Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

[Rui]

Sipping a Shui Xian from Wu Yi region for a change from my usual raw pu'er tea.

[ethan]

7 years oolong again: mentioning it because it is more flavorful today, more impressive.

At home I use tea caddies for amounts of tea to be used for 2 - 3 weeks, but now am just removing tea from foil pouches; however, since I am preparing the teas daily & some twice daily, the leaves are getting a fair amount of air as in a caddy that breathes a bit. Do you think as these teas adjust & air, they are opening up?

[BW85]

7 years oolong again: mentioning it because it is more flavorful today, more impressive.

At home I use tea caddies for amounts of tea to be used for 2 - 3 weeks, but now am just removing tea from foil pouches; however, since I am preparing the teas daily & some twice daily, the leaves are getting a fair amount of air as in a caddy that breathes a bit. Do you think as these teas adjust & air, they are opening up?

I think that's very likely. I'm pretty sure kyarazen has written about this somewhere, and I have experienced it myself.

[Frisbeehead]

7 years oolong again: mentioning it because it is more flavorful today, more impressive.

At home I use tea caddies for amounts of tea to be used for 2 - 3 weeks, but now am just removing tea from foil pouches; however, since I am preparing the teas daily & some twice daily, the leaves are getting a fair amount of air as in a caddy that breathes a bit. Do you think as these teas adjust & air, they are opening up?

I think that's very likely. I'm pretty sure kyarazen has written about this somewhere, and I have experienced it myself.

Yup Kyarazen mentioned it on his blog post about traditional dong ding. I have experienced it as well, with roasted dong ding. I put a small amount, 10-25g, in a small porcelain tea caddy (holds like 30-40g max) that is not completely air tight. When it first went in, I gave it a whiff, and the roast smell was dominant for the most part. After some time in the caddy, however, the more fruity smells started to become prominent and the roast smell smoothed out a bit. Right now it's pretty dry and cold where I live, so it takes a while for the tea to awaken.

[Tead Off]

I find ceramic caddys best for these types of oolongs like the ones from Seong il. Not trying to push these, just share what I've come to observe. I keep all my rolled oolongs in these and am really surprised at how long they will keep their properties.

[debunix]

Curious about what you think is the key to a caddy that helps a tea best: size? glaze interior? glaze exterior? tight fitting lid? Inner + outer lid?

I've seen lots of variations on these themes, and having nearly all the pots and cups that I could ever use, have been pondering having a couple of nice caddies around.....

Today, I'm enjoying some 2015 Spring Jin Xuan Golden Lily from Taiwan Sourcing: lush spring unroasted tea. I generally keep these teas as tightly sealed as I can, rolling over the tops of the inner vacuum bags, and sealing them inside a resealable pouch leftover from other teas. If a caddy would help their quality even a little bit, that's a pleasing excuse to go for something like this beauty...

[Tead Off]

Curious about what you think is the key to a caddy that helps a tea best: size? glaze interior? glaze exterior? tight fitting lid? Inner + outer lid?

All the caddys I use are pretty much high fired. They are either stoneware or porcelain, even the onggi mixes are high fired because they are mixed with stoneware and need a certain temp to work. I have put rolled oolongs in both types of material. Honestly, I have a hard time telling if there is a difference. None of them are 'airtight' and some of the oolongs that have been in them for a few years are still delicious. Most of the caddys I use are glazed inside. Some have inner lids but I can't tell the difference between having an inner lid or not having one. The main thing is to keep moisture out of them.

Generally, my use of caddys are for teas that will be drunk within several months. Happily, I've noticed that the teas can usually be kept far longer than a few months.

[kyarazen]

it remains sophisticated but nevertheless fun to explore.

if you have tried purion for storing green pu-erh tea, the tea will appear to have "aged" faster, but become much thinner in body. the effect is as though some water/moisture had been drawn away from the tea, but yet mildly permeable to air. in one of my experiments, i have observed that a 12% water content tea leaf, in a sealed purion vessel for months, had its water content reduced to about 9%.

correspondingly if you do a side by side experiment with a porcelain vessel, the porcelain vessel's tea (green pu-erh) will remain rather loud, ringy, and the brew is juicier. since the porcelain vessel is quite impermeable to water, if you put in a tea leaves that has about 12% water content, there's no loss nor exchange at all, it maintains that water content indefinitely when sealed.

Curious about what you think is the key to a caddy that helps a tea best: size? glaze interior? glaze exterior? tight fitting lid? Inner + outer lid?

I've seen lots of variations on these themes, and having nearly all the pots and cups that I could ever use, have been pondering having a couple of nice caddies around.....

[debunix]

Thanks. Food for thought....

[jayinhk]

High fire muzha TGY in my new modern zhuni pot. Much nicer than out of porcelain--both smoother and more aromatic.

[ethan]

Thanks for information about tea caddies. It is helpful. Sometimes it seems an extravagance to have bought them, since tea tins should protect tea quite, but I do believe something good happens to tea in a ceramic caddy.

So what I can I say that is useful. I prepared tea in a bowl today. The white tea which is not long, whole leaves was too messy for it.

The 7 years oolong was easy to make & fun to watch. The leaves unfolded quite quickly; &, as I watched, I enjoyed the aroma. The beverage tasted much less like an Oriental Beauty & more like high-roasted oolong. Spice notes were missing; strong taste of roasting prevailed. So much difference from a different method of preparation!

[jayinhk]

Hui Minority tea. My brother was given sachets of this tea at a hotel in Macau, packed by Fook Ming Tong, a HK tea store. They used TGY for the base, which doesn't seem traditional. Can't wait to try it!

https://www.chinatour360.com/culture/et ... ps/hui.htm

[jayinhk]

Lishan from Bok. This tea is wonderful in my new modern zhuni pot and at lower temperature (85-90 Celsius). I'm stacking infusions today, which I saw a lot of vendors do in Taipei, and it definitely seems to improve the brew significantly. Sweet cantaloupe with pleasant mild sourness and a touch of milk even. This pot seems to do exactly what I wanted it to--I'm a happy camper. The taste and sweetness linger for quite a while too.

[ethan]

Jay, you don't expect us to have kept track of all of your teapots, do you?

I am amazed that you can.

So, is the non-authentic pot from Taipei getting used?

I stack when I have made mistakes. I will try it purposefully.

Cheers

[jayinhk]

Ethan, those who are following the eBay Yixing thread know which one I'm talking about

I haven't found a tea that does well in the Taiwan pot. I feel it might do well with traditional shu pu erh since it tends to mute aroma. I may eBay it off if I can't find a tea to fit it or if I have an existing pot that does better.