Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

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


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May 26th, '17, 14:11
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by dizzo » May 26th, '17, 14:11

Im just gonna come out and ask...
I keep hearing about Hau Ying Chen.
How do I get my hands on his stuff?

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May 26th, '17, 16:06
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by victoria3 » May 26th, '17, 16:06

dizzo wrote: Im just gonna come out and ask...
I keep hearing about Hau Ying Chen.
How do I get my hands on his stuff?
Ha, I message him directly for ordering via his Facebook account. He will send you price list. His English is not fluent so I just circle what I want and send back list. The price list is in English USD;
https://www.facebook.com/薪誠坊-Shin-Cheng ... 529387740/
&
https://www.facebook.com/hauying.chen
&
Kyarazen wrote about Chen and his farm in this piece;
http://www.kyarazen.com/traditional-don ... xperiment/

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May 26th, '17, 17:31
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by dizzo » May 26th, '17, 17:31

Thanks!

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May 27th, '17, 15:18
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by victoria3 » May 27th, '17, 15:18

Curiously, I'm still steeping most mornings Bird Pick's High Mountain Oolong even though it is not top quality stuff. My yixing neiziwahong houhin just smooths it out so perfectly, plus I've yet to find something comparable in quality with smooth sweet buttery notes that's under 100$lb. In the morning I prefer hydration and larger steeps while I get the day going. What I find strange is most mornings buttery sweet notes come through, but then every once in awhile, it is brassy and slightly tannic without smoother notes. Using the same; tea caddy, houhin, water temperature,time stepping, charcoal filtered city water. The only thing I can figure is maybe the city water that I filter is the inconsistent variable, although it tastes the same to me most mornings? ..or do the rolled tea leaves have a mind of their own?

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May 28th, '17, 11:37
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by debunix » May 28th, '17, 11:37

Hard to know what the culprit is in those occasional 'off' brewings.

I definitely keep around some teas that are not so fine as others, but that serve a useful role--bulk brewing in the thermos for a day away from my tea table, or for cold brewed tea in a water bottle, or sparkling sencha on a really hot day.

But Sunday morning is time to indulge in special teas, this morning some Song Zhong #5 Dan Cong from TeaHabitat, floral, fragrant, so lovely

Image
170528 Morning Tea _DEB8468 ppd by debunix, on Flickr

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May 28th, '17, 16:03
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by victoria3 » May 28th, '17, 16:03

Had Tea Habitat's Crystal White Long Jing yesterday and at our tasting. It has a very clear liquor with sweet pea vegetal umami notes. Later in the day Floating Leaves DaYuLing that is super aromtic with smooth sweet buttery notes.

This morning I went for Bird Picks High Mountain again to test it and knew right away it would be slightly off as 1st steep liquor was a little darker than normal. Not brassy or tannic but not buttery sweet either. Maybe I'll try my bottled water tomorrow to see if that is the problem.

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May 29th, '17, 12:49
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by victoria3 » May 29th, '17, 12:49

victoria3 wrote: This morning I went for Bird Picks High Mountain again to test it and knew right away it would be slightly off as 1st steep liquor was a little darker than normal. Not brassy or tannic but not buttery sweet either. Maybe I'll try my bottled water tomorrow to see if that is the problem.
Well it seems to be the tea and not the water. This morning I brewed using bottled Spring water; the liquor was darker again and the smooth sweet notes did not come through. I did notice that I'm nearing the end of my 1lb bag so maybe that is a factor, although I seal the bag tightly. Que será...

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Jun 1st, '17, 09:21
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by dizzo » Jun 1st, '17, 09:21

victoria3 wrote:
victoria3 wrote: This morning I went for Bird Picks High Mountain again to test it and knew right away it would be slightly off as 1st steep liquor was a little darker than normal. Not brassy or tannic but not buttery sweet either. Maybe I'll try my bottled water tomorrow to see if that is the problem.
Well it seems to be the tea and not the water. This morning I brewed using bottled Spring water; the liquor was darker again and the smooth sweet notes did not come through. I did notice that I'm nearing the end of my 1lb bag so maybe that is a factor, although I seal the bag tightly. Que será...
Bummer,
I have this happen to me too. I find that near the bottom of the bag the leaves are not as in good of shape and it definitely effects the flavor.
...but I always say, every tea has some aspect thats enjoyable about it:)

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Jun 1st, '17, 15:12
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by debunix » Jun 1st, '17, 15:12

Enjoying Supreme Big Red Robe from Wing Hop Fung: not the fanciest Da Hong Pao, but tasty and reliable, earthy with a bit of minerality. Very nice.

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Jun 1st, '17, 18:10
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by William » Jun 1st, '17, 18:10

Enjoying some morning RouGui before going to work. I bought it from a local dealer last year if I remember correctly. Good stamina, typical cinnamon/mineral flavors, whole leaves, definitely a quality tea. The aroma isn't particularly strong though. Paired with a 70 ml Zini SP from the R.O.C. period.

Jun 8th, '17, 14:18
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by mael » Jun 8th, '17, 14:18

New plantation baozhong, pinglin north taiwan, 18 april 2016, from tea masters.

Cute tiny leave with stems, strong flowery perfum when brewed . Very good tea, strong long lasting aroma and taste. It says on website this is the first harvest of the tea bush, i wasn't expecting this level of aroma it is a very good surprise.

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Jun 8th, '17, 15:27
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by victoria3 » Jun 8th, '17, 15:27

June Gloom here along the coast, a chilly misty grey sky with 97% humidity, the way I assume Seattle might be. Perfect for some of HY Chen's roasted DongDing which I've been having on these cool mornings with the fireplace going. Rotating between his JuneWhite and Winter and stacking the first two infusions so I can focus on my early morning reading. Steeped in Hokujo 180ml stoneware kyusu, and warming my hands with Akira Satake's masterful yunomi. Today I added kyarazen' wonderfully warming incense elevating all the senses. wow this is great!

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Jun 9th, '17, 06:08
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by William » Jun 9th, '17, 06:08

mael wrote: New plantation baozhong, pinglin north taiwan, 18 april 2016, from tea masters.

Cute tiny leave with stems, strong flowery perfum when brewed . Very good tea, strong long lasting aroma and taste. It says on website this is the first harvest of the tea bush, i wasn't expecting this level of aroma it is a very good surprise.
I remember that tea!

I drank an entire bag of 150 grams last year :shock: .. it was really good!
I just realized I need to buy some BaoZhong from the new season's harvest, since I don't have any left!

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Jun 10th, '17, 20:19
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by Ferg » Jun 10th, '17, 20:19

Enjoying a early evening session of Hau Ying Chen's Roasted High Mountain Oolong kindly gifted from Victoria! This one was so tasty right off the bat and just keeps going, which I haven't experienced in awhile in primarily drinking sencha. I gets hints of rum flavor. It's nice and toasty, not over-roasted in the slightest. I can see why this has become a daily drinker for you. A lot of elements you look for in an oolong. Taste is lingering on the tongue still. Mmmm :P

Here were my brewing parameters, roughly. As I used a Yixing sized at 95ml, I cut the suggested tea amount in half, so opted for 6 grams. Steeps were as follows:

1st: 6g/95ml/200°F/60sec. --> my kettle has oolong set for 195°F, so I opted for a little higher. However, it was a little light first brew, so I followed your suggestion of off the boil for remaining steeps. Overdid amount of water too, so had a little super potent brew leftover. Wow was it strong!
2nd: 6g/90ml/off boil/60sec. --> this brew was much better!
3rd: 6g/85ml/off boil/2min. --> liked 2nd or 3rd brews best. Yum!
4th: 6g/85ml/off boil/8min.
5th: 6g/85ml/off boil/still steeping, going on 20min.
Going to attempt to get 7 brews out of this one. Will leave it steeping overnight.

Again, thanks for the wonderful tea! I will enjoy the remainder of this one.
Dry leaves.jpg
Aerial.jpg

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Jun 11th, '17, 16:39
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by victoria3 » Jun 11th, '17, 16:39

Ferg wrote: Enjoying a early evening session of Hau Ying Chen's Roasted High Mountain Oolong kindly gifted from Victoria! This one was so tasty right off the bat and just keeps going, which I haven't experienced in awhile in primarily drinking sencha. I gets hints of rum flavor. It's nice and toasty, not over-roasted in the slightest. I can see why this has become a daily drinker for you. A lot of elements you look for in an oolong. Taste is lingering on the tongue still. Mmmm :P

Here were my brewing parameters, roughly. As I used a Yixing sized at 95ml, I cut the suggested tea amount in half, so opted for 6 grams. Steeps were as follows:

1st: 6g/95ml/200°F/60sec. --> my kettle has oolong set for 195°F, so I opted for a little higher. However, it was a little light first brew, so I followed your suggestion of off the boil for remaining steeps. Overdid amount of water too, so had a little super potent brew leftover. Wow was it strong!
2nd: 6g/90ml/off boil/60sec. --> this brew was much better!
3rd: 6g/85ml/off boil/2min. --> liked 2nd or 3rd brews best. Yum!
4th: 6g/85ml/off boil/8min.
5th: 6g/85ml/off boil/still steeping, going on 20min.
Going to attempt to get 7 brews out of this one. Will leave it steeping overnight.

Again, thanks for the wonderful tea! I will enjoy the remainder of this one.
Ferg I'm so pleased you like HY Chen's Roasted High Mountain. Interesting that you started with his most affordable lowest end oolong. That it is so good, and 'road ready' (in that it is not super delicate or precious), is an indication that Chen is an expert roaster. As an analogy, when I go to a restaurant and taste a simple salad I can tell whether what follows will be a culinary experience or just forgettable. I see you used slightly more leaf than I have so far, so I'll try upping leaf a little and see how that goes. I'm looking forward to hearing what you think of his carbon roasted DaYuLing :D

By the way, since you gifted me Mountain Tea's Medium Roast Dong Ding Oolong, Special Reserve, which I thought was pretty good (although maybe a notch down from HY Chen's) I decide to try a few more of their greener oolong offerings since they are shipping out of Los Angeles. So far I've liked their High Mountain Jin Xuan, slightly rich slightly smooth buttery although a little light bodied. Since my brick and mortar Bird Pick tea shop closed recently I thought I'd explore other localy available everyday lightly oxidized high mountain oolongs.

Although, this morning after thoroughly enjoying HY Chen's LiShan Primitive Wild Forest I wondered why bother with anything less elevating. This oolong's rich sweet palate and high mineral content really vibrates. Such an elegant experience especially steeped in your beautiful Zisha pot. Wow awesome thank you.

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