Talk:Brewing your oolong tea. . .

Question: Should we approach the brewing strategies by whether a tea is dark or light, or by whether it is rolled or striped? I feel there is more consistency in the brewing technique among striped oolongs than there is among, say, high-roast TGY and yancha. Also, it's a bit easier to define, as there is no really clear demarkation between dark and light. Anyway, just a suggestion, I'm open to persuasion. --Scruffmcgruff 13:11, 13 February 2008 (EST)

Answer-->Question: Thanks for the help! Some people like to stuff the pot with Yancha or ANY aged/high roast tea and use shorter infusion times. I see that as the difference. I don't see a major difference between brewing rolled or striped oolongs. Am I missing something here? Thinking about it, however, I wonder if it's the very different taste of yancha vs gaoshan that tricked me into making any distinction at all. In fact, maybe there should only be one set of suggestions, especially in light of the target audience (as I see it) of novices: Fill a pot or gaiwan 1/4 to 1/3 full of leaves, optional rinse, brew 30 to 50 sec, evaluate result, adjust according to taste. The number of infusions will be similar and the potential variations equally approach infinity: cooler water, less/more time, more leaf, measure leaf in grams, rinse twice, etc. In summary: a single set of general oolong guidelines to get the novice started quickly. Dan Cong, on the other hand, needs separate guidelines, perhaps in the Dan Cong section. What do you think? Salsero 16:07, 13 February 2008 (EST)

Question-->Question: Well, just in time, Jogrebe started a TeaChat thread about brewing Yancha at http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?p=27904#27904. BBB says in a note there "the traditional method is 50%-75% full gaiwan: [rinse], flash infusion, 5s, 7s, 10s, 30s, timing depending on the roast and quality of leaves." I don't think I would suggest a brewing style like that for TGY or Gao Shan. Salsero 16:24, 13 February 2008 (EST)

Hmm, yeah I guess you're right. I also think you might be on to something with the general guidelines, followed by links to more specific ones to yancha, dan cong, etc. --Scruffmcgruff 17:34, 13 February 2008 (EST)