Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

[BW85]

Dancong this afternoon as well. Snow orchid from tea hong. So very fragrant, crisp and delicious. Pleasantly dry

[the_economist]

Love the pot!

Thanks!

[Tead Off]

Dancong this afternoon as well. Snow orchid from tea hong. So very fragrant, crisp and delicious. Pleasantly dry

Yes, an interesting tea!

[daintydimsum]

I was considering getting some to try! What notes do you get from this tea? (Also, lovely lovely pictures and set up!)

not too sure if this information would be any useful to you but this is my personal type of "tea record/profiling", and the particular record for Hojo's Lao Cong guihua dancong brewed CZ style, ratio around 1g/10ml, boiling hot water, quick steeps. standard cha-dan with no crushing in the middle gives the following profile



the light green vapory notes of the tea with hints of osmanthus floats on the surface of the brew, the scent hit you just before the sip. in the mouth, these notes then transition to a dominant honeyed orchid just as the "yun" of the tea kicks in and starts to rise exponentially. the yun reaches a saturation as the mouth feels comes in on the thick lingering sweetness with a light bitter at the back of the throat.

it is possible to "save" on this tea by using half the leaf quantity if desired (since this tea is around $6/gram), compensating with a slightly longer brew time, but in my single experiment the "yun" of the tea dropped significantly to around 30%, the tea's aromatic/taste profile became a bit more central shifted, not as intense/quick, and due to the longer steep, the tail end had a little bit of roughness, which i should have discarded than have it go into a cup

hah amazing graph! it sounds like a fascinating tea. I ordered some of his first flush to try, and am now considering adding this on.

to be on topic though, I just tried tea-masters' Spring 2013 Organic Baozhong. lovely, especially on a hot day -- it's very light and refreshing, perfumed and clean.

[wert]

Feeding on the buzz, I tried to brew dancong again.

Still not quite sure if I brew this tea right. It has a floral aroma, but mainly sweet notes, with a noticeable but not unpleasant bitter aftertaste. Need some practice and experience, but at least there is some degree of similarity with the graph posted.

IMG_20140818_141747 (640x480).jpg (26.6 KiB) Viewed 1604 times

[Poseidon]

hah amazing graph! it sounds like a fascinating tea. I ordered some of his first flush to try, and am now considering adding this on.

to be on topic though, I just tried tea-masters' Spring 2013 Organic Baozhong. lovely, especially on a hot day -- it's very light and refreshing, perfumed and clean.

I have been sipping on the same tea from Tea-masters. Its quite good. If you brew with a slightly lower temp you can get some nice sweet floral notes.

[BW85]

Dancong this afternoon as well. Snow orchid from tea hong. So very fragrant, crisp and delicious. Pleasantly dry

Yes, an interesting tea!

One of the best winter harvest dancongs I've personally had the opportunity to experience I'm always impressed with their Oolong's in general

[daidokorocha]

Grandpa-style brewed some tieguanyin today and it was marvelous, except for when I burnt my tongue. Such beautiful leaves floating about though helped distract me from noticing how much pain I was in.

[Tead Off]

Dancong this afternoon as well. Snow orchid from tea hong. So very fragrant, crisp and delicious. Pleasantly dry

Yes, an interesting tea!

One of the best winter harvest dancongs I've personally had the opportunity to experience I'm always impressed with their Oolong's in general

Agreed. They have a very good selection of Yancha and Dancong. The owner seems to have a good feel for tea.

[Noonie]

Feeding on the buzz, I tried to brew dancong again.

Still not quite sure if I brew this tea right. It has a floral aroma, but mainly sweet notes, with a noticeable but not unpleasant bitter aftertaste. Need some practice and experience, but at least there is some degree of similarity with the graph posted.

IMG_20140818_141747 (640x480).jpg

That is how my dancong usually looks, and I would echo your tasting notes, though the bitterness varies for me, and I think with practice you can minimize it, and with it minimized the other flavors come through stronger. I'm still learning with this though.

[jayinhk]

Gongfu brewing green Anxi TGY I bought from a large tea and Chinese wine store down a side street in Haikou, Hainan last week. I dumped a full 8g into the gaiwan. Sweet, floral, fruity and even a hint of milk, but very different from anything I've had from Taiwan. This is decent TGY and it was properly stored in plastic and then vacuum sealed bags in the freezer to preserve it's quality. Very happy with it; it tastes better at home than it did at the store. No bitterness. I'm using water boiled on my gas stove in a stainless kettle.

[wert]

Feeding on the buzz, I tried to brew dancong again.

Still not quite sure if I brew this tea right. It has a floral aroma, but mainly sweet notes, with a noticeable but not unpleasant bitter aftertaste. Need some practice and experience, but at least there is some degree of similarity with the graph posted.

IMG_20140818_141747 (640x480).jpg

That is how my dancong usually looks, and I would echo your tasting notes, though the bitterness varies for me, and I think with practice you can minimize it, and with it minimized the other flavors come through stronger. I'm still learning with this though.

I think this bitterness is the most interesting part of the tea. It is not astringent, more of a bittersweet aftertaste. But of course, my skill is far too lacking to brew dancong well.

[Poseidon]

rsz_1rsz_20140820_175254.jpg (34.47 KiB) Viewed 1412 times

Some 2013 spring organic baozhong in my new porcelain shu ping pot. I love this little guy! Great pour, although it isnt particularly fast. Im gonna pick a few more of these up down the road.

[Risdt]

A TGY from last year, made and roasted by a teamaker I met in Taipei. He makes very traditional teas, exactly what i'm looking for: high oxidation and a generous roast.

[debunix]

Enjoying a session with 2007 Ba Xian dancong from TeaHabitat, one started last night, and now continuing where I left off this morning, with lovely floral gentle tea, just hinting at spiciness and the potential for bitterness if not respected, brewed up in the treebark pot (which continues to provide it's trademark scent experience, in addition to brewing up the tea).