Yunnan Sourcing

After the morning run i was in the mood for some high quality yunnan.

6.5g 220ml Zhuni yixing.
1/2/3m @ 80/80/85C Did consequtive steepings and poured in a pitcher to avoid leaf cooling.
Superb result, sweet malty. bit of honey? Top notch yunnan!
Treated my guests to this and they liked it :)

6.5g / 220ml zhuni yixing
1m @ 80C
2m @ 80C
3m @ 85C

Wonderful yunnan. The typical honey flavour is heavy in the first cup. Malty with a bit of fruit and chocolate.
Since this tea looses flavour if leaf is allowed to cool down between steepings i did all 3 infusions in a row and poured first into a cup and two following into a pitcher. Worked nicely.

Tried this Gong fu style.

4g/90ml celadon gaiwan
wash/3/6s then i added ca 3s per infusion for atleast 10 infusions.

I do prefer the taste of a Zhuni pot. But still rather good.

Typical dian hong flavor.
Sweet with very little astringency.

7g / 220ml yixingpot 3 infusions @ 85-90C 1-2-3 min

Very nice quality.

Ah, vacation!
Been a long while since i tried this one. Decided to do it westernstyle with water from the tetsubin. It taste like most yunnan blacks but with a smoky flavour added to the usual malty sweetness.
I do really prefer this tea gong-fu to bring out a stronger flavour.

Ah, since my failure brewing this tea a short while back i decided to refer to earlier notes and get a nice pot of tea :)

Since purple tea needs alot of leaf to get some ooomph i did 10g/220ml.

Three infusions: 1:45, 2:15, 3:00. Mixed the second and third steeping in a pitcher.

Great result, powerful with a malty sharpness i´ve so far only found in this purple tea. It has a nice “thick” body.
Been itching for some gong-fu brewing lately but life has been kind of hectic. Perhaps tonight ill do some oolong gong-gu madness :)

Sip on, teajunkies!

Doh!
Forgot how to brew this tea western style. used to little leaf @ half the time.

My proper westernstyle for this tea is 4g/100ml water, 2m/2:15/2:45.
If you want a full strong flavour.

However this tea has developed its flavour since i bought it last year. guess its maturing somewhat. Perhaps i should restock and let this be another year.

The flavour is pleasantly sharp and sweet with some smokiness. blissful!

5.5g / 220ml zhuni yixing
2:40m/4m @ 100C

Tried to use less leaf and longer steepings. first was about right in strenght, somewhat weak. second was much to weak.
will try 7g 3m/5m next time.
This purple varietal has a very uniqe taste. malty sharp with some astringancy and sweetness. Very well balanced flavour. It has actually improved with a year or so shelflife.
Will sample the heavier roast version next harvest.

5g / 90ml celadon gaiwan with water from tetsubin.
wash/30/50/1:10m

This tea has a very distinct flavour. a subtly smoky sweetnes with some maltiness. 5g was on the shy side. Next time ill use more leaf, i like this tea on the heavy side!

6g / 200ml glaspot.
Single infusion before gym.
2:20m @ 95C

Result in the glaspot is less aroma then i remember from the zhuni yixing.
Still the flavour is very nice. A fresh light astringency with some burned sweetness. This somewhat weaker brew does actually taste more complex. Will try less leaf longer infusions next time.
Perhaps 3m?
Actually this tea is just amazing. Where most yunnan has a heavy malty flavour. This is fresh while still retaining a heavy “tea” flavour, perhaps it´s the “eucalyptus” mentioned by the seller?
Bumping up rating.

7g / 90ml celadon gaiwan.
I´ve taken to do some gongfu brewing when watching big bang theory.
This time i tried this purplevarietal and i must say it is well suited for gongfu. It lifted the whole the another level.
I´ve fond that most teas do better, maybe its the constant high temperature?

The flavour was intense and with considerably less astringency. Sweet with a sharp edge. A wee bit smokey.

i did
wash/10/15/20/30/45/1m/1:20 added 25s after that.

Worked well.

Another try yielded better results.

This time i used 10g/220ml yixing @95C
1: 2:00
2: 2:15
3: 2:45
first cup was strong. A bit of bitterness.
Other 2 was just right. some astringency. I think the flavour is a mix of yunnan black and darjeeling second flush?

This tea smells very nice indeed.
Long leaves.

Not really sure of how to get the most out of this.
I used 7g / 220ml yixingpot with 95C water.

3 Infusions
1: 1min
2: 2min
3. 3min

First infusion was pleaseant without astringency. But felt like it was a bit weaker then it should.
I think next time i will use 10g and slightly longer infusions.

6.5g / 200ml in 360ml Banko-yaki

Had to try this tea in a reduction fired pot. since its easy to have a high astringency result. Banko-yaki gives a more mellow flavour with a strong aftertaste. Kind of perfect for green/white tea.

I did 2 infusions.
1m/2m @ 75C

The result was marvelous. The first cup was light and clean. Very smooth. The second cup had a much fuller flavour with nuttiness and a hint of astringency. Mouthfeel was slightly dry. I think second infusin should be perhaps 1:45?
Anyways, reduction fired pot is much prefered compared to glas.

7g / 220ml glaspot
Western style 3 infusions
1/2/3 @ 75C
Tried brewing it a few C colder with decent result.

Very fresh with the fruitiness one expects from a green bi lou chun.
Also a nutty tone with minimal astringency on the aftertaste.
Would be interesting to try this in a reductionfired claypot.

A yunnan Bi Luo Chun processed as a white tea.
A very light tea with a sweet floral aftertaste.

Not quite as good as Yin Zhen or Bai Mudan.

But it is very refreshing!

I did 3 infusions
7g/220ml glaspot 80C.
1: 1m
2: 1:30m
3: 2m

Passable shu, if bland and a bit dry. Decent enough for a mini, but nothing special. Much better than the other minis I’ve tried (teavivre), but won’t be getting these again.

6g / 90ml Celadon gaiwan.

Wash/20s/ +20s per steeping.

Very floral with some buttery flavour. I would say it was a and is a bit light. I´ve found that i do prefer theese lightly oxidized oolongs western style. I´m surprised of the high quality of this oolong. it reminds me alot of the fine alishan:s from taiwan. Very beutiful intact leaves when they unfurl. Gain “alot” in volume.
If you want a good high mountain oolong this is a nice budget choice!

7g / 90ml Gaiwan
Gongfustyle
wash/25s added 10s per infusion.

Fresh with some astringency. Typical high mountain taste.
Beutiful leaves on stalks. Fills up gaiwan to the top.

A good quality high mountain oolong.
Taste alot like Alishan oolong.

Did 10g / 200ml @ 95C
Three infusion

1: 1min
2: 2min
3: 3min

Three flavourfull cups.