Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

[debunix]

Ginger Flower Fragrance Dan Cong from Tea Habitat.

[brad4419]

Anxi Benshan in my cup now.

Do most benshans have broken leaves and fannings in them or did I get a low grade? Its farely astringent but not too bad a taste.

[gingkoseto]

Anxi Benshan in my cup now.

Do most benshans have broken leaves

Many modern green style benshan, TGY and similar kind of curled southern Fujian oolong have relatively broken leaves (compared with products made with more traditional products), because in processing the leaves, the tea workers take a step to hit hard the bag holding tea to the ground. This step is to remove red edges resulting from oxidation. Some top grade modern style products also have relatively complete leaves. The leave condition may or may not correlate to overall grade of the tea.

[Tead Off]

Anxi Benshan in my cup now.

Do most benshans have broken leaves

Many modern green style benshan, TGY and similar kind of curled southern Fujian oolong have relatively broken leaves (compared with products made with more traditional products), because in processing the leaves, the tea workers take a step to hit hard the bag holding tea to the ground. This step is to remove red edges resulting from oxidation. Some top grade modern style products also have relatively complete leaves. The leave condition may or may not correlate to overall grade of the tea.

True, true. Drank an excellent roasted TGY last night with mostly broken leaves.

[subdude1]

Currently enjoying FLT Muzha TGY. My first two sessions with this tea didn't thrill me, but tonight my brewing was spot on
Really nice tea if you like heavier roasted oolongs.

[Victoria]

Just finished off the last of my stashes of Camellia Sinensis Pinglin BaoZhong. Some real nice cinnamon notes here. Lovely.

[kymidwife]

I got my first shipment from Yunnan Sourcing yesterday, including my first "real" yixing. So, I have been practicing with proper gongfu. I seasoned the pot a bit according to Stephane's post on his blog, and I broke out the Fancy TGY. I am still giggling to myself over this whole thing... I filled the pot up about 3/4 with leaf... did a flash rinse, and then started my infusions. The first 2 were really good, and by the 3rd, the leaves were totally up out of the pot. I could tell they were not unfurling properly, so I removed ohhhh about half of the leaf.. and did another infusion... and now the pot is full to the brim with leaf again!
Anyway... the TGY is very good... I started with the Fancy but I also have the better grade, I think it is called Premium. I wanted to start with the lesser grade and work my way up. I have a feeling I will be having TGY all day from just this first batch of ever-expanding leaves.

Sarah

[LauraW]

I got my first shipment from Yunnan Sourcing yesterday, including my first "real" yixing. So, I have been practicing with proper gongfu. I seasoned the pot a bit according to Stephane's post on his blog, and I broke out the Fancy TGY. I am still giggling to myself over this whole thing... I filled the pot up about 3/4 with leaf... did a flash rinse, and then started my infusions. The first 2 were really good, and by the 3rd, the leaves were totally up out of the pot. I could tell they were not unfurling properly, so I removed ohhhh about half of the leaf.. and did another infusion... and now the pot is full to the brim with leaf again!
Anyway... the TGY is very good... I started with the Fancy but I also have the better grade, I think it is called Premium. I wanted to start with the lesser grade and work my way up. I have a feeling I will be having TGY all day from just this first batch of ever-expanding leaves.

Sarah

This somehow reminds me of that fake snow that comes in a little jar and you put some water and it just keeps overflowing the container the more water you add... maybe that's just me.

[wyardley]

I filled the pot up about 3/4 with leaf... did a flash rinse, and then started my infusions. The first 2 were really good, and by the 3rd, the leaves were totally up out of the pot. I could tell they were not unfurling properly, so I removed ohhhh about half of the leaf.. and did another infusion... and now the pot is full to the brim with leaf again!

You may not want to use quite as much as 3/4 full if it's a lower fire Tieguanyin. But there's no need to remove leaf simply because the leaves are being compressed. I know everyone says that the leaves should have room to expand, and that's a good general rule of thumb, but in this case, you want the leaves to be squeezing each other somewhat, and even pushing the lid out of the pot.

I don't think you will have good results with this method unless the pot is fairly small, under 140 ml or so (not to mention that if the pot is any bigger, you'll be going through tea leaf insanely quickly).

If you're brewing this strong, drink in small quantities and don't do too many brews - maybe 3 or 4, 5 at most. Take the leaves out and brew them in a bigger pot later if you don't want to waste good tea.

[kymidwife]

Thanks wyardley, I hadn't even thought of pulling the leaf out and brewing in a larger pot later. Also hadn't thought of benefit to the leaves being packed in. I'm not used to the tiny pot size yet... this one is 130 ml.

On with the experiments!

Sarah

[debunix]

Drinking some 2009 Summer Ali Shan High Mountain Beauty from Norbu. Mellow and nice, not as sweet or strong as the spring or fall versions, but lovely.

[tenuki]

Some aged baozhong, yum.

[Victoria]

NCTG Iron Goddess King - past its prime, but still drinkable.

[tenuki]

NCTG Iron Goddess King - past its prime, but still drinkable.

Time to break out the rice cooker!

[Victoria]

I was definitely thinking of you. I guess I'll give something a try. I have about 40g.