Da Yu Ling

[puerhking]

I'm sure some of you have heard about the uprooting of plantations in DYL. Stephane from Tea Masters shows the damage and how getting the real thing is now next to impossible.

http://teamasters.blogspot.com/2015/05/ ... d-joy.html

[BioHorn]

A shame to hear of such tea being uprooted, but It is nice to hear they are enforcing a protected area for this unique and sensitive habitat.

[Tead Off]

I remember posting on here a few years back that this was in the works. TeaHome informed me about this.

[jayinhk]

Thanks for sharing this. I was invited to hang kht in Nantou by a tea vendor, and his father is a tea farmer. His oolong is decent, but not the really good stuff. I wonder what his 'DYL' really was...

[Bok]

getting the real thing is now next to impossible.

It has been very unlikely before that already, I doubt much real DYL made it out of Taiwan… the very best grades never even make it to the open market, they go directly to the people with power and connections. Sadly for most of us it will remain one of those mythical teas, which many talk about, but few ever taste.

That said, I am quite happy to drink the “lower” teas, maybe a good thing not to know what heaven tastes like, difficult to go back to normal teas afterwards.

Have been drinking my way “up the mountain” bit by bit, slowly getting expensive When I go home to Europe I can’t take any of the teas there anylonger… tea snobbism I guess

On the positive side, land erosion in then mountains of Taiwan is a big problem, after every big rain, big rock and earth slides come down and often destroy the livelihoods of people or even kill them. Good thing that the government takes steps to protect the nature, a thing which is not seen often in Asia!

[Tead Off]

Good thing that the government takes steps to protect the nature, a thing which is not seen often in Asia!

This is usually directly related to the overall economy of a country. Poorer countries either don't have the resources to allocate to these 'essential' protective schemes, or the funds are siphoned off into the pockets of the officials.

[ethan]

Saw this old thread when skimming through oolong posts & it brought up some questions. In Taiwan dayuling was for sale. I bought 150 grams of an organic Spring 2015 which was the only green oolong that I really liked (not because I tasted bad teas but because I don't really enjoy green oolong). I joked at the shop, Dr Chen, about it being fairly good for not being 105, some kind of designation for how high up the mountain; & now because of erosion etc. 105 is not producing tea. Today I took the tea to friends at Tea-Village in Pattaya where it was prepared in a gaiwan which gave us a drink that we all felt was special. I did not spoil the moment by mentioning Mrs. Chen had done better w/ a porcelain bowl & spoon than we had done w/ the gaiwan. Also Mrs. Chen was not emptying the bowl of all the tea from one infusion before adding hot water for another. (She did serve almost all of an infusion before adding water usually.)
Has anyone prepared dayuling (or other oolong) this way?

[Tead Off]

There are many ways to brew tea that give good results. I remember some years ago, reading on Teachat, a post from someone talking about reserving some of the tea in a gaiwan for the next brew. I've never done this but I can see the logic in it. The trick is to get the next brew to where it's optimum taking into account the already more intense flavor of the reserved brew. It adds something to the next brew. Gongfu brewing is not the 'only' way to brew oolongs.

[debunix]

Da Yu Ling and other Taiwanese mountain oolongs have been such brilliant teas for me because they accept such different brewing conditions: my favorite tea for going mobile on warmer days is a less expensive version from WHF that is brilliant when I brew it concentrated in a small gaiwan 5 minutes then pour leaves and all into a much larger volume of cool water and let it sit for 30-60 minutes; the best grandpa style teas I've brewed yet have been DYLs from Origin and Norbu; and I got a really fine series of infusions from Taiwan Sourcing's 2015 DYL yesterday when brewing with leaf to pack the pot, deliberately overdoing the time, then diluting to about 3 times the volume with fresh hot water, in order to fill my pitcher to carry tea to my tea buddies up and down the office hallway. I put a little more water in, filling the pot halfway, while delivering the tea, and added fresh hot water to fill the pot when I was done. My 2nd brew might have been better than the shared version.

I'm not sure it's always better that way, but it's lovely that it shines however I brew it.

[jayinhk]

I've only recently realized that gaoshan does well when grandpa brewed. You get a much fuller cup than with gongfu brewing, but you don't get to watch the tea evolve through the infusions. Still, I think I'll grandpa gaoshan more often as I like the results too! I saw a lot of stacked infusions of gaoshan in Taiwan and it definitely makes for a fuller cup.

[Bok]

I joked at the shop, Dr Chen, about it being fairly good for not being 105, some kind of designation for how high up the mountain

Bare in mind that in my oppinion (as much as I cherish that shop), what they sold me and you is most likely not genuine DYL. The price just doesn’t add up… Although they have very good tea for very reasonable prices, compared to many other places in Taiwan, it is too cheap to be true. It’s still good tea and the prize is still fair for the quality of the tea, just ignore what the name on the label says.

For comparison, anything under 5000/6000 NT per jing can simply not be real DYL. It might be from the vicinity. And that is the price range down South. Expect at least three times that sum in the Taipei area.

If – and that is a big if – the shop owners will even offer it at all.
I’ve said it before, the top grades of DYL never even enter the commercial circuit.

If I could ever lay hands on that quality, I am not sure I would grandpa it, or take any other brewing experiments…

[debunix]

The lovely thing about grandpa brewing even some very fine mountain oolong is that just a dozen or two rolled up leaves will fill a good-sized chawan several times with delicious brew. It feels like a little goes such a loooong way, especially if I leave the leaves overnight for one last long cool infusion to get every bit of goodness from the leaves.

[ethan]

These comments on dayuling & preparing gaoshan & other oolong are useful & interesting. I am going to try leaving some tea of earlier infusions to mix w/ following infusions. I have a small gaiwan care of John B that should be the perfect size for experiments & some tiny yixing pots from barter w/ Steanze that will not waste much if I go awry. TeaChatters to the rescue once more.

Yes, Bok, I don't pay too much attention to what tea is called nor the stories & try to concentrate on sampling.

I do hope "organic" really is organic; &, that the tea that goes into the package is the same I sampled. The arrangements & activity at some teashops don't make it easy or even possible sometimes to see that tea sampled is coming from the same container from which orders are filled.

[Bok]

.Yes, Bok, I don't pay too much attention to what tea is called nor the stories & try to concentrate on sampling.

I do hope "organic" really is organic; &, that the tea that goes into the package is the same I sampled.

That I can confirm, my teas always where of the same quality at home as when I tasted them in the shop! That kind of cheating happens more often in Taiwan if one tries to buy it up in the mountain with the farmers themselves and their roadside shops…

Organic is a different topic, not sure if the same standards apply or are enforced the same in Taiwan as they are in the EU. I imagine it also very difficult to shield one’s farm against whatever they are spraying on their produce.