Pi Lo Chun

Got 100g in a well sealed tin from from NYC's Chinatown. To me the taste is dissappointing -- before I write it off, maybe I'm not infusing it at the proper temp or time. I'd appreciate any advice from the group on this. Also, maybe it wasn't the best quality -- Jiangsu Native Produce Import & Export.

Ozzy

Reply to
Ozzy
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My 2 cents:

  1. Water no hotter than 160
  2. Put PiLoChun In water, not water in PLC. Do NOT wash the tea. Put 3/4 of hot water in your yixing teapot and gently put the tea on the surface of the water. Close the lid. Pour off a little bit every 30 sec and taste. That will allow you to develop a 'scale" of extraction. usually 1 min is plenty for the first brew and
15-3- sec for the next one. Try to disturb the leaves in the teapot when you pour more water in it as little as possible. many tricks can be used. Improvise. But putting leaves in water rather than the usual way - water in leaves for the first time is critical because the leaves are at their most fragile when they are dry.

Sasha.

Reply to
Alex Chaihorsky

I obviously meant "try NOT to disturb leaves as much as possible"...

Sorry,

Sasha.

Reply to
Alex Chaihorsky

Hi Ozzy,

Bi Luo Chun in a can comprises its quality...you never know how long the tea has been in the can!

Danny

Reply to
samarkand

"samarkand" wrote in news:435459eb$ snipped-for-privacy@news.starhub.net.sg:

"samarkand" wrote in news:435459eb$ snipped-for-privacy@news.starhub.net.sg:

Hi Danny,

By "tightly sealed tin" I meant a metal cannister with two seals, inner and outer -- and tight cellophane on the outside, for good measure. Thought this was in the neighborhood of the ideal storage container for tea.

But no, there is nothing like a date that I can read anywhere, so it could have been sitting in there for quite a number of years for all I know to the contrary.

Ozzy

Reply to
Ozzy

"Alex Chaihorsky" wrote in news:fBX4f.4603$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr21.news.prodigy.com:

Thanks much for the detailed instructions, Sasha. Always meant to get a yixing pot, anyway.

Ozzy

Reply to
Ozzy

OzzyXns96F2CBB6C82BBTheLoneAndLevelSands@216.196.97.14210/17/05

20: snipped-for-privacy@ng.please

Ozzy,

Next spring spring up to The Tea Gallery at 131 Allen Street (just north of Bowery) and try theirs. It's not cheap, but it's the best I've drunk. It is possible of course that BLC is simply not your style.

Michael

Reply to
Michael Plant

OzzyXns96F3C37D5E04TheLoneAndLevelSands@216.196.97.14210/18/05

01: snipped-for-privacy@ng.please

I recommend a gaiwan for BLC, not an YiXing pot. I do have one very small YiXing pot for delicate greens, but most of the YXP's are not going to treat your green teas well. Besides, a good BLC is absolutely beautiful swimming around in the water. You won't miss the display if you brew in a gaiwan.

Michael

Reply to
Michael Plant

Jiangsu is the province for PLC. You said in a later post it is a doubled sealed tin. It is fresh as the day it was packed. All I can find are the bags which aren't nitrogen sealed. There are some good posts from the past on brewing and taste. I don't know what you mean by disappointing. It is an understated tea in the sense there is more nuance than taste similar to Lung Ching. I drink mine at warm temperature. It is a graded tea so in Chinese terms you pay more for whatever arbitrary quality. Everyone claims their's is the Spring flush. I think this tea needs to breath when brewing. I don't skimp with the leaves and use boiling water with 500ml water. I let brew at least three minutes and don't plan on using the leaves again. It is a gentle tea for reflection not planning.

Jim

Ozzy wrote:

Reply to
Space Cowboy

Space snipped-for-privacy@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com10/18/05

09: snipped-for-privacy@ix.netcom.com

Jim,

Are you saying that you brew it at boiling temperature, but wait for it to cool down before you drink it? Have you considered brewing at a far lower temperature just as an experiment? I think you might get a very different experience out of it. I find that really fine PLC gives more by way of nuance when brewed at a lower temperature.

Michael

Reply to
Michael Plant

Michael Plant wrote in news:BF7A4FB8.39E73% snipped-for-privacy@pipeline.com:

...

I've read about the display, but so far I've had to forgo it as I've been brewing in an opaque, earthenware pint mug using a steel strainer (which is saved for later infusions). I suppose this admission makes me a barbarian but there it is: convenience, esp. when brewing for one.

However, I suspect that this brewing method yields a tea which was in some cases not all it could be. I presume a gaiwian pot is a translucent or transparent ceramic...

Most of the Japanese teapots (which I'm draw to artistically) do come with steel meshes. Is this because Japanese green tea can easily stand such treatment, or is it just a time saver -- not having to clean the leaves out the pot when done or changing teas?

Ozzy

Reply to
Ozzy

Michael Plant wrote in news:BF7A4E60.39E71% snipped-for-privacy@pipeline.com: ...

Thanks for the brick-and-mortar location, Michael. Perhaps PLC is not my cuppa, but I should try at least one more.

Ozzy

Reply to
Ozzy

"Space Cowboy" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

Perhaps my taste is simply not developed enough for PLC; it is my individual response to flavors, after all. But I don't skimp on the leaves of any tea -- I tend to prefer strong tastes, esp. when brewing for one. Maybe this inborn preference bars my full enjoyment of PLC.

I am having better (i.e. more to my taste) results using an infusing time of around three min. Maybe next batch I'll have the patience to let the water cool some more.

Reply to
Ozzy
[Michael].
[Ozzy]
[Michael] Not at all. It just suggests that the look of the thing is secondary for you at best. [Ozzy]
[Michael] No, not at all necessarily. It's just that its interior wall will be white or some manner of off-white, and the leaves will look beautiful against it.
[Ozzy]
[Michael yet again] Time saver. The Japanese are basically barbarians when it comes to tea. That's why they give no thought to the extraordinary beauty of extraordinarily tea leaves, using very dark clay kyusus, for example.
Reply to
Michael Plant

First, as others have said, temperature really is important. To my taste, plc is even more susceptible to being ruined by hot water than most other Chinese greens. I suggest 160 - 180 F temperatures (two to four parts boiling water, respectively, to one part tap temp. [50 degree] water).

Second, it is so fine and delicate that it goes stale very fast. I'm drinking and enjoying year-old longjin right now, but I won't buy blc except in the spring (make sure they aren't dumping last year's) and only in small amounts.

I would be astonished if even the local tea khans could tell the difference between tea-first and water-first steeping. We should do a double-blind study along the lines of Ronald Fisher's famous experiment concerning tea-first vs. milk-first in black tea.

Last, there's a great anecdote concerning China's longest-serving emperor (kind of; his grandson abdicated so as not to break his record), especially interesting because as a Manchu he was considered a barbarian by the literati of the time:

"Sometime in the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century while on an inspection of his realm, Emperor Kang Xi visited the Lake Taihu area in Zhejiang province and his host, the governor of Jiangsu, presented him with this tea. Striking the Emperor as a tea of purity he asked the name. "Astounding Fragrance" was his host's reply. The Emperor, with disdain, replied that such a name for this treasure was vulgar and an insult. Ordering the unused leaves brought for his examination, the Emperor declared that a more fitting name would be Green Snail Spring because the rolled shape looked like a snail shell. The original name is most popular, however.

Peach, apricot and plum trees are planted among the bushes. When these fruit trees bloom, the tender spouts and buds of tea absorb the aromas to be passed on to those who drink their infusion. The name is now known all over the world, for this is one of China's famous rare teas. Its home is two mountains known as East and West Dongting which poke up out of Taihu, the great lake not far west of Shanghai, and where the garden city of Suzhou is located. One mountain is an island in the lake and the other a peninsula. The water evaporating from the lake keeps them overhung with clouds and mist, thus the young leaves stay moist. The prime time to pick the tea leaves is during the Pure Brightness festival when the buds are jade-green tinged with white. Bi Luo Chun is picked during the spring until April when the spring rains begin. Only one leaf and the bud are plucked. Harvesting is done completely by hand and great skill is required to roll and fire the leaves. Bi Luo Chun was selected as the offering of local government to the emperor in Qing Dynasty."

Reply to
Rick Chappell

I've always felt that greens do better in glass anyway - that is, many greens do. There are some which I prefer to steep in clay, such as long jing and silver needle, but that is strictly an aesthetic preference and may have nothing to do with the final result. Funny how one develops little rituals with tea - but that's part of the deal, I think. Make it your own. Tea allows for that - encourages it, even.

Reply to
pilo_

Michael,

At my altitude water boils at 202F. I use glass pot for brewing and glass cup for drinking which radiates heat so a good compromise for greens. I brew for taste and not nuance. I think volume,weight,time is more important than temperature. If a guest prefers a warm cup they can let it cool down. If they prefer a hot cup they can drink sooner. They have no choice if I choose the temperature. My local tea shoppe has received negative comments from sealevel visitors because the water isn't hot enough. I know for a fact I can't drink any tea at 212F. I'd have to twiddle my thumbs till 200F or add cream. I'll wait.

Jim

Michael Plant wrote:

Reply to
Space Cowboy

Space snipped-for-privacy@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com10/21/05

10: snipped-for-privacy@ix.netcom.com

OK. I see what you mean. But, I was suggesting possible adjustments in the actual brewing temperature, not the drinking temperature. You say you "brew for taste and not nuance," but what do you mean here? Isn't "nuance" part of the taste experience? Anyway, the bottom line: Whatever floats your tea boat.

Michael

Reply to
Michael Plant

I think almost any tea has a given taste. That is the taste which is independent of any brewing parameter or brewing style within reason. When I say nuance or note it is a taste that is only present by certain brewing conditions. The term has been consistently used in this group to mean a certain temperature or a multiple infusion. My POV is the first cup is the best. I don't see much value if a note or nuance is present and the taste is gone. I know oolongs don't absolutely require boiling temperature or that blacks require much time in the pot or that whites can stew. I drink too much tea too really worry about the fine points of each if any. When traveling in the mountainous West you can usually find the health food store with jars of tea in almost any town. I came across an interesting oolong which obviously had been in the jar too long because not much olfactory smell but subsequently good in a cup. It was on a bottom shelf, out of the way, like someone was saving the good stuff for themself. It was light broadleaf like SowMee but darker. It wasn' expensive at $20/lb but 4oz was almost the whole jar. A pleasant find for a different style of oolong.

Jim

Michael Plant wrote:

Reply to
Space Cowboy

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