Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

[ethan]

I do like LiShan, but like with most gaoshan it really depends on processing (obviously!). At its best it can be spectacular. Somewhat oxidised to increase body and aftertaste, but without getting that overwhelmingly sweet corn taste. I'm a bit sensitive to it, and find it can quickly drown other tastes and aromas if overdone. When trying a few different 2017 high mountain teas recently, I actually preferred the lighter ShanLiXi, which in this case was far greener and more nose than body, to the heavy sweetness of the Lishan/DaYuLing. Generally it's the other way around.

I noticed we have similariites is characteristics that we like. A

[Bok]

Thanks! I'll put together an order.

I do like LiShan, but like with most gaoshan it really depends on processing (obviously!). At its best it can be spectacular. Somewhat oxidised to increase body and aftertaste, but without getting that overwhelmingly sweet corn taste. I'm a bit sensitive to it, and find it can quickly drown other tastes and aromas if overdone. When trying a few different 2017 high mountain teas recently, I actually preferred the lighter ShanLiXi, which in this case was far greener and more nose than body, to the heavy sweetness of the Lishan/DaYuLing. Generally it's the other way around.

Depends on where you get your Shanlinxi from, I have had some from the highest points of SLX (Tsuifeng) and those had a lot of punch, more similar to a Lishan or Dayuling. Anyways all three are good, just Alishan is mostly a no for me…

[Bok]

On a tangent: does anyone have thoughts on teapot size for rolled oolongs? I have a round, flattish teapot that measures 140ml when empty, and yields about 60-70ml once the leaves have fully expanded. This suits me fine, but several other aspects of the teapot less so. I'm considering getting a taller teapot for Taiwanese oolongs, and am debating size. An average output of 70ml would suit me fine. Would 100ml do, or 150ml be better?

I have bad experience with taller/tallish pots, they tend not to let the leaves expand upwards to well. I like them as they can be pretty, but not such good performers.

Flatter or perfect round is best. Be careful with sizes though, too small and it gets cramped very quickly. Some premium high mountain teas expand quite a lot. You might say it is a matter of proportioning downwards, but somehow some pots can get too small to get the best out of a tea. I tned to go between 150-200ml. Smaller ones I use for straight leaves tea. Small pots with rolled oolong might in the end only give you one tiny cup when fully estended which is way to little for my thirst…

[MarcusReed]

This afternoon I boiled up some Zhengyan RouGui. I used about 15 grams of leaf to 16 oz spring water. The tea had been infused earlier today today about 7-8 times.
With the boiled brew I found the taste wasn't as strong as using fresh not previously brewed leaf, but the remainder of what I normally don't consume was very pleasant.

The color was deep red, almost burgundy in lower lighting. I found the taste to be a nice, mellow, and easy drinking yancha experience.
This particular tea was roasted about 5 months ago by my partner and his family in China, but thankfully not too strong as it has rested just enough in my opinion.

[victoria3]

This afternoon I boiled up some Zhengyan RouGui. I used about 15 grams of leaf to 16 oz spring water. The tea had been infused earlier today today about 7-8 times.
With the boiled brew I found the taste wasn't as strong as using fresh not previously brewed leaf, but the remainder of what I normally don't consume was very pleasant.

The color was deep red, almost burgundy in lower lighting. I found the taste to be a nice, mellow, and easy drinking yancha experience.
This particular tea was roasted about 5 months ago by my partner and his family in China, but thankfully not too strong as it has rested just enough in my opinion.

Interesting, I sometimes also boil the last steep although more often I let the last steep sit overnight, the results are smooth. Did you steep the previous 7-8 times also using 16oz each time?

[victoria3]

Enjoying TeaFul's AliShan on a rainy afternoon in Annapolis on the Chesapeake Bay. Really smooth buttery aroma and flavor, steeped thick at 11gr/220ml/205f/60sec. in a porcelain kyusu, with my traveling Seifu Yohei III cup, and wine decanters. TeaFul is a Los Angeles based small artisanal Tea company.

IMG_1990.JPG

[victoria3]

I did something pretty dumb this morning; since I'm traveling lately I've just been preheating my Hokujo kyusu, then placing heated kyusu on gram scale, taring to 0, and adding roasted oolong to measure grams. I didn't account for steam coming off pot into tea bag as I pour. Upps. Lucking it's a small bag and almost finished but I won't be doing this again, back to measuring with a separate dry vessel, or just using a spoon.

For a few days I didn't preheat the kyusu and really missed the aroma coming off dry leaves after given them a twirl in the heated kyusu, plus I found the resulting liquor was not as thick or rich.

[plod]

I did something pretty dumb this morning; since I'm traveling lately I've just been preheating my Hokujo kyusu, then placing heated kyusu on gram scale, taring to 0, and adding roasted oolong to measure grams. I didn't account for steam coming off pot into tea bag as I pour. Upps. Lucking it's a small bag and almost finished but I won't be doing this again, back to measuring with a separate dry vessel, or just using a spoon.

I've done this several times. Slow learner, I guess. Most times the victims were just ends-of-bags, brought along while travelling or visiting family. Worse was accidentally steaming 100 grams of a rather good, very lightly oxidized Alishan. Its main feature had been aroma and freshness, so finishing the bag became a bit of a chore. I now always use some sort of cha he or spoon.

[dizzo]

Enjoying TeaFul's AliShan on a rainy afternoon in Annapolis on the Chesapeake Bay. Really smooth buttery aroma and flavor, steeped thick at 11gr/220ml/205f/60sec. in a porcelain kyusu, with my traveling Seifu Yohei III cup, and wine decanters. TeaFul is a Los Angeles based small artisanal Tea company. IMG_1990.JPG

Love the kyusu! looks related to my work pot. Where did you get it?

[Tennessee Dave]

Open now I am enjoying Naivetea's Da Yu Ling and American Tea Room's Dong Ding and Oriental Beauty.

[victoria3]

Enjoying TeaFul's AliShan on a rainy afternoon in Annapolis on the Chesapeake Bay. Really smooth buttery aroma and flavor, steeped thick at 11gr/220ml/205f/60sec. in a porcelain kyusu, with my traveling Seifu Yohei III cup, and wine decanters. TeaFul is a Los Angeles based small artisanal Tea company. IMG_1990.JPG

Love the kyusu! looks related to my work pot. Where did you get it?

I got it at a local resale shop to keep when I visit Annapolis. My guess is it is pre-50's Japanese. Your's looks nice too.

p.s. Teachat is having issues with pictures attached- I see your's is a tinny size too. It is hard to see details to compare with such low resolution. I have tried to contact admin since yesterday with no reply. Hello anyone listening

[dizzo]

Ya, I had to use a different method to get this picture posted. I thought it was just me. Odd

[MarcusReed]

DaHongPao. Not the true varietal but what my supplier sells as DaHongPao which I am told is not a blend and is not BeiDou.
For me it is good tea, knowing exactly what it is maybe isn't possible in this case..

[MarcusReed]

This afternoon I boiled up some Zhengyan RouGui. I used about 15 grams of leaf to 16 oz spring water. The tea had been infused earlier today today about 7-8 times.
With the boiled brew I found the taste wasn't as strong as using fresh not previously brewed leaf, but the remainder of what I normally don't consume was very pleasant.

The color was deep red, almost burgundy in lower lighting. I found the taste to be a nice, mellow, and easy drinking yancha experience.
This particular tea was roasted about 5 months ago by my partner and his family in China, but thankfully not too strong as it has rested just enough in my opinion.

Interesting, I sometimes also boil the last steep although more often I let the last steep sit overnight, the results are smooth. Did you steep the previous 7-8 times also using 16oz each time?

Yes I had ceremony which lasted about 8 infusions before I ran outta water.
I've started saving all my "used" leaves and even started mixing differing ones together.
Quite awesome that there's new levels of appreciation to tea leaf i've been previously just tossing away.

[plod]

Received a bag of Wu Ling from Tea from Taiwan a few days ago. Have had three sessions, but none of them impressed me much. I'm still hoping the tea is just sleepy after its journey, and will blossom after a longer period of acclimatization.

Tried twice with a fairly generous amount of leaf and around 50s for first steep, then increased to 1.20, 2, 3, 5 minutes. Brews had ok body and thickness, but low on flavor.

Third session today, trying to coax out some aromatics in a porcelain gaiwan, with about 1g/15ml and shorter steeps - 30s, 20s, 25s, 1 min, 2min....and it was nice, fresh, light. I won't have much trouble finishing the bag, but I'm really hoping for something more. From what I've seen this far, it reminds me of a pretty standard green, floral oolong, and I can get tea as good as this for carefree brewing a lot cheaper. On the other hand, I've had taiwanese oolongs before that seemed mediocre, but turned good once I figured out how to brew them (usually: more leaf, longer steeps). I'll let it wake up for a few more days, and try again.

Anybody have experience with this tea?