Sorry for no pictures, but I've been mostly getting ready for work this morning. Though I have time to slow down for some tea and a blog entry, I really don't have much for extra photographs.
This morning, I slowed down for a bit to have Adagio's Jasmine #5. Adagio also offers #9 and Dragon Pearl Tea (with jasmine).
Sure it's the lowest grade sold on Adagio. But it's still very enjoyable. I used three grams in my gaiwan, but I was not going to use gongfu brewing, just a small container.
I rinsed before brewing, and the pour was temptingly dark. It's just tea, so it's not going to hurt me. So I tried it. The flavor was very present, even after such a short 'steep' of less than ten seconds. The jasmine scent is quite prevalent both in the leaves and the tea, and through subsequent steeps, I found this tea can change dramatically based on conditions.
It's much better made for a lower temp and moderate brewing time. As an Oolong, the tea itself is good for several short infusions. But too much tea, or too hot water, and the jasmine end is ruined. A cooler water (~130 - 180ºF) and at least slightly longer steep produces a flowery tea with a rich color, and not too much jasmine flavor. Adagio's site describes this tea as "a Chun Hao grade tea that is a suitable daily treat. It produces a sweet cup with a light and lingering scent of fresh jasmine flowers."
When brewed right, this tea definitely has a surprising sweetness. When brewed too long, too hot, or too cold, that changes. I took some time to play around this time. The tea changed in a broad spectrum from nearly flavorless to bitter. But returning to better brewing conditions has a nicely redeeming effect.
Showing posts with label Oolong. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Oolong. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Ti Kuan Yin
Ahh, the growling bubbles in the electric kettle. It's a sound I'm fast growing to love. Of course, part of the reason is that it's time for tea again! It doesn't matter what kind or how it's brewed, of course. Each tea has its own requirements, and is quite versatile. Western brewing with a strong black or infusing some Rooibos, a steep in a small ceramic vessel for a little green or white tea, gongfu cha, it's all great.
And this blog is stepping away from stories a bit. I don't know exactly how I was inspired, but my first post is by far my favorite. It tells the story of the steep, in stead of just focusing on the technicalities of the brew. How did I feel? How did I enjoy the tea? A brief description of what I did should suffice, perhaps. I don't know, really. I need to find my own feel for this blog.
But why should I blabber on now when there's tea to talk about?
This is (I think) my second, maybe third, time having this tea. Yes, it's the second. The last (and first) time I brewed some, was after talking to a friend about my newly arrived samples. It was the first time I had mentioned getting loose tea. It turns out she's a fan. She mentioned her uncle, who lives at the opposite end of the continent from her, enjoys Ti Kuan Yin most of all. I saw a tin with that name among my samples, so I dropped it in the ol' infuser and poured boiling water over it. Three minutes later, I was enjoying its interesting flavor (though i didn't yet have enough knowledge to know what to look for in it -- do I yet?).
When the rest of the samples arrived, I was overwhelmed a bit by the variety of samples, so I started just making a circuit among the varieties, leaving the Oolong samples since I did so much enjoy them already! That is until I started this blog. I wanted to start with the other varieties, and have enough left of each that I could revisit them after I got back around to the Oolongs. That didn't happen.
So far, I've used the last of the Wuyi Oolong and the White Peony. I wish I had more of the White Peony, to revisit in a review. And I could swear I've emptied another. But I'll empty plenty more, to be sure!
So tonight, I wanted tea (of course), and nothing seemed quite right. So I reached for the TGY (Tie Kuan Yin is also known as Tie Guan Yin, thus the abbreviation). Five grams into the gaiwan, quick rinse with decant-cooled* water, Then on to the infusions.
Someone in the online community of tea drinkers says that a lower temperature of water than boiling (he specifically said 190ºF) brings out more body and a more pronounced sweetness in TGY than hotter water. Or was it a TGY? Any way, several tea bloggers and reviewers recommend using sub-boiling water for any Oolong. So I decant-cooled the water for the first several infusions, at least.
Dry leaves:
Well, the advice rang true. The first infusion was as flavorful and pleasant as I could ever expect. But the cooler water by the third infusion made a noticeable difference. On to the later infusions, though the flavor was slowly washing out, revealing its deeper subtleties, the sweetness and body became a bit more pronounced -- that is until the water cooled a bit too much. But I was running low any way, so I heated a bit more.
The later infusions benefited from the hotter water, though the hint of sweetness was significantly less pronounced in the first hot-water-again infusion. The color came back, and some of the leading flavor returned. It was well worth it.
At the tenth and final infusion, soothing flavor was still present. However, most of this tea's attributes were barely holding on. Since this was a good bit of water later, any way, it was a good time to quit.
This was time to examine the leaves after the brew. Though I don't know much, making note of observations now will help me know what I am looking for and looking at, later on. The leaves were not nearly as dark as any black tea, of course. Actually, it was still quite green. The leaves carry a hue of brown from the light oxidation and probably a bit of roasting. The edges of the top side were a bit yellow, the same color as most of the veins on the bottom of the leaves.
Surprisingly, though, considering the tightness of the rolled leaves, there were plenty of whole leaves and even leaf pairs with stems!
However, in chat and in other research this afternoon (the chat made me curious) I learned a lot more about TGYs. Another novice to all things tea was in chat, about to have some TGY, and asking some interesting questions.
# zipp - what is the method to get the TGY to have that look at the final process?
# zipp - you know all curly and stuff
# Andy - rolling
# Andy - more so than another oolong
==later, after infusing a few times==
# zipp - .......... and STOP
# Andy - a whole three minutes
# zipp - not long enough?
# Andy - you tell me
# zipp - nope
# zipp - weak
# zipp - lack of flavor
# zipp - but the leaves have much curl still in them
# Andy - that's normal
# Andy - you can exhaust them and they won't unfurl
# zipp - well then that's it I guess
The videos on the Hou De Blog about making Formosa Oolong teas, are also very interesting.
So apparently I got about what I payed for with this tea. It's definitely good, but it seems the higher grade Ti Kuan Yin teas remain a bit more rolled after infusion.
Tea: Ti Kuan Yin from Adagio
5g Tea, 110ml Gaiwan, water decant-cooled
Infusions: 16, 20, 26, 37, 46, 52, 60+ to the tenth
* Decant cooling is the method of pouring too-hot-to-steep water into another vessel to cool the water. The heat from the water is absorbed by the cooler decanting vessel, so the water cools much more quickly than by simply sitting in its original container.
And this blog is stepping away from stories a bit. I don't know exactly how I was inspired, but my first post is by far my favorite. It tells the story of the steep, in stead of just focusing on the technicalities of the brew. How did I feel? How did I enjoy the tea? A brief description of what I did should suffice, perhaps. I don't know, really. I need to find my own feel for this blog.
But why should I blabber on now when there's tea to talk about?
This is (I think) my second, maybe third, time having this tea. Yes, it's the second. The last (and first) time I brewed some, was after talking to a friend about my newly arrived samples. It was the first time I had mentioned getting loose tea. It turns out she's a fan. She mentioned her uncle, who lives at the opposite end of the continent from her, enjoys Ti Kuan Yin most of all. I saw a tin with that name among my samples, so I dropped it in the ol' infuser and poured boiling water over it. Three minutes later, I was enjoying its interesting flavor (though i didn't yet have enough knowledge to know what to look for in it -- do I yet?).
When the rest of the samples arrived, I was overwhelmed a bit by the variety of samples, so I started just making a circuit among the varieties, leaving the Oolong samples since I did so much enjoy them already! That is until I started this blog. I wanted to start with the other varieties, and have enough left of each that I could revisit them after I got back around to the Oolongs. That didn't happen.
So far, I've used the last of the Wuyi Oolong and the White Peony. I wish I had more of the White Peony, to revisit in a review. And I could swear I've emptied another. But I'll empty plenty more, to be sure!
So tonight, I wanted tea (of course), and nothing seemed quite right. So I reached for the TGY (Tie Kuan Yin is also known as Tie Guan Yin, thus the abbreviation). Five grams into the gaiwan, quick rinse with decant-cooled* water, Then on to the infusions.
Someone in the online community of tea drinkers says that a lower temperature of water than boiling (he specifically said 190ºF) brings out more body and a more pronounced sweetness in TGY than hotter water. Or was it a TGY? Any way, several tea bloggers and reviewers recommend using sub-boiling water for any Oolong. So I decant-cooled the water for the first several infusions, at least.
Dry leaves:
Well, the advice rang true. The first infusion was as flavorful and pleasant as I could ever expect. But the cooler water by the third infusion made a noticeable difference. On to the later infusions, though the flavor was slowly washing out, revealing its deeper subtleties, the sweetness and body became a bit more pronounced -- that is until the water cooled a bit too much. But I was running low any way, so I heated a bit more.
The later infusions benefited from the hotter water, though the hint of sweetness was significantly less pronounced in the first hot-water-again infusion. The color came back, and some of the leading flavor returned. It was well worth it.
At the tenth and final infusion, soothing flavor was still present. However, most of this tea's attributes were barely holding on. Since this was a good bit of water later, any way, it was a good time to quit.
This was time to examine the leaves after the brew. Though I don't know much, making note of observations now will help me know what I am looking for and looking at, later on. The leaves were not nearly as dark as any black tea, of course. Actually, it was still quite green. The leaves carry a hue of brown from the light oxidation and probably a bit of roasting. The edges of the top side were a bit yellow, the same color as most of the veins on the bottom of the leaves.
Surprisingly, though, considering the tightness of the rolled leaves, there were plenty of whole leaves and even leaf pairs with stems!
However, in chat and in other research this afternoon (the chat made me curious) I learned a lot more about TGYs. Another novice to all things tea was in chat, about to have some TGY, and asking some interesting questions.
# zipp - what is the method to get the TGY to have that look at the final process?
# zipp - you know all curly and stuff
# Andy - rolling
# Andy - more so than another oolong
==later, after infusing a few times==
# zipp - .......... and STOP
# Andy - a whole three minutes
# zipp - not long enough?
# Andy - you tell me
# zipp - nope
# zipp - weak
# zipp - lack of flavor
# zipp - but the leaves have much curl still in them
# Andy - that's normal
# Andy - you can exhaust them and they won't unfurl
# zipp - well then that's it I guess
The videos on the Hou De Blog about making Formosa Oolong teas, are also very interesting.
So apparently I got about what I payed for with this tea. It's definitely good, but it seems the higher grade Ti Kuan Yin teas remain a bit more rolled after infusion.
Tea: Ti Kuan Yin from Adagio
5g Tea, 110ml Gaiwan, water decant-cooled
Infusions: 16, 20, 26, 37, 46, 52, 60+ to the tenth
* Decant cooling is the method of pouring too-hot-to-steep water into another vessel to cool the water. The heat from the water is absorbed by the cooler decanting vessel, so the water cools much more quickly than by simply sitting in its original container.
Sunday, August 5, 2007
A Big Mistake!
Tea while tired is not always a good idea. Sure, the caffeine will wake you up, but being tired (especially for mistake-prone people like me) causes accidents before the caffeine. And apparently, the last time I was tired set me up for this time that I was tired! Apparently, when i had originally intended to rant about using the last of the Wuyi Oolong I had left the opened canister out with the spilled leaf crumbs, to take a picture. But I got caught up with other things. This led to opening another container, and getting the lids mixed up. And then that happened yet again. And since I labeled the tops of the lids (I have the tins stood up in the boxes on my kitchen counter), I assumed that I was getting what was labeled.
Tired Ernest pulled out a container with "Wuyi Oolong" written on the top. I thought it sounded like the one I had emptied, but there's no way, if it was in the boxes and it had tea in it! In my groggy state, I measured out the customary 1g/30ml for my gaiwan. When I had 3.6g, I noticed I didn't have that much tea left in the container. So I decided just to use the rest and see what happened. I just didn't care much that the leaves seemed a little different from the last time I had brewed this particular tea.
Needless to say, I was quite surprised with the differences in flavor and color from what i had expected! The aroma was unusually light -- not weak, just under pronounced. And the color was more golden than brown. I carefully noted all of this. As I progressed, though, the color never seemed to turn anywhere close to what should be expected to Oolong. It stayed golden, and gained just a hint of brown and a touch of green late into the infusions.
Afterwards, I noticed something odd. The name on a tin caught my attention. There was a mismatch. In short, the Wuyi's lid was on the White Peony. The White Peony's lid was on something else, and that lid was on the Wuyi Oolong tin.
I ruined perfectly good White Peony! I had been using near-boiling water for 12 infusions. The greater amount of leaf in the gaiwan made for less water in each infusion.
At least it gave me an experience. Now I know what scalded (some would say cooked) leaves do: not much except for a bit of color and bitterness later on.
Tired Ernest pulled out a container with "Wuyi Oolong" written on the top. I thought it sounded like the one I had emptied, but there's no way, if it was in the boxes and it had tea in it! In my groggy state, I measured out the customary 1g/30ml for my gaiwan. When I had 3.6g, I noticed I didn't have that much tea left in the container. So I decided just to use the rest and see what happened. I just didn't care much that the leaves seemed a little different from the last time I had brewed this particular tea.
Needless to say, I was quite surprised with the differences in flavor and color from what i had expected! The aroma was unusually light -- not weak, just under pronounced. And the color was more golden than brown. I carefully noted all of this. As I progressed, though, the color never seemed to turn anywhere close to what should be expected to Oolong. It stayed golden, and gained just a hint of brown and a touch of green late into the infusions.
Afterwards, I noticed something odd. The name on a tin caught my attention. There was a mismatch. In short, the Wuyi's lid was on the White Peony. The White Peony's lid was on something else, and that lid was on the Wuyi Oolong tin.
I ruined perfectly good White Peony! I had been using near-boiling water for 12 infusions. The greater amount of leaf in the gaiwan made for less water in each infusion.
At least it gave me an experience. Now I know what scalded (some would say cooked) leaves do: not much except for a bit of color and bitterness later on.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
New equipment, and new tea
The stuff
Today, everything but my yixing ware arrived. So now I have a Swiss Gold infuser and a gaiwan. I'm quite pleased with both! The gaiwan came with a free sample (5.3 grams) of Silk Oolong, from Anxi (the birthplace of Ti Kuan Yin tea). No, I don't know that much of tea lore. I found it a couple places, including Red Blossom Tea company where I purchased the gaiwan.
So .. what is a gaiwan, you ask? gaiwan translated in Chinese directly as "covered bowl." And that's exactly what it is! It's mostly used for small scale tea brewing, though there are some large gaiwans in use (by large, think maybe 16oz. as huge). The top of the bowl is flared, and larger than the
dome lid. This makes for easy use of the lid as not only a cover, but when it's tilted it is a filter to strain the tea and keep the leaves inside the vessel. The lid also helps retain heat inside the vessel, so the water does not cool too quickly.
I'll try using my new gaiwan tonight. I know I probably won't do anything quite right, but getting things wrong is part of the path to learning, right? I hope.
The Tea
Silk Oolong. According to Red Blossom and Tea Laden.com (I would link, but I've only ever seen one person who recommended the site/vendor I don't know if it's over quality, pricing, or whatever -- they do seem to have their history right, though) Holy Mountain had a bit of information on the tea at one point, but it has since been removed.
Any way, Silk Oolong is known for its buttery and caramel-like aroma, and its smoothness. And indeed when I opened the small bag, I was surprised at the strength of the aroma! And it was very much as described, if the popcorn bit didn't smell a touch over-popped.
The leaves are little green bundles, just as I expected from the several descriptions and photographs. When I rinse the tea, the buttery aroma roils from the 'spill bowl' quite potently in the steam. I am very much looking forward to the experience!
First infusion
Water: Just off boiling
Steep time: 30 seconds
The tea is very light in color, a light yellow-brown. The aroma is surprisingly weak. Apparently I didn't steep it nearly long enough. Next time, though!
Second Infusion
Steep time: 60 seconds
The aroma is much stronger. Perhaps I was expecting too much from this tea's color. A review of the description on Red Blossom reveals that the liquor is "unexpectedly light and smooth for its richness." That explains it! The flavor is full indeed, if not a bit light. and the tea itself never gains much color. But with a slightly longer infusion, it gained very much in flavor! It's not a blast of flavor like some teas. but I'm understanding the milky smoothness and (butter)milk-like flavor.
Photographs aren't necessary. The color is so light, the picture would do it no justice.
Final infusion (tenth!)
Steep time: Several minutes
The color is only slightly lighter, but that doesn't say much for a tea that's so light from the beginning. There's only a touch of bitterness, but the flavor is much lighter. Perhaps I should have brewed this differently. Eh, well. Since I did not expect this tea, I'll count it as free and a chance to mess up without wasting money (though I feel like I've wasted some perfectly good tea).
So I know this tea is finished. However, it is tempting to give it one last go just to be sure. But I won't. I've already had plenty to drink tonight. So let me get on with this!
The leaves? They've unfurled and reconstituted, to fill the gaiwan! Sorting through, I find a lot of large, (nearly) whole leaves. That's always something to look for, especially in an Oolong (or so I hear -- I am still learning, after all). But it is a comforting sight, and speaks of the quality of the tea. There is still some aroma in the leaves, though perhaps not enough to fully inspire more brewing, if for no other reason than to purposely over brew the leaves.
The overall experience? Pleasant, sure. It's a relaxing tea, just like some people describe. But this isn't a tea I'll return to as a frequent drinker.
You'll find I don't rate teas so much. Foregoing explanation, I have little of a preference drive. If I like two things, I'll rarely have a preference over another. So I'll go without a star rating, or a (number) out of (total possible) rating, at least for the time. I'm still trying to experience enough to develop a discernment in tea quality.
Swiss Gold
I won't drag on about this. In the mornings, I typically brew a quick pot of tea, about 16oz. The tea pot I have is glass and came with a glass infuser. It lets a lot through! But when I saw strong recommendations for Swiss Gold infusers, I looked into it. I made a rough measurement of the tea pot's opening and depth, and chose the infuser closest to it. Lucky me! It fits perfectly!
The mesh (if you can call it that -- it's more of a metallic sheet with tiny holes punched, but so many it's very mesh like) is so fine, I feel confident to brew anything. I'll put it into use tomorrow morning!
Today, everything but my yixing ware arrived. So now I have a Swiss Gold infuser and a gaiwan. I'm quite pleased with both! The gaiwan came with a free sample (5.3 grams) of Silk Oolong, from Anxi (the birthplace of Ti Kuan Yin tea). No, I don't know that much of tea lore. I found it a couple places, including Red Blossom Tea company where I purchased the gaiwan.
So .. what is a gaiwan, you ask? gaiwan translated in Chinese directly as "covered bowl." And that's exactly what it is! It's mostly used for small scale tea brewing, though there are some large gaiwans in use (by large, think maybe 16oz. as huge). The top of the bowl is flared, and larger than the
dome lid. This makes for easy use of the lid as not only a cover, but when it's tilted it is a filter to strain the tea and keep the leaves inside the vessel. The lid also helps retain heat inside the vessel, so the water does not cool too quickly.I'll try using my new gaiwan tonight. I know I probably won't do anything quite right, but getting things wrong is part of the path to learning, right? I hope.
The Tea
Silk Oolong. According to Red Blossom and Tea Laden.com (I would link, but I've only ever seen one person who recommended the site/vendor I don't know if it's over quality, pricing, or whatever -- they do seem to have their history right, though) Holy Mountain had a bit of information on the tea at one point, but it has since been removed.
Any way, Silk Oolong is known for its buttery and caramel-like aroma, and its smoothness. And indeed when I opened the small bag, I was surprised at the strength of the aroma! And it was very much as described, if the popcorn bit didn't smell a touch over-popped.
The leaves are little green bundles, just as I expected from the several descriptions and photographs. When I rinse the tea, the buttery aroma roils from the 'spill bowl' quite potently in the steam. I am very much looking forward to the experience!
First infusion
Water: Just off boiling
Steep time: 30 seconds
The tea is very light in color, a light yellow-brown. The aroma is surprisingly weak. Apparently I didn't steep it nearly long enough. Next time, though!
Second Infusion
Steep time: 60 seconds
The aroma is much stronger. Perhaps I was expecting too much from this tea's color. A review of the description on Red Blossom reveals that the liquor is "unexpectedly light and smooth for its richness." That explains it! The flavor is full indeed, if not a bit light. and the tea itself never gains much color. But with a slightly longer infusion, it gained very much in flavor! It's not a blast of flavor like some teas. but I'm understanding the milky smoothness and (butter)milk-like flavor.
Photographs aren't necessary. The color is so light, the picture would do it no justice.
Final infusion (tenth!)
Steep time: Several minutes
The color is only slightly lighter, but that doesn't say much for a tea that's so light from the beginning. There's only a touch of bitterness, but the flavor is much lighter. Perhaps I should have brewed this differently. Eh, well. Since I did not expect this tea, I'll count it as free and a chance to mess up without wasting money (though I feel like I've wasted some perfectly good tea).
So I know this tea is finished. However, it is tempting to give it one last go just to be sure. But I won't. I've already had plenty to drink tonight. So let me get on with this!
The leaves? They've unfurled and reconstituted, to fill the gaiwan! Sorting through, I find a lot of large, (nearly) whole leaves. That's always something to look for, especially in an Oolong (or so I hear -- I am still learning, after all). But it is a comforting sight, and speaks of the quality of the tea. There is still some aroma in the leaves, though perhaps not enough to fully inspire more brewing, if for no other reason than to purposely over brew the leaves.
The overall experience? Pleasant, sure. It's a relaxing tea, just like some people describe. But this isn't a tea I'll return to as a frequent drinker.
You'll find I don't rate teas so much. Foregoing explanation, I have little of a preference drive. If I like two things, I'll rarely have a preference over another. So I'll go without a star rating, or a (number) out of (total possible) rating, at least for the time. I'm still trying to experience enough to develop a discernment in tea quality.
Swiss Gold
I won't drag on about this. In the mornings, I typically brew a quick pot of tea, about 16oz. The tea pot I have is glass and came with a glass infuser. It lets a lot through! But when I saw strong recommendations for Swiss Gold infusers, I looked into it. I made a rough measurement of the tea pot's opening and depth, and chose the infuser closest to it. Lucky me! It fits perfectly!
The mesh (if you can call it that -- it's more of a metallic sheet with tiny holes punched, but so many it's very mesh like) is so fine, I feel confident to brew anything. I'll put it into use tomorrow morning!
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