Floating Leaves

It was past midnight, and I was reading the comments on this blog post on brewing oolong tea (http://themandarinstea.blogspot.com/2009/10/oolong-tea-brewing-now-and-then.html). For some reason the thought of having a suggested integer by which to calculate water:tea ratio really gets me excited, enough that I got out of bed to try it out. The recommendation for taiwan oolong was: “6-7 gr for yixing of 15 cl: brew 2-3 min, 3min, 3 min, 3 min 30 sec, 4 min…” So just for fun ( I KNOW, I am lame) I calculated 6 / 150 = 0.04.

Got out a 90ml clay pot and put in approx (90 × .04 =) 3.6 grams of tea. Off-boiling water. Best batches I placed as the ones at: 1st:65s, 2nd: 25s, 3rd: 35s. Ended my tasting there, but prepared one last brew just to measure and noted that I got 80mL of tea soup.

The results were tastier than what I would have gotten had I poured out earlier, which I usually do at the 30 second mark. Admittedly, I’m not familiar with this type of tea, but for me it registers as your basic taiwan oolong, with somewhat of a sour aftertaste. That was the notable thing for me, anyway. I feel I can’t really get a good feel for the nuances of the tea just yet, because for this one I used a newly opened pack of tea. It’s like when you’re traveling, I guess, and in a new country, and don’t really feel like yourself… Maybe tomorrow, after the leaves have ‘settled in’ their new atmosphere, I’ll be able to get a more true-to-character(?) batch.

One thing though. I think I’m discovering I like my teas to have just a little little bit of bite, that state juuust before they’re rendered oversteeped/too bitter. At least for the first brew. Maybe to wake my taste buds up, or warm them up. Then the second brew, I like a little lighter. When I sip I like it to feel ‘refreshing’. And for me that round is also the best tasting. Then mostly the third is just to top it all off. For thirst. To get that liquid inside ya. Yeah.

Probably not making sense not as it’s past 1 in the morning, heh. Anyway, will sleep on this, and try to recreate the setup tomorrow. Will also try with a gaiwan.

Gosh, sorry to sound like a total flake/nutTEA professor sciencey person wannabe. THIS IS WHY you do not tea log past midnight. >_<

Peace out.

Still great! Used a LOT more dry leaf this time, which filled up almost half of my small gaiwan. Sadly I was distracted and by default used cooler (190ish) water for the first two brews, only remembering to go for just off-boiling for the third. No biggie. I mixed the first and third to fill a mug. But the second one was juuuuust right. Even when room temperature. I don’t know why I keep mentioning that. Maybe it’s just a sign that this tea is really tasty to me.

This is for the 2009 Spring Buddha Hand, that I got on sale. Admittedly at first sip it didn’t make such an impression, but after a week of letting it settle in its new home, I tried again.

The first steep was at around 1 minute. I didn’t weigh but the dry leaves covered the bottom of my gaiwan. And just to try something out, I used off boiling water (around 95C). Previously I used water that was a little cooler, but I guess this experiment paid off because all I can say is: YUM! I don’t know if it’s supposed to taste like this but it’s like soy milk! It feels so nommy in the mouth, too. So… creamy. Even when it cooled/lukewarm down it was still good.

I steeped the second infusion for less than 30 seconds, and the third at 40-ish, and they came out a little bland. Maybe because I tried a lower temperature. So next time, I’m using off-boiling water for all infusions.

Side note: I gave my mom a glass whistling kettle for mother’s day (Happy Mother’s Day all cool Steepster moms!), and, uhm, borrowed it from her for this session. This is probably the dorkiest thing to say but it was really neat seeing the fish-eye, crab-eye, string of pearls thing going on through the glass. Can’t get that in a plastic/metal electric kettle. So now I’m trying to figure out a way to strap on a thermometer to the kettle so I can practice on eyeballing the temperature through the size of the bubbles.

Last note: omg GIANT LEAVES! No wonder, Buddha Hand. I had a ‘doh!’ moment with that one. The things you learn everyday.

I quite like a good Jin Xuan for breakfast, and this really hit the spot this morning. 5 grams in my 120mL yixing, brewed for good five rounds (30-60, 40, 40, 50, 65) then I surrendered. When my mom arrived near lunchtime I was able to squeeze out two more rounds (wasn’t really counting, probably under two minutes) to fill a huge mug for her. I love this tea. Along with baozhong and alishan, formosa oolongs have been topping my list this month. I really should try more greens…

This is one of the best unroasted, young baozhong teas that I have tried. Very fresh and full-flavored, with a gorgeous aroma that reminds me of fresh lilacs. It’s too bad that it’s currently sold out but I’m sure Floating Leaves owner Shiuwen will have a Spring 2010 version of this tea in shortly.

I received a free sample of this tea when I ordered the Dong Ding special roast. I was very pleased with the quality of this tea. It has the lovely sweet floral taste that I remembered from my first tasting of good “Tong Ting Jade”, now discontinued by Tevana.

very lovely dong ding…….steeped it 4 minutes and refilled the pot 4 times. It changed with each steeping.

A perfect example of a traditional Taiwanese Dong Ding oolong. Lightly roasted for a great aroma and malty taste, but still retaining the lovely fruit and floral aftertastes that make green Dong Dings so special. Can easily stand up to 5+ gong fu style infusions; an exceptional tea.

Light golden liquor, lightly creamy with a nice floral scent. The finish is long and sweet. It is an easy drinking tea. Easily getting 3+ infusions from it. I consider this as a nice, everyday drinking kind of oolong.

A lovely light Taiwanese oolong, delightful for a mid-afternoon cuppa. Nice aroma and flavor even after several infusions, and a beautiful light green liquid result.

Still makes me happy, oh yeah.

This one is mellower than Floating Leaves’ House Black, with a warm gold tone to the leaves. The scent is sweeter and lighter and the liquid is a paler color than House Black. I wouldn’t call this delicate, except in comparison. A nice afternoon tea with half and half.

This is one of my go-to favorites from Floating Leaves, strong and malty. It stands two to three infusions quite well and is my standby tea for mornings or when I need a good cuppa to help me stay awake. It has a nice, round flavor and a full body. The scent is deep and dark with just a hint of tobacco to it, but there’s no smokiness as you might find in a Lapsang Souchong. It takes half and half very well. I can’t speak for how it tastes sweetened as I never add sweet to my tea, but I imagine if you like that, it would be quite tasty.

This Chinese tea I got from Floating Leaves in Seattle is a really nice tea. For me it has a some notes of chocolate, a slight hint of roastiness, but reminds me of a Mao Fang tea. It’s a nice bold tea and good in the morning or after lunch.

A nicy, warm, tummy-soothing, after-dinner pot of arboreal pu-erh to ease into the night. A good pu-erh can be so relaxing and calming — it’s a shame most people assume dark teas like pu-erhs are always stuffed with caffeine.