Extra Tips on Waking Up Aged Oolong

After posting about waking up aged oolong I had gotten a lot of questions, so I thought I should post some more specific guidelines. This is a new technique for us, too, but we are very excited to practice and share. We decided to do an experiment, which I will lay out for you. I hope the outcome of our experiment will be a good starting point to practice waking up aged tea with heat.

We got the idea of waking up teas from footage shot in Taipei for the documentary. The tea brewing master she interviewed used his brazier that keeps his kettle hot to heat his clay teapot, dry, with aged tea in it. This, he said, was to wake up the tea.

We had touched up old teas before, but this encouraged us to practice it and make it a more regular part of our tea brewing.

The Experiment:

We did a side by side tasting of the '66 Aged Beipu before roasting, after being touched up in our electric tea roaster, and after being touched up in an old teapot over a candle flame. The three versions of the same tea all tasted different, and we preferred the candle flame tea.

Earlier this week, Shiuwen tried herself to touch up the tea in our electric roaster. After roasting it, she felt that although it was clearer tasting, the heat was not enough. So we tried again. This time, we tried 60 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes in our electric roaster. Despite being slightly over-roasted (had a stronger drying effect on the tongue), the tea was pretty good.

With the teapot roasting setup above, I started to heat it over the flame myself. The tea started out smelling slightly prune-like and moist. When I felt that most of the moisture was out of the tea, I showed Shiuwen. She smelled it and said "It's not done yet. Don't be afraid of the heat. And you don't need to toss it the whole time." You can see me babying the tea in the picture, continuously holding it shaking it so it wouldn't burn.

She placed the pot directly over the flame and let it sit. When she pulled the tea off the heat, we smelled the dry leaves. The fragrance was more clear, and I noticed
it penetrated deeper into my sinuses.

Brewed, the teas were all great because we started with a very good base. But the MVP was certainly the flame touched tea. It was not only clearer without the stale note, but it also 'opened' much more. The broth felt soft and round and expansive, and the scent was clear and assertive. The untouched tea was good, but the teas we 'woke up' felt like they had just a little bit more. The electric roaster tea was definitely right in the middle, clearer but without as much smoothness or roundness as the candle flame tea.

So go ahead and wake up your aged teas, if you like. It may help them to shine even more. If you discover something really awesome, let us know. We're on the same journey. And don't fear the heat, or you may find yourself outside the kitchen ;)



Written by Noah

Chaozhou Tea Brewing

I got yelled at today by a Chaozhou tea expert!

I love oolongs and I think our Tieguanyin is excellent.  So does my friend the Chaozhou tea drinker.  The cup on the left is how I - and most people - brew oolongs nowadays.  The one on the right is how he brews.  Chaozhou is a region between Fujian and Guangdong provinces and tea lovers there are known for making very strong tea, using lots of leaf and long brewing times.

My friend said my tea is weak and does not allow the true character of an excellent Tieguanyin to shine, which to him are "the namesake metallic note, the sour fruit note, the dry & sweet after-notes, the earthy aroma, the beautiful amber liquid and the thick viscosity."  

We tried several cups of tea brewed his way, which is double the normal amount of leaves and 3-5 minute steepings.  Wow, the brew was so strong and powerful!  We were wired, as if we had taken shots of espresso.  Do people really drink tea that's this strong on a regular basis?  My friend does and loves his tea this way, which is fine by me since he has to buy more tea from me, haha!  I must admit that a strong brew allows you to see all of the tea's strong points and flaws.  I enjoyed our session, but still prefer a more moderate steeping time.  I always say, though, that one should drink tea in whichever enjoyable way one chooses to and to not be too stuck on following set rules. 

Gaiwan Tea Brewing: Timing

I promised in my last post that I would write down how long I brew tea for in a Gaiwan.

I timed myself and found it very distracting to have to pay attention to a timer while brewing tea. I failed a couple of times when customers were coming in and out of the tea shop. It was very frustrating!

Then a tea friend came to visit and I asked him to time me while we drank some tea. I asked him not to let me see the timer.

We shared a pot of ShanLinXi and here is the result:

Gaiwan: 120ml

Amount of ShanLinXi I used that day: 7.7grams (I put the usual amount of dry leaves I put in the Gaiwan and then took the tea out to measure the weight. I don't time my brewing and I don't measure my tea either, I just eyeball it.)

Water Temperature: Boiling water. I heated it back up again for the forth infusion. I did a quick rinse(about 5 seconds).

1st infusion: 25 seconds (a good indication to pour out the first infusion is when the leaves are half open. Please see the picture below):
2nd infusion: 20 seconds
3rd infusion: 17 seconds
4th infusion: 20 seconds
5th infusion: 35 seconds
6th infusion: 55 seconds

leaves that are slightly open: a good time to pour out the first infusion

I know some people don't like to use as much tea as I do, so I did one timing with just a thin layer of dry leaves to cover the bottom of the Gaiwan. I took the leaves out and weighed it. It's 5.8 grams. My friend secretly timed me again and here are the results:

1st infusion: 30 seconds
2nd infusion: 23 seconds
3rd infusion: 30 seconds
4th infusion: 30 seconds
5th infusion: 45 seconds

I have included the above experiments and times as a response to the many questions I get about brewing times; these are not meant as rules for anyone to have to follow. I'd bet that my timing changes a bit when I brew the same tea. This is for people who are new to Gongfu tea brewing to give them a frame of reference.

My suggestion is still the same. After you brew Gongfu tea for a while, stop using a timer or measuring the "exact amount" of tea. Start to pay attention to your tea rather than your timer. Trust me, you will build a good internal clock for your own tea brewing. Without the exact timing, the best cup of tea will show up when you least expect it. Without exact timing, you will reach a deeper understanding of the tea. Why limit yourself and your tea with a timer, be open and your tea will give you the best surprise ever. Happy tea brewing!

*first photography by Douglas King.

Brewing Tea in a Gaiwan VS Yixing Pot

A customer came in and asked me if I had any Lishan Tea this season. I told him yes, and he said he would like to try some. I took out a gaiwan and started to make tea. I usually brew my oolongs in a porcelain gaiwan. He asked me why I didn't brew tea in a yixing pot (he saw there were at least five of them on the tea table).

I told him I love yixing pots, but when I let people taste a tea for the first time, I prefer to use a gaiwan. I believe a gaiwan will give a tea a more "orginal" taste than a yixing pot. After he sampled the Lishan, he was quite satisfied with the quality.

After I receive a new season's Oolong, I am normally busy comparing them and then offering tea tastings to customers. After I have finished my initial round of tasting and sampling, I can spend time to try out some teas in various yixing pots.

I was about to test out Lishan tea in a gaiwan and a yixing pot today when my tea friend, Doug, came to help me take some tea photos. I invited him to taste the teas with me.
After I rinsed the tea, we both agreed that the smells from the lids were different. The one from the yixing lid was more creamy, and the one from the gaiwan lid was bolder. We did three rounds of tastings to compare the difference. The Lishan brewed in the yixing pot was full bodied and well balanced, but I thought it lost a lot of high notes. The Lishan brewed in the gaiwan had more flavors and was smoother. I liked the tea that was brewed using both methods, and had a hard time deciding which one I preferred. Doug liked it from both methods, too, and he preferred it from the gaiwan.

Everyone should be free to experiment with their teas and their brewing methods until they find something they like. When you do, please let me know!