New to gongfu style, so any tips are appreciated :)
4g leaf in 100ml, 96C/205F. Timing is approximate.
First infusion (15s) : Scents of earth, smoke, caramel, cinnamon and nutmeg. Taste is like watery espresso, colour a dull light brown. Maybe I should have poured away this steep as a rinse. I’ve read in another review that someone was rinsing these a few times over because the pellets are quite tightly wound.
Second infusion (20s): Scents of burnt coconut emerge. Slight fruitiness appearing. Sweeter profile. A little drying in the mouth.
Third infusion (30s): Smells and tastes like darkly burnt brown sugar with water aged in an oak barrel.
Third infusion (1min 15s): Burnt coconut is back with a woody aroma. Sweet and surprisingly refreshing. I wonder why my other steeps had a drying quality to the mouthfeel and this one not so much.
Fourth infusion (1min 45s): More balanced aroma, very sweet. This one tastes like a good quality batch brew of light coffee. Favourite infusion so far.
Fifth infusion (2min 15s): Taste is same as above, but a tad lighter and a little oakier. Bit of dryness coming through again. Colour of liquor gets slightly brighter with each steeping, which is interesting.
Sixth infusion (3mins): More or less the same again, but lighter still.
Seventh infusion (5mins): See above.
I’m inclined to believe that any more steeps would be quite similar and I’m rather full of liquid now haha so I might stop here..
Oh what the heck, I’m gonna try for one more.
Eighth infusion (7mins): Yep, same but lighter.
Overall, I’m glad I got to try this tea as the session was quite enjoyable, even with my lack of experience in gongfu brewing. It was my first darkly roasted tieguanyin and it was quite educational to see the different levels of roasting in an oolong.
Will use Western method next time and see if it brings out that golden coffee note I liked so much.
