gong fu black

[Dizzwave]

Hi all, apologies if this has been talked about in this forum already (I'm sure it has somewhat, but it's probably worth a rehash). I'm usually over there in the pu-erh forum, and have been drinking pretty much only pu-erh lately -- it's a tea I can drink all day without getting too wired -- but my wife is into good black tea, so I've been getting more exposed to that.

Well, this weekend, we tried some stuff I got her from Upton -- the Sichuan Zao Bei Jian Congou, I think it's called, and which I got based on good reviews on this site and on Upton's site. I'd tried it once or twice last week, brewed western style, and was kind of underwhelmed... So, this time we tried it gong fu style. A good heaping tablespoon or so into a little glass pot (175 ml?). And short steeps -- no more than 5 seconds for the first 3 or 4 steeps. The result was delicious!! Far more complex, sweet, smoky, all kinds of stuff. And each brew was subtly different from the others. (I should've known it'd be like that -- it's the same with pu-erh gong fu style.)

So today I'm drinking a Keemun Mao Feng (also from Upton), similar parameters: about a tablespoon of dry leaves in a 150ml gaiwan, ~5-10s steeps for the first few. Yummm, I'm getting some caramelly sweetness out of this one that I was definitely not finding with the western brew style.

So.. I think I might start exploring black teas a bit more now. Gong fu takes a bit more time and attention, but it's more fun and more tasty, IMO.
Anyone else do this with blacks?
-dave

[Janine]

Sounds great!

But I tend to brew Western style these days... in a glass teapot shaped like a gaiwan. So I think of it as a huge gaiwan.

I want to use enough water to let the leaves really swirl and then rest - I do experiment with time steeping. Then I watch the color with the glass.

But your descriptions are great... I'd love to hear more about successive steeping flavors, complexity and the teas you're trying. Excellent stuff.

[Dizzwave]

cool! I love those big glass gaiwans.
alright, if I do keep up with this, I'll certainly post some mini-reviews.

[Janine]

Thanks Dizz (are you a Dizzy Gillespie fan?)

I love reading your reviews of the teas you're trying too. I have almost never ordered anything online because I've been lucky to live near good tea shops.

However, I was considering Upton after another recommendation - and I am addicted black teas these days. So, as you review I'm considering ordering. So please keep it up... nice descriptions.

[Dizzwave]

Hey Janine,
Yeah, Dizzy is cool! Not where my name came from though. Anyway, I love ordering online.. kind of an addiction, but easy to keep under control when you can try samples, read reviews, etc.

I don't know black teas well.. I couldn't tell you what a TGFOP is, don't know darjeelings from assams from keemuns (well ok, maybe I'm getting to know Keemuns a little bit now).. so I'm probably not one to say "buy this tea!"

But I'll tell you that I really liked the Upton Keemun Mao Feng that I gong-fu'd today, and the Sichuan one as well. For non-gong-fu, my wife's favorite is the China Keemun (also Upton).

Anyway, thanks, I'll post more when I can.
-dave

[Janine]

Great, thanks! My addiction happens to be to China blacks - but I know next to nothing about others I haven't tried. So, the teas you're recommending are exactly what I'd like to try.

[Drax]

Dizz -- I think this is how I started to brew black teas initially... I actually discovered pu-erh before getting deeply into blacks, and so I brewed them w/ typical gong fu parameters in a pot. Although I admit my first set of infusions are usually on the order of 20-30s. I suppose at some point I should try this 5 second stuff.

In any case, I tried a little bit of the "less leaf, longer steep time" and wasn't that much more impressed. I'll probably continue to play around with parameters, but I usually like a pot to last awhile, and going "light and long" usually only lasts 2 or maybe 3 infusions for me... while going "heavy and short" I can get 8+...

[MarshalN]

Gongfu black is in fact how Chinese drink this stuff -- the sweetness I think is much more pronounced that way

[Janine]

mmm today I am drinking Tea Gallery's Keemun

At this stage (first steep) I'm realizing a raisiny smokiness that is indeed very yummy

[Proinsias]

I treat it pretty much the same as any other tea, well ok there are some expections.

Qimen is probably my favourite red tea so I have a little yixing about 100ml or so for it. Others get chucked in the 60ml gaiwan with a load of leaf, water gets poured on, wait a few seconds, taste the results and decide where to go from there.

As with most teas I love being able to shake some leaf into a gaiwan and over the next few hours or whatever try the tea super strong, super weak, in the middle and then find out what some boiling water for a few minutes does to some pretty tired leaves.

Adagio's Fujian Baroque has been the most fun to play with in this manner recently. I want more but the European site does not yet cater to my want.

Edit: the other plus I've found is that some cheaper red teas can exhibit rather unpleasant characteristics in the first few brews and then end up becoming far more palatable, I would imagine with western style brewing it's harder to quickly remove these nasties.

[viconyteas]

Re:Gong fu takes a bit more time and attention, but it's more fun and more tasty, IMO.

The Chinese Gongfu used for Keemun differ from the Confu cha we commonly refer to.You don't need to use Gaiwan when enjoying Keemun ,just a common glass is ok.It does't take a bit more time and attention.

We call keemun as congfu mainly because its production requires a great deal of gongfu (disciplined skill).

[Rainy-Day]

A lot of blacks improve their aroma in particular when gong-fu'd. Keemuns, yunnans, I tried some others but don't remember now. I wonder if Assams can be successfully gong-fu'd.

[Janine]

I wonder if Assams can be successfully gong-fu'd.

I say go for it - and let us know the result of your experiment.

[Rainy-Day]

I wonder if Assams can be successfully gong-fu'd.

I say go for it - and let us know the result of your experiment.

Oh, I'm out of assam.. probably won't reorder any time soon, I have about a zillion puerhs, oolongs and quite a few greens, yellows and blacks, and I spent more than I should have in the last few months :-).

[depravitea]

So, this time we tried it gong fu style. A good heaping tablespoon or so into a little glass pot (175 ml?). And short steeps -- no more than 5 seconds for the first 3 or 4 steeps. The result was delicious!! Far more complex, sweet, smoky, all kinds of stuff. And each brew was subtly different from the others. (I should've known it'd be like that -- it's the same with pu-erh gong fu style.)

So today I'm drinking a Keemun Mao Feng (also from Upton), similar parameters: about a tablespoon of dry leaves in a 150ml gaiwan, ~5-10s steeps for the first few. Yummm, I'm getting some caramelly sweetness out of this one that I was definitely not finding with the western brew style.

So.. I think I might start exploring black teas a bit more now. Gong fu takes a bit more time and attention, but it's more fun and more tasty, IMO.
Anyone else do this with blacks?
-dave

Dizzwave, I'm really interested in what you have to say here. Would you mind explaining your very short steep method? I know you gave tea and water amounts, but I'm also interested in how you go about doing these short steeps. What is the Gong Fu method? Do you drain the shortly steeped tea into another cup even if you're using a gaiwan?
I'm also a fan of Pu erh, having tried both the loose versions offered by Adagio, and just ordered my first cake yesterday. I think it would be neat to try your method. I've read that some very old Pu ers can be resteeped up to 30 times!!
Any information you offer is appreciated. Thanks very much!