Almond Fragrance Dan Cong in Gaiwan and Yixing

[Herb_Master]

Yesterday, I opened a "Teance Single Grove Almond Fragrance" that has been calling to me from my Tea Shelf for about 3 months.

This is a dark roast oolong leaf from Phoenix Mountain in Guangdong, China. Plucked from low-yielding, almond fragrance tea trees on Phoenix Mountain in an approximately 300 year old grove. This tea is distinct for its natural almond-like taste; there is no artificial flavoring involved! It is one of over a hundred tea varietals grown only in this Phoenix Mountain area. This tea has a taste that is memorable and complex, woody and slightly astringent intially but with a finish that tastes of raw or toasted almonds depending on the water temperature. A very pleasing, distinctive tea overall.

http://www.teance.com/Phoenix_Single_Gr ... tea491.htm

I had recently been following instructions from fellow DanCong lovers on this site to fairly heavily pack the Gaiwan and do short steeps, and similar heavy levels of leaf in the Yixing.

Recent comments and brewing instructions on sites encountered were suggesting lower levels

#1: The standard ratio of tea to water is 1.5g / 50cc of water. The 10g gaiwan they mention using in their demo is most likely around 350cc. You can estimate the other gaiwans accordingly.

Rinsing the tea first is best used with low or mid-quality teas of dubious sources. If you drink high quality teas (especially certified organic) rinsing removes a lot of the healthy stuff you should be drinking anyway (especially with oolongs). Aged teas, of course, should always be rinsed (sometimes more than once).

and different steeping progressions
http://www.wanlingteahouse.com/english/ ... onal.shtml.

And as my Gaiwan skills need honing, such that I can get the near boiling water to hit the side of the Gaiwan rather than the leaf I was happy to start with the lighter loading.

In a Gaiwan of approx 90ml I used 3 grams and in a 110ml Yixing I used 3.9

d not look too much.

I did a quick rinse with each, then started with 20 seconds on the G and 20 seconds on the Y.
Both were extremely fragrant and pleasant in a weak sort of way, but lacked body and depth. The Y tasted slightly but decidedly to have more substance than the G.

ention property of Y as discussed by

#4: Clay tends to hold heat better than porcelain, and higher heat draws more flavor out of the tea. Depending (again) on your tastes, you might use slightly shorter brews with the clay pot.

I decided to vary the times of the next few infusions Y 25, G 28; Y35, G 40; Y50, G60 and finally Y90, G120.

The first thing I noted was that I was able to get a nice roll going on the leaves in the Gaiwan and hit the side of the Gaiwan away from the leaves without any trouble

Secondly Despite introducing the variable of time between Y and G - the G continued to be lighter and weaker in substance and body than the Y, yet by the 3rd infusion there was no difference in Fragrance.

Thirdly whilst pleasant in a meaningless sort of way, the tea was uninspring and too weak. There was a faint suspicion of Almond - but would I have said Almond if it was not in the title of the tea .

Swapping back and forth whilst tasting and making huge mental notes and assessments that were difficult to think of anything to note, the tea grew cooler and less remarkabl than it had been at the start.

Not a tea I am likely to re-order.

Today I upped the stakes and got better organised 2 tea light warmers waiting for the faircups [in my case these were small glass kettles]

Yixing 6 grams and Gaiwan 4.5 grams.
No Rinse [slightly dubious about this because there were one or distinctly whitish threads amongst the dark leaves]

Straight in with 22 seconds on both, and sitting on their warmers each brew stayed great until the end.

Both started with a much improved overall impression and looked the same, smelled the same and tasted incredibly similar. The only difference was a marginal superiority of body and depth in the Yixing, but much less significant than yesterday.

Proceeded with brews of 28 seconds each and 35 seconds each AND I can definitely taste Almond it cannot be my imagination it talks loudly of Raw Almond.
Good body though weak in colour, I don't detect any of the astringency mentioned by Teance, I do detect something that might be woody though that was not what came to mind until I read their notes - And I will definitely re-order some of this if it continues to perform as well. oops they have sold out - maybe next year (that is this year Now!

I was surprised that a Dark Roast, with such blackish dry leaves would produce such green looking leaves after the infusions camera batteries recharging Do darker roasts tend to result (or not) in much change to the leaf colour [post infusion]?

I will try a few more infusions later, and see if the batteries are charged!

I see that my new loading is similar to Ginko's suggestion -

The common saying is, 7g tea for 120ml gaiwan. 5g tea for 100ml, 10g tea for 150-180ml. But in tea contests, they usually use 5g tea for 120 volume gaiwan. A few people told me in Anxi tea contests, they use minutes-long infusion (I don't remember how many minutes, but >=2), which sounds bazaar, but I believe it's true. But people don't do it in daily life drinking.

So that looks like a good ratio to start brewing with. I will leave the 2 minute infusion to another day

[Bubba_tea]

I see that my new loading is similar to Ginko's suggestion -

The common saying is, 7g tea for 120ml gaiwan. 5g tea for 100ml, 10g tea for 150-180ml. But in tea contests, they usually use 5g tea for 120 volume gaiwan. A few people told me in Anxi tea contests, they use minutes-long infusion (I don't remember how many minutes, but >=2), which sounds bazaar, but I believe it's true. But people don't do it in daily life drinking.

So that looks like a good ratio to start brewing with. I will leave the 2 minute infusion to another day

Nice post! I've not had good sucess with the heavy loading either. I think that if you do that, you have to be very nimble with pouring fast and steeping quick. In general, I've used the 'gram per oz' as a starting point, so 5gm for a 5oz pot (but often use 7gm, which I think corresponds to 150ml). BTW - I've also been enjoying the almond fragrance from Jing, but don't order before I reorder mine..

As far as the tea contests, IIRC, the teamaster blog said that they use 3 minute decoctions in the competitions as it 'calls out' defects in the tea [without having to go through multiple infusions].

[wyardley]

As far as the tea contests, IIRC, the teamaster blog said that they use 3 minute decoctions in the competitions as it 'calls out' defects in the tea [without having to go through multiple infusions].

I think competition style brewing is usually something like 3 minutes / 5 g or 5 minutes / 3 g (in a 150 ml competition tasting set, with full boiling water). Typically you preheat, but don't rinse. This isn't probably how you want to brew at home, other than to compare teas. A long brew with a small amount of tea like this will stress the tea, but won't necessarily provide the most flavorful or pleasant tasting brew possible.

[Herb_Master]

Home from the pub, and a couple more sessions with the unspent leaves. Me recharged and batteries recharged.

First further brew I could not be bothered to work out what I should be timing the steep at - so went for a whole minute with both Yixing and gaiwan.

The dry leaves (I borrowed some more from the canister for the photo, then put them back)


and after the brew - those in the Gaiwan



Tea Colour

This afternoon the first infusion

The one on the left is the Yixing, which revealed more substance and taste than the Gaiwan when both were given equal timing.

Tonight the 1 minute infusion


Tonight's brew was substantial and very enjoyable, or was it because I had been to the pub. Some of the stringency that Teance mentioned was there, but a pleasant addition, along with the woody notes that had merely played with me earlier.

But the fragrance and almond was still there also - great.
and thanks to my tealights stayed great to the last drop.

[Herb_Master]

Nice post! I've not had good sucess with the heavy loading either. I think that if you do that, you have to be very nimble with pouring fast and steeping quick. In general, I've used the 'gram per oz' as a starting point, so 5gm for a 5oz pot (but often use 7gm, which I think corresponds to 150ml). BTW - I've also been enjoying the almond fragrance from Jing, but don't order before I reorder mine..

Nice to see that someone else prefers more of a middle ground.

I think the quantities suggested at 1gm per 50cc or less must have fairly long initial steeps, or else use superheated water. I was thinking of maybe trying Taiwan Guys loading with longer steeps - but will's post has perhaps steered me away from that, I will see what TG has to say.

I cannot master the heavy load and flash method even with a double or treble length flash it seems too weak for me, and giving it longer makes it too strong!

I have a mental comfort zone if my first 2 infusions are between 10 and 25 seconds!

[Herb_Master]

This isn't probably how you want to brew at home, other than to compare teas. A long brew with a small amount of tea like this will stress the tea, but won't necessarily provide the most flavorful or pleasant tasting brew possible.

Will, how do you prefer to brew Dancong when brewing casually [at home].

[Bubba_tea]

First further brew I could not be bothered to work out...Tonight's brew was substantial and very enjoyable

Ahh... gong fu and Reinheitsgebot...