teaddict Send Message

Today was the first time I brewed this up in the Chao Zhou pot I got from Imen. I am not sure if that was what made the difference, but the tea was definitely sweeter, mellower, more rounded, almost too much so.

I clearly need to do a head-to-head with the same tea in a gaiwan.

This has been a pleasant, reliable oolong in my cupboard for a long time. I am surprised I haven’t posted about it before. It is a dark, earthy, woody, toasty oolong, when brewed well, capable of some pleasing spiciness, but capable of a bit of surliness if mistreated.

A nice tea, but not a great one.

I did a head-to-head with this tea and a similar tea from Yunnan Sourcing today:

http://www.well.com/user/debunix/recipes/YunnanOBs.html

In the end, both were lovely teas. Oddly enough, given that the BYO was end-of-bag with more broken leaves, it took the 2nd infusion to start showing the spiciness and full flavor that the YSOB gave immediately. The BYO, however, seemed to hold that lovely flavor a little longer, but by the 5th infusion, both are starting to thin out, pretty much done. I have only had one Taiwanese Oriental Beauty, and that was a rose scented version that was quite unlike roses or like these lovely teas. A high quality Taiwanese Oriental Beauty is reputedly quite hard to come by, but these teas are quite satisfying, and not too pricey, so I don’t feel any particular need to try the genuine article.

1.9 grams of tea
about 4 oz water (larger gaiwans, not preheated)

1st 195 degrees, 45 seconds
2nd 185 degrees (too impatient to wait for full reheating), 30 seconds
3rd 175 degrees (ditto), 1 minutes
4th: 195 (more patient this time), 2 minutes
5th: water just off full boil, 1 minute
(stopping because of diminishing marginal returns)

Yunnan Wild Arbor “Oriental Beauty” Oolong from Yunnan Sourcing
Leaves: thin, dark twists, with sweet fruity tea scent
1st infusion: sweet, plummy, floral, with a spiciness that is not there in the BYO
2nd: spicy, fruity, floral
3rd: losing a bit of the spicy and sweet edge, thinner flavor, perhaps dissipating a little faster than the BYO, but really not much to choose between them at this point
4th: 4th: a little thinner, but still quite enjoyable; not holding as well as the BYO
5th: thinner, still a little fruity/spicy
Wet leaves: dark red leaves with hints of green; scent is sweet/tart

I did a head-to-head with this tea and a similar tea from Yunnan Sourcing today:

http://www.well.com/user/debunix/recipes/YunnanOBs.html

In the end, both were lovely teas. Oddly enough, given that the BYO was end-of-bag with more broken leaves, it took the 2nd infusion to start showing the spiciness and full flavor that the YSOB gave immediately. The BYO, however, seemed to hold that lovely flavor a little longer, but by the 5th infusion, both are starting to thin out, pretty much done. I have only had one Taiwanese Oriental Beauty, and that was a rose scented version that was quite unlike roses or like these lovely teas. A high quality Taiwanese Oriental Beauty is reputedly quite hard to come by, but these teas are quite satisfying, and not too pricey, so I don’t feel any particular need to try the genuine article.

1.9 grams of tea
about 4 oz water (larger gaiwans, not preheated)

1st 195 degrees, 45 seconds
2nd 185 degrees (too impatient to wait for full reheating), 30 seconds
3rd 175 degrees (ditto), 1 minutes
4th: 195 (more patient this time), 2 minutes
5th: water just off full boil, 1 minute
(stopping because of diminishing marginal returns)

2009 Fall Bai Yun Oolong—Yunnan Oolong Tea from Norbu
Leaves: thin, dark twists, with sweet fruity tea scent
1st infusion: sweet, fruity, floral
2nd: spicy flavor there now, still fruity and floral
3rd: still spicy/sweet/fruity/floral, but starting to thin a little esp in the fruity notes
4th: a little thinner, but still quite enjoyable; holding up better than the YSOB
5th: thinner, still a little fruity/spicy
Wet leaves: dark red leaves with hints of green; scent is sweet/tart

Another lovely infusion this morning. I am almost out and so glad that the next order has come in. Whew, no interruption to sencha happiness!

Once again, it delivers superbly. Today, just a tiny amount of leaf, maybe a teaspoon at best, infused up two full quarts of delicious tea. Just amazing. Almost done with it and then it will be time to break out the 2010.

First try with this tea.

First infusions about 1 gram of tea in a 2 oz gaiwan, water 160 degrees, 30 second infusion. It is a little more floral and less vegetal than the Tai Ping Hou Kui I was just drinking, and nothing like as fruity as the Yin Zhen silver needle from the Cultured Cup that I recently tasted. It is a little milder than the Yunnan Mao Feng I’ve been getting from Norbu, as expected for a white tea made from the same general source material. The floral taste is decreasing after the 3rd infusion, but some mellow sweetness remains through a 4th at least.

As anticipated, it is a less refined and more camphorous tea than the versions I’ve had before from Fujian. It is sweet, mellow, but not bitter. A nice tea, but not spectacular.

This is a weird and wonderful tea. The leaves are gigantic, wide, flat, long.

First try with this tea was 30 seconds infusion at 160 degrees, about a gram of tea in 2 ounces of water in a small porcelain gaiwan. It is sweet, spicy, vegetal, floral.

So far, the 9th infusion is still very similar, very very nice: the vegetal flavor is weakening, mildly there, but the sweetness and spicy is still present. And this is not a super fancy version of this tea: I only paid $39.99/lb for it. The ends of the leaves are broken, so it’s not fully intact, but given the size of the leaves, a break or two in each does not seem to be making anything bitter.

Even after 5 infusions, the sweet/spicy scent is still there in the wet leaves.

It reminds me most of the Anji white tea I’ve been getting from WHF, but this one is a fraction of the price. I will definitely keep this one in regular circulation.

Still enjoying this one very much, getting towards the end of the pouch, and I agree that the flavor profile is lighter than the Tenryu Misakubo, which is why I prefer this one, because I prize a honey-sweetness that gets drowned out easily when the umami increases.

Fortunately my order has shipped and I’ll have plenty more of the ‘sencha’ version of the same tea shortly, before this one runs out.

This has been a tricky tea for me. It has very strong spicy flavor and astringency that can easily overpower the lighter floral notes. But when I get it just right, like tonight’s infusion, it is sweet, spicy, floral, with that extra complexity that just makes the best Dan Cong teas sing. And tonight, it’s doing a floral aria on my taste buds.

I wish I could give coherent brewing suggestions, but I can’t, because I lightly and thinly scattered the leaves over the brewing screen of my Kamjove, poured through water from my Pino set to about 190 degrees but didn’t check the temps before the infusions, and then didn’t pay attention to brewing times—1 minute? 2 minutes?—and mixed the two infusions together.

I was trying to prepare a pint of nice brew to share with some colleagues working late, so needed a larger set of infusions than I easily get from my small gaiwans, and tasted along the way rather than measured. Anyway, this came out so nice that I am going to let this tea out of the ‘doghouse’. Will try to get the same results with a more measured brewing and report back; I’m thinking maybe 0.5 grams in my 60mL gaiwan or the 60 mL Chao Zhou pot to start.