Tea of the day. Not sheng or shou
Margaret’s Hope second flush Darjeeling this morning. Not sure what year it is, got it from Teasource and they don’t provide those details. Warm notes of dark fruits and fallen leaves. Just a bit over brewed, so tannins are out in force. Still a lovely cup of tea.
Taiwanese “Shui Xian” from what-cha, which isnt really a shui xian, its a Si Ji Chun, which I hadnt heard of before.
I can taste the difference but its hard to explain. Definite lesser roast & slight spinachy taste which I get from Taiwanese jade Oolong. I think a slight sour cherry note as well.
Is only the first try – its really good though! The roast isnt right up in your face
Enjoyed a sparkling, perfect cup of Earl Pink and have segued to delicious Four Seasons oolong. Couldn’t be happier with my loyal gentleman of a westie in my lap.
Wu Yi Mt. Wild arbor Assamica Autumn 2015 YS – Lovely Golden Honeyed Black
Wu Yi Chen Gao Cong Shui Xian 2016 YS – Solid Medium-strong roasty
2016 summer Shan Lin Xi Eco Cha – Out of season but still fragrant & good
All shared with a total tea newbie. She drinks Assam at work so gave her a bag of the Wuyi Wild Arbor to take with her to work. That is such a good gateway tea because its got a slight taste of English black tea bags, but oh so much better, & gets across the point that tea can have lovely notes like honey, that you dont need milk & sugar, china is pretty badass at this & it makes you feel good.
Had some Wild Da Hong Pao from YS and TTC’s Organic GABA oolong. The DHP has been resting for a few months which mellowed out the roast. It’s a pretty good daily drinker, not quite as good as YS Huang Mei Gui. But then again it’s half the price.
Been drinking a few different Shui Xian recently. Been finding them ok. Although my wu yi game isnt very strong right now.
I mean they are really nice, soft & velvety but not quite the thing im currently searching for (I actually dont know what that is, in tea limbo)
The YS Lao Cong one, its perhaps a bit inert, but has hidden depths, that curl like wisps of smoke in the huigan, almost like trying to read another language, you can see it but its hard to pick out particulars
I think sheng might have overloaded my tastebuds a bit
Joseph Wesley had a Shui Xian as a special last year. It was by far the best oolong I’ve ever had. It was very roasty and rich and long lasting. I find, for me, that most lighter roasted oolongs don’t capture my attention as much. I hope you find your balance with your teas!
Have you tried this one?
http://yunnansourcing.com/en/wuyimountainrockoolongs/3458-golden-guan-yin-da-hong-pao-oolong-tea-autumn-2014.html
I’m not a huge fan of smoke myself, and I found this one to be very nice.
Chou Shi King of Duck Shit Dan Cong Oolong Spring 2016 YS
Does anyone know how to brew this one properly? its amazing on paper but I cant for the life of me make it taste nice
A few questions:
What brewing parameters have you tried so far?
What about the tea don’t you like when brewing with those parameters?
Have you rested the tea before brewing, or have you taken it straight from the bag?
Hard to say without having some answers to the above questions, (and hard to say in general), but my guess is that you overleafed. My limited experience with YS Dan Cong suggests that around 3-4g/100mL is a good starting point (starting with quick steepings), and I generally like to leaf hard. Maybe try starting with less leaf, and then adding as you steep till you hit a sweet spot?
And if you haven’t been, a rest can smooth out the edges of a tea; I find some teas are more sensitive to this than others.
OTOH, this tea may just not be your cuppa.
Its basically a ya shi but its been dehydrated rather than roasted. I think they kill green it with the dehydration. While you can really tell its a ya shi the perfume is just really.. perfumed. its nothing like any other dan cong ive ever had (& i like the fussy ones!)
Really is a weird tea! Like i said, seems amazing on paper but I cannot work it out. Its a new method for processing this varietal & I dont think they have it down quite right yet.
Look at the leaf! Amazing looking stuff:
http://yunnansourcing.com/img/p/4092-11490-large.jpg
While i’m no expert Feng huang tea is my absolute favourite type of tea. I really want to like it :)
Hmmm… well, if you’re lost for ideas, and don’t want to give up, you could always try upping the leaf (as much as you dare). I’m guessing that would just make things worse (and waste leaf), but I’ve had a few teas that when you up the ratio, you pile on the pleasant features and drown out unpleasant ones. It sounds like an oxymoron as I type it, but I do remember it happening a few times.
Funnily enough, the leaf looks uncomfortably green to me :). Really pretty though.
Yeah ive done that before with over-roasted DHP. the Roast kinda hit my tongues threshold & the bits underneath were more visible. I didnt actually try that in this case, I will have to.
weird looking isnt it
How about going the opposite direction? Have you tried treating it like a Japanese green? So strange that this tea is so elusive.
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