Nov 5th, '08, 17:25
Posts: 238
Joined: Sep 17th, '08, 23:36
Location: Home, home on the range
Nov 5th, '08, 17:28
Posts: 1936
Joined: May 22nd, '06, 11:28
Location: Trapped inside a bamboo tong!
Contact:
hop_goblin
5000friend on Ebay sells them on occasion.
Don't always believe what you think!
http://www.ancientteahorseroad.blogspot.com
http://englishtea.us/
http://www.ancientteahorseroad.blogspot.com
http://englishtea.us/
hop_goblin wrote:Rock tea is "supposed" to be brewed in a vessle smaller than 100ml for this reason. I personally use a Yixing of 70ml.
That's one of the reasons I am using my 75ml and 80ml size pots a lot more lately, I brew the way Wyardley described, this style diminishes one's tea supply really quick.
I still steep for 40 seconds for first infusion then 20, 20, 25.....35, 45 etc, never tried flash infusions, I'll give that a try though.
You can always refrigerate your pot/leaves if they still have juice left...
All of my pots are ~ 125ml including my wuyi pots. If I don't exhaust the leaves and won't brew for a few, I just stick the pot in the fridge.
Also, having ~ 4oz infusions each time means I can take bigger sips while having a bit longer to contemplate the tea before having to pay attention to rebrewing. If I want to cut myself off from caffeine, I just stick the pot in the fridge.
All of my pots are ~ 125ml including my wuyi pots. If I don't exhaust the leaves and won't brew for a few, I just stick the pot in the fridge.
Also, having ~ 4oz infusions each time means I can take bigger sips while having a bit longer to contemplate the tea before having to pay attention to rebrewing. If I want to cut myself off from caffeine, I just stick the pot in the fridge.
While I also love small pots, I tend to use slightly bigger ones for yan cha, for the simple logistical reason of fitting the leaves in without having to break them up wholesale -- many of the teas I have aren't that huge, but I do have some yan cha that are really, really long. Maybe if I found a slightly flatter pot with a wide mouth, I'd think about using one that small... it does bug me to end up wasting tea.
I'd personally think something in the range of 90-120 ml would be good.
I'd personally think something in the range of 90-120 ml would be good.
Nov 6th, '08, 04:04
Posts: 1051
Joined: Jul 7th, '07, 01:37
Scrolling: scrolling
Location: Portland, OR
Contact:
ABx
Of course you can always use a ~3oz gaiwan and only fill it half way. The results won't be quite as good, but the ratio of water to leaf will probably be better than if you use more water.
One problem I have with using that much leaf is that at certain times it can be extremely difficult to get it to come out. Yancha seems to be particularly sensitive to environmental conditions; some days I can use that much leaf without any problem, and other times I can use 1g/oz and not move fast enough to keep it from going bitter.
I've also found that different types of vessels tend to be best at different times. Sometimes yixing is the only ways to go, other times porcelain seems to be the only thing that will produce a satisfactory brew. This can also depend on the individual tea; bei dou, for example, seems to come out best in a porcelain pot for me. It just doesn't come out right with yixing, for some reason. Even if it's a glazed yixing gaiwan.
I would probably start with 1/4 to 1/2 for a beginner that is not proficient with gongfu. You can then slowly step it up. This will also give you experience with the differences.
I also personally really try to avoid cramming the pot/gaiwan. I've just never been able to get good results when the leaf is compressed to any degree. To me the results end up being similar to using a tea ball - just an uneven steep, but that may just be me.
Hopefully this isn't intimidating to the novices. The main point is really to experiment a bit and not get discouraged if you can't get good results. Try different things and if it's not coming out right then just try another day - you may suddenly find that it's a lot easier to brew on a different day.
I know you already got it, but for anyone else that's wondering:
Wuyi: A mountain in China (Wuyi Mountain). There are a lot of tea producers there, but they are most well known for producing yancha and lapsang souchong.
Yancha: Chinese for "rock tea." So called because the tea grows on the rocky cliffs, which means that the tea plants get lots of minerals from the rocks in the soil.
Da Hong Pao: One of the 4 famous varieties of Wuyi Yancha.
One problem I have with using that much leaf is that at certain times it can be extremely difficult to get it to come out. Yancha seems to be particularly sensitive to environmental conditions; some days I can use that much leaf without any problem, and other times I can use 1g/oz and not move fast enough to keep it from going bitter.
I've also found that different types of vessels tend to be best at different times. Sometimes yixing is the only ways to go, other times porcelain seems to be the only thing that will produce a satisfactory brew. This can also depend on the individual tea; bei dou, for example, seems to come out best in a porcelain pot for me. It just doesn't come out right with yixing, for some reason. Even if it's a glazed yixing gaiwan.
I would probably start with 1/4 to 1/2 for a beginner that is not proficient with gongfu. You can then slowly step it up. This will also give you experience with the differences.
I also personally really try to avoid cramming the pot/gaiwan. I've just never been able to get good results when the leaf is compressed to any degree. To me the results end up being similar to using a tea ball - just an uneven steep, but that may just be me.
Hopefully this isn't intimidating to the novices. The main point is really to experiment a bit and not get discouraged if you can't get good results. Try different things and if it's not coming out right then just try another day - you may suddenly find that it's a lot easier to brew on a different day.
Yikes, I wouldn't buy from him.. all of his yixing seems to be coated in shoe polish. Even if you get all the wax off, shoe polish is made with oils intended to seep into the leather. I suspect that this would seep into the yixing and be near impossible to get out.hop_goblin wrote:5000friend on Ebay sells them on occasion.
Don't worry about it, it's just like any other hobby. It takes time to get acquainted with all the different names, but it's really no different than anything else that you can get into - it's just a matter of trying different things, and it really doesn't take that long.drumhum wrote:Indeed I've just realised now that yan cha just means rock teas - and there's me been thinking it was some sort of special da hong pau (or whatever) when "yan cha" was in the name! Seems every merchent is keen to have a slightly different name for their tea. They're either mixing english and chinese or sticking various chinese words in there. To the newb, "Wuyi Yan cha big red robe" looks a lot different to "Da Hong Pau". And then there's the different (and mis-) spellings! But now I'm rambing...
I know you already got it, but for anyone else that's wondering:
Wuyi: A mountain in China (Wuyi Mountain). There are a lot of tea producers there, but they are most well known for producing yancha and lapsang souchong.
Yancha: Chinese for "rock tea." So called because the tea grows on the rocky cliffs, which means that the tea plants get lots of minerals from the rocks in the soil.
Da Hong Pao: One of the 4 famous varieties of Wuyi Yancha.
Nov 6th, '08, 09:31
Posts: 342
Joined: Jul 30th, '08, 02:24
Location: Cambridge, MA
Contact:
xuancheng
I like to fill the gaiwan all the way up with leaf when brewing older leaves or tea from older trees. Especially old bush shuixian. Sometimes if its a little bit overflowing when you pour the water over the leaves
I find that better Yanchas can be left brewing in the gaiwan for awhile, and won't turn bitter. In Chinese this is called Zuobei. I have left a gaiwan full of leaves on the 3 or 4th steep for 3-4 minutes, and while the tea will be strong, it is not overbearingly bitter.
@drumhum I agree with you, Wuyi cultivar names are a big pain. Many of them can be translated differently into english, or one can just use pinyin.
Another problem I have with Yancha is that the names are so similar to other oolong cultivars. especially Chaozhou oolongs, and to a lesser extent Anxi oolongs. Zhangping shuixian originally comes from Wuyishan, but what about the Chaozhou/Wuyi origin conundrum? I am doing research, but if anyone wants to save me some time with some quick answers, please do.
I bought a book of Wuyi cultivars while I was there, and I am now compiling names lists. The first list is of contemporary cultivars, of which my book lists 71. There are also 200+ historical cultivar names from the first half of last century which appear in the back of the book.
Even in Chinese, lots of the names are a little bit different depending on who you talk to. One cultivar I had which I really like is called "stone milk." It was not listed in the modern cultivar list, and a similar name is found in the historical cultivar list. When you go into different shops and ask for it in Wuyi, sometimes they will show you a white fungusy looking thing which is not tea at all, but some sort of medicinal drink. So, sometimes its just as frustrating figuring out yancha in Chinese.
I find that better Yanchas can be left brewing in the gaiwan for awhile, and won't turn bitter. In Chinese this is called Zuobei. I have left a gaiwan full of leaves on the 3 or 4th steep for 3-4 minutes, and while the tea will be strong, it is not overbearingly bitter.
@drumhum I agree with you, Wuyi cultivar names are a big pain. Many of them can be translated differently into english, or one can just use pinyin.
Another problem I have with Yancha is that the names are so similar to other oolong cultivars. especially Chaozhou oolongs, and to a lesser extent Anxi oolongs. Zhangping shuixian originally comes from Wuyishan, but what about the Chaozhou/Wuyi origin conundrum? I am doing research, but if anyone wants to save me some time with some quick answers, please do.
I bought a book of Wuyi cultivars while I was there, and I am now compiling names lists. The first list is of contemporary cultivars, of which my book lists 71. There are also 200+ historical cultivar names from the first half of last century which appear in the back of the book.
Even in Chinese, lots of the names are a little bit different depending on who you talk to. One cultivar I had which I really like is called "stone milk." It was not listed in the modern cultivar list, and a similar name is found in the historical cultivar list. When you go into different shops and ask for it in Wuyi, sometimes they will show you a white fungusy looking thing which is not tea at all, but some sort of medicinal drink. So, sometimes its just as frustrating figuring out yancha in Chinese.
Nov 6th, '08, 23:04
Posts: 1051
Joined: Jul 7th, '07, 01:37
Scrolling: scrolling
Location: Portland, OR
Contact:
ABx
Geez, I only wish that we could get 71 varieties of yancha here 
To ammend my last post, I suspect that the vessel that you use will play a big part. A 1-2oz vessel seems to produce better results when filled with dry leaf than something bigger. Xuancheng also raises a good point about the leaf size; a lot of the yancha I get has a fair amount of small bits, which will over-steep very quickly. That's one down side of buying yancha from Chinese vendors that keep shipping costs down by using bags instead of tins.
To ammend my last post, I suspect that the vessel that you use will play a big part. A 1-2oz vessel seems to produce better results when filled with dry leaf than something bigger. Xuancheng also raises a good point about the leaf size; a lot of the yancha I get has a fair amount of small bits, which will over-steep very quickly. That's one down side of buying yancha from Chinese vendors that keep shipping costs down by using bags instead of tins.
Nov 11th, '08, 12:57
Posts: 1777
Joined: Jun 4th, '08, 19:41
Scrolling: scrolling
Location: Stockport, England
Contact:
Herb_Master
t4texas wrote:Right, but I have not been able to find one that small, so if anyone knows where I can find a Yixing of 60 - 70 ml, please let me know. 90-100 ml is the smallest I have and the yan cha leaf goes fast. Too fast.
zen8tea on ebay sells some small ones
http://stores.ebay.com/zen8tea_Yixing-Z ... idZ2QQtZkm
Speaking of zen8tea - has anyone tried their teas?Herb_Master wrote:zen8tea on ebay sells some small ones
http://stores.ebay.com/zen8tea_Yixing-Z ... idZ2QQtZkm
Nov 11th, '08, 14:08
Posts: 2299
Joined: Oct 23rd, '06, 19:46
Location: Seattle Area
Contact:
tenuki
+1 - and boiling water - flash infusions to start.wyardley wrote:I would use 3/4 to completely full by volume, though with 30g of tea, that might not last you very long, so you might want to use a little less.
Do something different, something different will happen. ( Gong Fu Garden )