Which HLH $68 level fall Yiwu wasn't lived up to your expectation? There are two: "Qing Lian Yi" and "Feng Chu Ye".shah82 wrote:Alright confession time, which one did you get burned on? I thought since it seemed like people were buying the $68 level fall Yiwu blend, that those might be worthwhile to have...until I tried one...after 6 brews, bleagh!
tho' to be honest, HLH isn't *that* bad. Most of my fury at wasting sample dollars still goes to Chen Guang He Tang stuff..
Re: YS 2005 Douji "Spring Red"
Re: YS 2005 Douji "Spring Red"
The first. How could it live up to any expectations? It got undrinkable so fast.
nnnnnnnngggggghhh
And these aged Doujis costs less! GAH! What a ripoff.
nnnnnnnngggggghhh
And these aged Doujis costs less! GAH! What a ripoff.
Re: YS 2005 Douji "Spring Red"
What made it undrinkable?shah82 wrote:The first. How could it live up to any expectations? It got undrinkable so fast.
nnnnnnnngggggghhh
And these aged Doujis costs less! GAH! What a ripoff.
Re: YS 2005 Douji "Spring Red"
It gets unpleasantly rough with little flavor. Basically, the leaf dies the way bad plantation tea dies. (I'm talking about the Green Ripples Fall HLH).
Re: YS 2005 Douji "Spring Red"
How are you brewing them?shah82 wrote:It gets unpleasantly rough with little flavor. Basically, the leaf dies the way bad plantation tea dies. (I'm talking about the Green Ripples Fall HLH).
Re: YS 2005 Douji "Spring Red"
I still have a bit more to try, so welcome hints...
7g/140ml gaiwan 3s, 3s (if there was a big chunk instead of separate leaves), 5s, 7s, 10s, 15s, and 20s, 25s, 30s being increasingly hard to drink...
All boiling water.
When I examined leaves after the second try at this, I saw that the bulk seems pretty oxidised, so I figured it was a green/oolong thing...
7g/140ml gaiwan 3s, 3s (if there was a big chunk instead of separate leaves), 5s, 7s, 10s, 15s, and 20s, 25s, 30s being increasingly hard to drink...
All boiling water.
When I examined leaves after the second try at this, I saw that the bulk seems pretty oxidised, so I figured it was a green/oolong thing...
Re: YS 2005 Douji "Spring Red"
Did you get a sample or a cake? I am impressed that you have some already. I haven't tried it yet, but I have some on the way. I can't imagine HLH being anything like you describe. I can imagine some of the Ming Xing cakes being described as rough, but HLH??? Sometimes it is so subtle that I have to squint with my tastebuds. I have never had a HLH that was offensive, and I have tried at least 12 varieties.shah82 wrote:It gets unpleasantly rough with little flavor. Basically, the leaf dies the way bad plantation tea dies.
What do you mean by a G/O thing? You are talking about a puer cake right?shah82 wrote:When I examined leaves after the second try at this, I saw that the bulk seems pretty oxidised, so I figured it was a green/oolong thing...
That style is so foreign to me, it is hard to make a recommendation... I steep the leaf about 10-20 times longer for a total of about 10 steeps for HLH productions. Say: 30s, 40s, 65s, 90s, 120s, 160s, etc. I am shocked that you could get enough flavor after just 118s of total steep time, divided over 9 steeps, to get a liquor with any flavor, at all. Are you sure you have the Qing Lian Yi?shah82 wrote:I still have a bit more to try, so welcome hints...
7g/140ml gaiwan 3s, 3s (if there was a big chunk instead of separate leaves), 5s, 7s, 10s, 15s, and 20s, 25s, 30s being increasingly hard to drink...
All boiling water.
Re: YS 2005 Douji "Spring Red"
I prefer Bulangs and Jingmais. If you tried to steep Nada's Bulang, even at half dose, for 30s to start with, well...
Even with adolescent teas that I adore, like YS's Tai Lian International 2002, I wouldn't dare try to steep for 30s, as it's still quite bitter (if evanescent on the tongue) on account of it being dry-stored. And I've just been in the habit such that I do the same even for teas that don't require flash infusions like Henli Chang Bulangs or old 7542s.
Now, even delicate new Yiwus can often have plenty of flavor. YS carries a set of Yiwu spring teas from Zhen Si Long, and all of those teas, except the Luo Shui Dong, which hits the back of the mouth more, are pretty strongly flavored.
Now, for this HLH, It's pretty strongly flavored, for a Yiwu, with a reasonable aroma. I wouldn't have thought it to be a delicate tea (subtle, yes), so I'm not quite sure I want to try brewing this for 30s to start with. My problem with it, really, for evaluative purposes, is that it's too expensive to get some for laying down and waiting until the roughness is aged out. If it tastes good for 6-7 brews, well, I just better learn to stop then, as far as I'm concerned. However, that really just means that there are a ton of other Yiwus @ YS that I could get for less and enjoy more brews. I generally expect anything good to last for about 10-12 brews, the way I do it. Something really strong will hit 20+ brews.
Even with adolescent teas that I adore, like YS's Tai Lian International 2002, I wouldn't dare try to steep for 30s, as it's still quite bitter (if evanescent on the tongue) on account of it being dry-stored. And I've just been in the habit such that I do the same even for teas that don't require flash infusions like Henli Chang Bulangs or old 7542s.
Now, even delicate new Yiwus can often have plenty of flavor. YS carries a set of Yiwu spring teas from Zhen Si Long, and all of those teas, except the Luo Shui Dong, which hits the back of the mouth more, are pretty strongly flavored.
Now, for this HLH, It's pretty strongly flavored, for a Yiwu, with a reasonable aroma. I wouldn't have thought it to be a delicate tea (subtle, yes), so I'm not quite sure I want to try brewing this for 30s to start with. My problem with it, really, for evaluative purposes, is that it's too expensive to get some for laying down and waiting until the roughness is aged out. If it tastes good for 6-7 brews, well, I just better learn to stop then, as far as I'm concerned. However, that really just means that there are a ton of other Yiwus @ YS that I could get for less and enjoy more brews. I generally expect anything good to last for about 10-12 brews, the way I do it. Something really strong will hit 20+ brews.
Re: YS 2005 Douji "Spring Red"
That leaf to water ratio seems really low to me. I use 14-15g for 120ml when brewing most young shengs. 
Re: YS 2005 Douji "Spring Red"
Do you reduce the time you spend steeping if you find the tea increasingly hard to drink? If the last cup came out rough and nasty, then the next cup should be steeped with less time, not increased automatically. When you say hard to drink, I presume you mean bitter and rough.shah82 wrote:I still have a bit more to try, so welcome hints...
7g/140ml gaiwan 3s, 3s (if there was a big chunk instead of separate leaves), 5s, 7s, 10s, 15s, and 20s, 25s, 30s being increasingly hard to drink...
All boiling water.
When I examined leaves after the second try at this, I saw that the bulk seems pretty oxidised, so I figured it was a green/oolong thing...
Re: YS 2005 Douji "Spring Red"
Entropyembrace, you're more of a man than me! I cannot imagine trying that sort of proportion with many of my teas. As it was, when I used 8.6g of Gan'en Lao Banzhang, I thought I seriously messed it up by overbrewing with too much leaf!
/me thinks again...
Wait, <b>would</b> you actually brew 12g/120ml of <i>LBZ</i>? I think I'd be traumatized.
/me thinks again...
Wait, <b>would</b> you actually brew 12g/120ml of <i>LBZ</i>? I think I'd be traumatized.
Re: YS 2005 Douji "Spring Red"
MarshalN, it never gets bitter, it gets abrasively rough, which builds. I normally would simply bulldoze that roughness, because there's only so much roughness a leaf usually can punish with. That didn't turn out to be true here. Perhaps I will try shorter infusions, but that really just means I repeat the time or do less time than previous.
Re: YS 2005 Douji "Spring Red"
I think you might be ramping up the time too quickly. There's no inherent reason why every infusion needs to be longer than the last unless you feel the tea is petering out with current times.shah82 wrote:MarshalN, it never gets bitter, it gets abrasively rough, which builds. I normally would simply bulldoze that roughness, because there's only so much roughness a leaf usually can punish with. That didn't turn out to be true here. Perhaps I will try shorter infusions, but that really just means I repeat the time or do less time than previous.
Re: YS 2005 Douji "Spring Red"
Normally I wouldn't recommend more than 1g/1oz, so 7g in 140mL is a bit too much (I'd go 5 grams to start).
You can attenuate the concentration by steep times, as MarshalN says, or by lowering the amount of leaf.
Any more, though, and it's just going to get rougher and turn into paint stripper.
You can attenuate the concentration by steep times, as MarshalN says, or by lowering the amount of leaf.
Any more, though, and it's just going to get rougher and turn into paint stripper.
Jul 22nd, '11, 11:06
Posts: 682
Joined: Mar 10th, '11, 08:17
Location: on top of a mountain.
Re: YS 2005 Douji "Spring Red"
I would say that trying to have a ratio of leaf to water for all pu-erh or even just young sheng is a mistake. In my limited expereince some teas require much more leaf (99 fu hai yi wu)while others require less (nada's bulang) .