Tung Ting preparation

First they're two different teas night and day. TGI is from the mainland and Tung Ting from the island. Roughly TT is 30% and TGI 60% oxidation. The more oxidation less the infusion time. If you don't know the oxidation levels observe the agony of the leaves. For first time tea taste use a neutral pot such as glass. The rule of thumb each oxidized category gets their own pot. I make tea British style using singular large glass pot to let the leaves breath only once and boiling water. Essentially you get the multiple cups in a larger pot and the water cools quicker than Yixing. I think a well seasoned clay pot of any style can handle any tea except for scented teas which definitely need the clean surface. The convention is you can get multiple infusions from any oolong using small pots such as Yixing. But that is putting the cart before the horse. Both teas comes in various grades indicative of quality and not leaf size. I've tasted some higher grade TKI where the monkeys didn't wash their hands and I prefer the lesser grade TT with the chicory flavor. My approach to tea is concentrate on the canvas and not the strokes. My rule of thumb if you don't like the initial taste of a tea then the perfect cuppa won't make any difference. I'm a fan of oolong and I like some better than others but that isn't a constant and I always give shelf squatters another day in the pot.

Jim

BenoitF wrote:

lightly

infusions

Sorry, but I've seen both Tieguanyins and Dong Dings over a wide range of oxidation. Different producers make these teas in a wide range of styles.

/Lew

Thank you for all those informations.

What do you think about brewing oolongs in gaiwans?

This would allow me to brew different kind of oolongs until I'll be able to afford another yixing teapot (and this way I would be able to make multiple infusions)... I like Tie Guan Yin oolongs, Tung Ting oolongs, and also GaoShan JinXuan oolongs (I found that very special oolong in Montreal - it really doesn't taste like other oolongs : it has a very creamy flavor), so I would actually need 3 yixing teapots (!)

Sure, why not?

/Lew

Lewis snipped-for-privacy@panix1.panix.com12/29/04 13: snipped-for-privacy@panix.com

To which I would add....

Choose the gaiwan over the YiXing pot for teas that are new to you. That way you will have the pure taste of the tea. Then later, after you know the tea's taste and style, switch to whatever vessel you most enjoy. Just thoughts.

Michael

Lewis snipped-for-privacy@panix1.panix.com12/29/04 12: snipped-for-privacy@panix.com

This morning, apropos of your point above, I'm drinking a Dong Ding supplied by a friend. It looks and behaves more like a Bao Zhong. Other Dong Dings I've known look and behave more like the fisted Tie Guan Yins we know so well. So, what is this, do you think? A Bao Zhong from Dong Ding Mountain? (The tea, incidentally, is pleasant enough, but suffers from age and wear, much like myself.)

Michael

Thanks Michael, this is interesting.

BTW, I'm wondering at which temperature should a Tung Ting be brewed? Should it be brewed at the same temperature and have the same steeping time as a Tie Guan Yin?

Michael Plant wrote:

snipped-for-privacy@c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com12/30/04

It is my experience that Tie Guan Yins are much more varied in the level of oxidation and roast. Therefore, in their case, the darker the leaf, the higher the temperature is a good rule of thumb. I would not go above 195F in any event, but 180-190 is a safe bet. However, the Dong Dings I've drunk tend to be greener, and so might appreciate a temperature a bit lower: Let's say 180-185F. There is of course difference of opinion regarding brewing temperature. With Dong Ding, why not experiment with even lower temperatures

-- say down to 175.

Michael

Excuse-vous. Close enough for argument sake. TKI is more oxidized than TT. TT is closer to green and TKI closer to black. I've never seen a dark TT or a light TKI. My local tea shoppe TT Jade Pouchong isn't that much different per oxidation than my TT from Chinatown but the taste is different. I've got a commercial TT Taiwan brand which I haven't opened but instructions are 3min brew, 3 or 4 times. It also says to use boiling water so throw away the thermometer. Only a light oolong could do that. TT is a specific mountain in Taiwan and TKI a specific county in a province in China. You sure you're not confusing other Anxi oolongs with Anxi TKI? High mountain oolongs from Taiwan aren't TT. The Chinese variety argument would swallow a black hole where any information becomes meaningless. My local tea shoppe stocked green and black puerh cakes in the embossed boxes for Christmas. I stopped in yesterday they're gone which I learned too late. All he had left was a mini tuocha which looks like the expensive compressed silver bud. It doesn't look like puerh ie the leaf is still malleable. It was a sample from the vendor which he will stock.

Jim

Lewis Per>

Space snipped-for-privacy@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com12/30/04

Excuse-vous-too, but your evidence is anecdotal, as is mine. In this case my anecdote trumps yours: I've never seen a dark TT either, but I've seen plenty of TKI as green as any TT, which is pretty damned green.

Yup, my experience exactly.

So, you're saying that a light -- you mean "green"? -- Oolong can be more readily brewed at boiling than a more oxidized or more roasted one? I beg to differ, but different strokes for different folks and there is no accounting for taste.

Sorry, not quite right on the TKI thing. It's a varietal, most often associated Anxi county.

Unless the TT is grown on the higher part of the mountain?

Well, almost meaningless. No argument from me.

Sorry you missed it. How's the mini?

Michael

Ok, Ill have to try with those temperatures... The instructions on the tea package suggested about 205F and 2 minutes infusions, which resulted in an awful tea, even this Tung Ting is supposed to be a very fine one! I'll also try to reduce the steep time to the one I use when brewing Tie Guan Yins (about 1 min for the first steep, then about

The Tie Guan Yin is indeed a varietal, or tea tree race as we call it over here. From what I have seen in Anxi (a county in Fujian) during the autumn harvest, the TKY level of fermentation (oxidization) is between 20% and 40%. However, one can find some TGY heavily baked. This is usual practice with old TGY that needs to be rebacked. But mainly, if you go to any chinese tea market and ask for TGY, you will get some "green" tea.

Happy new year to everyone!

SEb

snipped-for-privacy@c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com12/31/04

I would add a reminder of something Nigel mentioned awhile back about Darjeelings: Once upon a time it was common practice to produce, and therefore drink, black (fully oxidized) Darjeelings; but the "trend" moved toward greener Darjeelings, which is where we find ourselves now. Likewise, with TGY, I'm sure, although I don't know the precise trend, I think Chinese TGY's have become greener on average than they used to be. Seb, is that more or less correct?

Michael

I paint a picture and the next thing I know it is a puzzle of a thousand pieces. If the heavy large oxidized leaf with serated edges ain't from Anxi you're drinking a generic and not the Iron Goddess. I understand TKI is a style like Lapsang Souchong but a bonfire of baseball bats laced with pinetar just doesn't smell the same and a green TKI from Formosa ain't no Buddha pumping Iron. At least Hawking can admit when he is wrong. Somebody owes me a book on baseball statistics. I'm going to see if the silver bud tuocha can help with a hangover.

Jim

Michael Plant wrote:

snipped-for-privacy@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com12/30/04

fill in the blanks with google ...blank...

...blank...

...blank...

Maybe so, but strong cooked Puerh, brewed until it's opaque, might be more effective. (Or maybe it just *seems* more like medicine!)

/Lew

I think ChineseTGY's have become greener on average than >they used to be. Seb, is that more or less correct?

This is correct. I have been drinking a 21 years old TGY for the last few days and the tea is clearly more baked and not rolled in the fist form we see nowadays. As for the level of fermentation, it has always been around 40%. Apparently, the TGY started to be greener when tea makers in Anxi started to use the machine that was created in Taiwan to rolled the tea leaves in the fist form. It seems that they started to bake less the tea due to an increasing demand for more "green" tea.

SEb

Jim,

Are you saying that TGY from Anxi should have big leaves? SEb

Broad might might more correct than big. I also include the word heavy for the weight(thickness) of the leaf. I checked with my undisputable Chinese source and TKI is also a varietal that has migrated from Anxi. The real classic Anxi TKI is 60% oxidized and large whole nugget. I have a dark green version called Xue Feng which means Snow Summit but I'd guess still 50% oxidized so Iron Goddess is still faint. I've seen the trends in marketing for more green such as darjeeling and nilgiri. Interesting I've only found that in tea shoppes and not on the commercial shelves. My cheap bubbly blanc de noirs methode champenoise from Napa Valley taste excellent but isn't expensive Champagne from the self name wine district of France.

Jim

SEb wrote: