Re: Anyone brew in a gaiwan?
I'm the same as Proinsias, in that greener or Oolongs will be made in my gaiwan, but darker or roasted Oolongs in my Yixings.
Regarding rinsing the leaves, I am of the opinion that its not neccessary to wash some of the greener Oolongs, and personally I find that the first cup helps neautralise ones palate and prep it for further infusions. This is especially true after eating, as I feel it takes 2 or so infusions for your mouth to adjust to the intricacies of the flavour.
But with roasted Oolongs or darker teas I will definately rinse. I heard of one guy that rinses his green oolongs 3 times...which worries me slightly...
Regarding rinsing the leaves, I am of the opinion that its not neccessary to wash some of the greener Oolongs, and personally I find that the first cup helps neautralise ones palate and prep it for further infusions. This is especially true after eating, as I feel it takes 2 or so infusions for your mouth to adjust to the intricacies of the flavour.
But with roasted Oolongs or darker teas I will definately rinse. I heard of one guy that rinses his green oolongs 3 times...which worries me slightly...
Re: Anyone brew in a gaiwan?
Yesterday I sat down with some Spring 2009 Green Dong Ding. I decided that I would use my thin walled porcelain Gaiwan alongside a small Yixing to see the difference that it made to the tea.
Before yesterday I had only ever infused this tea (and most of my green oolongs) in a Gaiwan; the result being a floral, light and very sweet taste with hints of honey that continued throughout the infusions. Generally I liked the tea, but it didn't rate as high as the Shan Lin Shi or Da Yu Ling I also have. Don't get me wrong it was a great experience, but it lacked the diversity of others.
Anyhow I decided I would try this Dong Ding in my Yixing, generally expecting similar results. I couldn't have been more wrong! The Yixing opened up a totally different side to this tea that the Gaiwan didn't even hint towards. The Yixing still brought out the sweet floral notes, but with a far far smoother fuller body than that which was produced in the Gaiwan. It even had a very slight buttery taste, but no way close to a DYL.
I brewed the tea in the Yixing today and had similar results.
For me the Gaiwan was an indication, an introduction to what this tea had to offer, but it was only through the yixing that the tea began to reveal itself in full. I felt the Gaiwan only scraped the top soil, so to speak, whilst the yixing really dug deep and explored the complexities.
On an interesting note, the gaiwan produced 5 decent infusions, while the yixing (using the same quantity of tea) produced 8. In the latter infusions the tea really benefitted from the yixings ability to retain the heat, helping extract the flavours that the gaiwan simply failed to do
Craig
Before yesterday I had only ever infused this tea (and most of my green oolongs) in a Gaiwan; the result being a floral, light and very sweet taste with hints of honey that continued throughout the infusions. Generally I liked the tea, but it didn't rate as high as the Shan Lin Shi or Da Yu Ling I also have. Don't get me wrong it was a great experience, but it lacked the diversity of others.
Anyhow I decided I would try this Dong Ding in my Yixing, generally expecting similar results. I couldn't have been more wrong! The Yixing opened up a totally different side to this tea that the Gaiwan didn't even hint towards. The Yixing still brought out the sweet floral notes, but with a far far smoother fuller body than that which was produced in the Gaiwan. It even had a very slight buttery taste, but no way close to a DYL.
I brewed the tea in the Yixing today and had similar results.
For me the Gaiwan was an indication, an introduction to what this tea had to offer, but it was only through the yixing that the tea began to reveal itself in full. I felt the Gaiwan only scraped the top soil, so to speak, whilst the yixing really dug deep and explored the complexities.
On an interesting note, the gaiwan produced 5 decent infusions, while the yixing (using the same quantity of tea) produced 8. In the latter infusions the tea really benefitted from the yixings ability to retain the heat, helping extract the flavours that the gaiwan simply failed to do
Craig