Shan Luanze for friends today. 9 grams filled my 90 ml porcelain gaiwan (probably a bit much.)

I used boiling water for 30 sec to begin opening the leaf. It had a rich buttery light aroma with a medium to light roast. The roast was not very apparent in the brews.

I did toss the first brew. Probably should have drunk it. Oh well. The leaf did not open up much from the first brew. I waited a few minutes beofre going on to brew #2.

each brew after #1 was was with 90C or 195 F low mineral spring water.
#2 was 15 sec
#3 was 20 sec and a bit strong
I moved the times back down and played with the intensity a bit. That is where the surprises in variability came. One guest asked after #4 or 5, "is this the same tea?"

A very nice tea. Not my normal fare, but a pleasant departure from heavier yanchas and pu's.

What struck me was the variation in flavor from each brew. This is quite a sensitive tea.

Dec 3rd, '11, 23:00
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Re: Taiwanese oolong brewing

by tea.and.peace » Dec 3rd, '11, 23:00

So is Taiwan high mountain green, and roasted oolongs more limited on the market ? It seems as I look around the web other oolongs seem more prevalent.

Where are you guys buying your high mountain green, and roasted from ? Somewhat decent leaf quality. Any good retailers in the states ? Preferably more traditional style processed products.

Kind of seems like to me anyway anxi, wuyi, dong cong, bao zhong our more common.......

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Re: Taiwanese oolong brewing

by BioHorn » Dec 3rd, '11, 23:58

tea.and.peace wrote:So is Taiwan high mountain green, and roasted oolongs more limited on the market ? It seems as I look around the web other oolongs seem more prevalent.

Where are you guys buying your high mountain green, and roasted from ? Somewhat decent leaf quality. Any good retailers in the states ? Preferably more traditional style processed products.

Kind of seems like to me anyway anxi, wuyi, dong cong, bao zhong our more common.......
Hi T&P,
I have been satisfied with Stephane at Tea Masters. He has given excellent customer service and seems to tailor to ones tastes. There have been some unique teas he has offered in the past that were very nice.

I am drinking less Taiwanese so my experience recently has been more limited.

Others have written recommending floatingleavestea. I would like to try their fare some day.

Best.

Hans

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Dec 5th, '11, 12:30
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Re: Taiwanese oolong brewing

by hopeofdawn » Dec 5th, '11, 12:30

Floating Leaves has excellent tea--they're my go-to for Taiwanese teas. Fair warning though, while their Lishan and Alisan high mountain oolongs are excellent, they also tend to sell out pretty quickly (neither is in stock right now, for instance). Her baozhong and bai hao (oriental beauty) teas are usually in stock, though, and also very good ...

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Jan 25th, '12, 21:42
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Re: Taiwanese oolong brewing

by rjiwrth » Jan 25th, '12, 21:42

Today, I brewed the Baozhong 2nd place three times and the experience was not pleasant for me; it seems a sickening sweet, flowery brew each time, regardless of my parameters. I mean it is flowery! I've never tried a tea that made me scrunch my nose after tasting. I used two gawains and finally tried my favorite zisha yixing and all made me feel nauseated. I'd like to give another Taiwanese Baozhong a try before throwing in the towel...any recommendations?

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Jan 25th, '12, 21:51
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Re: Taiwanese oolong brewing

by debunix » Jan 25th, '12, 21:51

How can it be "too flowery"? Is there nothing but floral flavor to it? Does it have that sense of 'drinking perfume' or almost soapiness of an overdone Jasmine tea?

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Jan 26th, '12, 06:29
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Re: Taiwanese oolong brewing

by rjiwrth » Jan 26th, '12, 06:29

debunix wrote:How can it be "too flowery"? Is there nothing but floral flavor to it? Does it have that sense of 'drinking perfume' or almost soapiness of an overdone Jasmine tea?
Debunix: Oh, it was too flowery for my taste. No mistake there. It wasn't soapy. Maybe it was a bit like drinking perfume, IMO. I got the sense of my tummy not being happy, at any rate. I will brew it once more and be more present in my mind rather than from the mouth down :wink: I The tea has great reviews, so I'm more than certain it is a personal preference situation here or perhaps the tea does not suit my constitution. I was just curious if there were suggestions about other Baozhongs I might give a whirl before I cross them off my list entirely.

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Jan 26th, '12, 15:05
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Re: Taiwanese oolong brewing

by teaisme » Jan 26th, '12, 15:05

how did you brew the baozhong?

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Jan 26th, '12, 22:24
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Re: Taiwanese oolong brewing

by rjiwrth » Jan 26th, '12, 22:24

teaisme wrote:how did you brew the baozhong?
I used the recommendation given by the vendor of the tea for the first two attempts in my gaiwans. I used enough leaves to cover the bottom of the gaiwan as recommended. I did a flash rinse followed by the first infusion of 10 seconds. The second 15 seconds, third 15 seconds, fourth 30. After that I stopped. The second attempt in my gaiwan I added more leaf, which I normally do with most of my high fires (counter-intuitive on this one, perhaps) and since I wasn't crazy about how the first turned out, I experimented with the second attempt. I decreased my infusion times slightly. Then, I used my yixing for the third attempt and used the vendor's recommendations for amount and timing. Today, I shared the tea with some friends at work and they loved it. I'm convinced it is just personal preference and does not reflect the quality of the tea. So, now I have more reason to share my stash of tea at work :wink:

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Jan 26th, '12, 22:31
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Re: Taiwanese oolong brewing

by debunix » Jan 26th, '12, 22:31

Having a core of tea-friends who may like some nice-but-not-my-cuppa-teas has been very helpful. A few teas I couldn't imagine giving to anyone have been fed to the worms, but some Earl Greys and Assams have found refuge and usefulness in the office tea/coffee area.

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Jan 28th, '12, 17:02
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Re: Taiwanese oolong brewing

by rhondabee » Jan 28th, '12, 17:02

I was just curious if there were suggestions about other Baozhongs I might give a whirl before I cross them off my list entirely.[/quote]


Floating Leaves also sells Farmer's Choice Baozhong, which has been my favorite of the Baozhongs she offers, although, of course, the tea will differ from harvest to harvest. The Farmer's Choice Baozhong I've had was a bit more savory tasting, more brothy, heavier. It still will have some flowery scent, but to me the flowery scent of Taiwanese oolongs is more like a fresh flower scent rather than a heavy perfumy flower scent. (I did once have a jade oolong that smelled like Magnolia and was too cloying for me.)

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Jan 29th, '12, 11:10
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Re: Taiwanese oolong brewing

by rjiwrth » Jan 29th, '12, 11:10

Thank-you, Rhondabee. I will give that a try. I just sampled some of her Taiwan Wuyi (no other details given, unfortunately) and it was out of this world. Rock oolong is my favorite, but this is my first from Taiwan.
Last edited by rjiwrth on Jan 29th, '12, 20:29, edited 1 time in total.

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Jan 29th, '12, 11:58
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Re: Taiwanese oolong brewing

by puerhking » Jan 29th, '12, 11:58

I would try using less leaves and longer brew times. That works better for me. When I've gone a while between having baozhongs I always use too much and think...I thought this was better. Then I remember to use less leaves. Worth a try anyway.

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Jan 29th, '12, 20:26
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Re: Taiwanese oolong brewing

by rjiwrth » Jan 29th, '12, 20:26

puerhking wrote:I would try using less leaves and longer brew times. That works better for me. When I've gone a while between having baozhongs I always use too much and think...I thought this was better. Then I remember to use less leaves. Worth a try anyway.
You know, that's a really good idea. I am known to fill my pot with more leaf than what's needed. I'm not sure why I do it with oolongs and not others. I will give less leaf a try and thank-you :wink:

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Feb 3rd, '12, 04:52
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Re: Taiwanese oolong brewing

by Cole » Feb 3rd, '12, 04:52

I love the floral and sweet nature of Baozhong -- the Wenshan Baozhong I'm currently drinking gets a brown sugar-y sweet sort of taste that is absolutely enchanting over the first few brews. Today I used 5g in about ~170ml of water, and found it to hold its strength and flavor nicely over 5-6 infusions. Unfortunately, if you don't really like sweet/floral teas, I'm afraid Baozhong might not be for you. I know my wife absolutely hates it (and my gardenia-laced Dong Ding), so you're not alone in your preferences:lol:

Maybe you'd like a slightly more roasted Alishan oolong, or something that is a bit more on the spicier side of things?

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