Adagio's new Ali Shan

[daughteroftheKing]

Thank you for the reviews. It sounds like an oolong I'd like so I'd better break down and order a sample.

[wyardley]

I am one who tries not to discuss tea brewing methodology in absolutes. What works for one, may not always work for all. Personal tastes also come into play as well. If I decide I enjoy a tea brewed nonconventionally, so be it.

Of course... I'm not trying to say that it's not a good idea to do what tastes best to you.

However, I do think boiling water is a good *starting* point for this style of tea, and if the tea is not the highest grade or doesn't taste good that way to you, you can always back off a little. That way, you can ensure that you're not missing out on something by not using boiling water (which is possible), and you will also get the leaves open more quickly.

[Chip]

However, I do think boiling water is a good *starting* point for this style of tea, and if the tea is not the highest grade or doesn't taste good that way to you, you can always back off a little. That way, you can ensure that you're not missing out on something by not using boiling water (which is possible), and you will also get the leaves open more quickly.

When you say boiling water, do you also preheat your brewing vessel with boiling water first?

BTW, purchased as 5 ounces, this works out to 20 cents per gram making it a very good everyday drinker as well. This will work out to less than 10 cents per steep.

I think this could also be brewed very casually making it good for work or even travel.

[scruffmcgruff]

When you say boiling water, do you also preheat your brewing vessel with boiling water first?

I know you're not asking me, but I usually do. Boiling water never seems to leave the "scalded" taste on greener oolongs (even baozhong) like it does with greens. I use a lot of leaf, ~30s infusions, and it comes out great.

[Chip]

Thanks Scruff. I will try it all 3 ways.

Thanx wyardley for your claification.

[wyardley]

When you say boiling water, do you also preheat your brewing vessel with boiling water first?

I bring the water to more or less a full boil, preheat everything & rinse the cups (though I'll preheat the outside of the pot with somewhat warm water first if it's a delicate pot). Then, depending on how lazy I'm feeling and how quickly all the rinsing went, I'll put the dry leaves in the pot, and either pour the water over leaves immediately, or quickly bring the water back to a boil, let it calm for a second, and then pour it in. I have heard from at least one person that you should let the water settle down (i.e., just off a rolling boil), but I don't know what temperature that works out to.

As to how close I actually get to 212 degrees F, I've never really measured with a thermometer. But I have found that a lot of teas (most oolongs, as another poster mentioned) seem to be able to handle pretty high temperatures without any unpleasantness.

BTW, since no one else seems to have, in this thread at least, I'll link to Guang's brewing guide for high mountain teas. For the record, he suggests 205 degrees. From my limited experience measuring temperatures, my bet is that if you bring the water to a full boil, it'll probably already be down near 205 by the time you pour.

http://houdeblog.com/?p=136

[taitea]

it'll probably already be down near 205 by the time you pour.

Or at least by the time the water hits the leaves...

I'm curious as to why "just off rolling boil" is better than water that is actually boiling.

[Salsero]

I'm curious as to why "just off rolling boil" is better than water that is actually boiling.

I've always figured it was to make sure that people don't think you mean to actually boil the leaves in the water.

[murrius]

Brewing tea is like making wine, exept it only takes a few minutes. I find with oolong I like the water to be approaching the boiling point. I usually drink sencha so oolong never seems astringent to me.

Now I'm craving a pot of Dong Ding!

[Chip]

Brewing tea is like making wine, exept it only takes a few minutes. I find with oolong I like the water to be approaching the boiling point. I usually drink sencha so oolong never seems astringent to me.

Now I'm craving a pot of Dong Ding!

Now I am craving sencha ... and oolong.

Off boil has meant that either the water has been boiling and now it is no longer making any noise, or it is almost boiling. The almost boiling thing gets too complicated for me to interpret buble sizes, etc, so I generally bring to a full boil.

[ABx]

Finally people that agree with me about using boiling water with oolongs I've generally found that using boiled water in preheated vessels brings out the most in oolongs; including aroma. As scruff mentioned, I've even found this in baozhong.

I first discovered this when making Yinya (baozhong with silver tips) for a friend. I brewed mine in a thin porcelain gaiwan and his in a yixing, and I noticed that his was coming out a bit richer and more aromatic - generally more well rounded.

[CynTEAa]

Yesterday I tried the Alishan with boiling water for 2 min for the first infusion, just to see what would happen. (preheated gaiwan) And it was... fine! Not astringent at all. Lovely bouquet with elegant notes of sweetness and a fruit blossom like floral note. I'm quite happy with this!

[ChildOfNight]

I am not a fan of astringent tea. I never have this problem with Ali Shan, and just got some from Adagio. I guess I use a slightly heaping teaspoon for 8-10 ounces of water at 190 degrees. I do the wake up steep for about 5-10 seconds, as this does make a difference. 3 minute steep on first infusion, 4 mins second infusion, and 5 mins for a 3rd and 4th. I was puzzled at the 212 (boiling) water temp it said to use on the tin. The first Ali Shan I ever got was through the Rishi tea website. The page is no longer up for Ali Shan as they had run out, however it would state to use temps of 190 degrees. I am kind of wanting to try the boiling point, but also wonder, as this form of oolong looks more delicate than others, if the boiling point could be bad for it. I suppose the taste says it all. The consistant information I have come across seems to say that black tea is really the form you should be using boiling water on. White, green, and oolongs are mostly under 200 degrees

[gingkoseto]

I vaguely remember there are some debates about temperature of greener oolongs. But I always feel safer using fully boiling water for all oolongs, high mountain or not, and keep everything as hot as possible.

But one day I was super lazy, didn't feel having the energy of even boiling the water, and used some warm water (probably only around 70C or 160F) from my thermo-pot to brew a post-winter tea si ji chun, and it turned out very nice. I normally hot-brew this tea for about 4-5 infusions, and always love it. With lower temperature, its taste gets lighter and lasts more infusions.

I have another si ji chun that is terrible when brewed normally but wonderful when cold brewed. But I haven't tried to use warm water to brew it. I guess for some teas, lower temperature can restrictively extract the good taste without dissolving out the bitterness.