I think I might love this tea.
Every time I make this I discover something new about it. It’s almost as if I were drinking a different tea every time. I will definitely be exploring the world of dark oolongs more because of this tea, in fact I have now dedicated my first yixing to dark oolongs and have a second dark oolong on it’s way.
But anyway, on to this tea.
I must admit that I have absolutely no idea what the water temperature was. It was warm enough to be steaming but certainly not boiling or even simmering. To be quite honest I had intended the water to be warmer but…um…ran out of propane to run the stove. Heh. Oops.
Knowing I’d only manage one steeping, since there was no propane left to heat the water again, I did a 15-20 second rinse to open the leaves a bit and warm the pot. Oh yes, did I mention I was using the yixing for this? Anyway, after a 10 minute steep I poured the liquor out into my cup, this one was a bit deeper than the cup I had been using before, and what do you know…the color was a deep red-brown. I could definitely see how someone could call that purple. The flavor was lighter than my previous experience with this tea, likely because of the lower water temp. It was sweet, mellow, a bit malty, earthy, and a tiny bit nutty.
I have saved the leaves so once get some way to heat water again I’ll update this with subsequent infusions.
Preparation
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This is a tea that I MUST get! Sounds delightful!
Huzzah for electricity. I rescued the old coffee-maker from my husband’s truck (hasn’t been used for coffee in years and has had at least three good scrubs and many many gallons of plain hot water through it since) so I could continue having tea this weekend. The following notes are from Friday morning.
2nd Steep: 10 minutes, temperature around 200F
The liquor is still the deep red-brown as before. The taste is malty, earthy, slightly smokey. I think the smoke might be because the water is warmer than before but I steeped for the same amount of time.
3rd Steep: 8 minutes, temperature of about 200F
Again, dark red-brown but the taste is mellower, rounder, with a hint of fruit and a touch of fresh baked bread.
4th Steep: 8 minutes, temperature a bit cooler, perhaps 180-190F
The color of the liquor is a bit lighter; the taste, sweeter, malty, like tasting an early summer day in mixed forest.
The following notes are from Friday evening.
5th Steep: 8 minutes, temperature of about 200F
A slightly lighter red-brown than before with a lighter flavor. Sweet, malty, smooth, with a slight hint of honey
6th Steep: 10 minutes, temperature around 180-190F
The liquor has lightened now to a lovely amber but the taste has remained the same as the last steeping.
This is a tea that I MUST get! Sounds delightful!
Huzzah for electricity. I rescued the old coffee-maker from my husband’s truck (hasn’t been used for coffee in years and has had at least three good scrubs and many many gallons of plain hot water through it since) so I could continue having tea this weekend. The following notes are from Friday morning.
2nd Steep: 10 minutes, temperature around 200F
The liquor is still the deep red-brown as before. The taste is malty, earthy, slightly smokey. I think the smoke might be because the water is warmer than before but I steeped for the same amount of time.
3rd Steep: 8 minutes, temperature of about 200F
Again, dark red-brown but the taste is mellower, rounder, with a hint of fruit and a touch of fresh baked bread.
4th Steep: 8 minutes, temperature a bit cooler, perhaps 180-190F
The color of the liquor is a bit lighter; the taste, sweeter, malty, like tasting an early summer day in mixed forest.
The following notes are from Friday evening.
5th Steep: 8 minutes, temperature of about 200F
A slightly lighter red-brown than before with a lighter flavor. Sweet, malty, smooth, with a slight hint of honey
6th Steep: 10 minutes, temperature around 180-190F
The liquor has lightened now to a lovely amber but the taste has remained the same as the last steeping.