Somewhat regretting my decision to go with the Western-style instructions on this one, with 5 long infusions, but really, I was too tired to go through a series of short infusions today.
First infusion (205F/3min)
Smells floral and sweet, almost like honey. But gah! This does not taste good! Super strong, astringent, and somewhat bitter. Yuck :( Definitely regretting the long infusion times now :( It’s really unpleasant, but I can taste that it’s delicious underneath.
Second infusion (208F/3min)
Crap, more of the same. I can’t even drink it. This is so disappointing. I can taste a flavour shift but I can’t handle the astringency and bitterness.
Third infusion (208F/3min)
Again, I can taste a change in flavours but it’s so astringent/bitter I can’t handle it.
Fourth infusion (205F/3min)
Similar to the third.
Fifth infusion (202F/4min)
I might be able to drink this one…. but it’s still astringent and bitter.
:( I am bummed. All that effort for nothing (and on an expensive tea too), and I have no idea what I did wrong. I weighed out 5g of leaf (as instructed), used filtered water, measured water temperatures, and timed my infusions, and I’m going to have to throw out at least 4 of 5 infusions. This may be one of the worst tea experiences I’ve had :( The bitterness is lingering in my mouth even now and it is so unpleasant. Moral of the story I guess is to start with gongfu-style brewing, or at least infusions of 25-30s, not 3 min even if the instructions say to use that infusion time…
ETA: How can nobody else have had the same experience as I just did? Reading the tasting notes, someone even steeped it for 5 minutes! My infusions are disgusting; I can’t imagine anyone actually enjoying them.
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maybe try using less leaf or shorter infusions? I usually let my heavier teas go for 90 seconds the first time
Yeah, I’m going to go with much shorter infusions next time. I can tell that this is a good tea, but clearly oversteeped. :( You know, I think this happened to me with Dong Ding oolong from Teavivre too, so I guess I should have known better than to go with longer infusion times right off the bat.
I almost never listen to the brewing instructions. I do for water temp but for steep time I typically do it by smell, even if the tea has only steeped for a minute western style I can tell it’s to my tasting by the way it smells. I find that if I do listen to the instructions from the company for steep time that I typically have an unpleasant tea experience.
I would go with shorter infusions times also. I need to revisit this myself because I recall I wasn’t too impressed by it either.
Sorry to hear your experience with this one. Dancong can be very temperamental, but this one is also very rewarding when you get it right. I am working on two things to make steeping easier and more clear this week. First, I am doing short videos on brewing techniques for each tea. Second, I am revising all western brewing instructions to be more like Gongfu brewing, where you use no more than 8-10oz of water at a time, and do something in the 15-20 second range for multiple infusions.
I think Invader Zim has a good point here- smell is the best indicator. Sometimes it is hard to put down a specific amount of tea or time, because you eventually rely on smell and appearance to know when a tea is ready. As soon as it is fragrant, you can pull the leaves out.
For Dancong, I recommended using a lot of leaves, as the traditional way of drinking in Chaozhou is to really push the tea to the strongest point that you can before you get bitterness. However, you don’t need to use as much if you want a more forgiving brewing experience. Three minutes works best in a larger pot, but I am going to restest this today and revise downward in my suggestions based on your experience. In a cup, you could easily do 30 seconds and be happy.
I hope that you have a better experience with your next round brewing this tea. It is definitely worth returning to. If you find yourself ordering again, remind me, and I will send along an extra sample to make up for the leaves you lost following my perhaps flawed brewing tip for western style. In the mean time, try very short infusions. It is easier to add time than to take it away.
Good Luck!
David
I love the videos! They really help me! I check the Verdant website for instructions for each tea before starting.
An update- I had to go brew this one to see how it performs, and my best experience western style so far today has been using a small 6oz cup and about 3-4 g of tea (dry they filled the cup about a third of the way up). I did 15 seconds on my first steeping and 20 on the following steepings. When I think about it, I guess that this really amounts to gongfu style brewing, but in a cup with a brew basket, but it definitely worked well. Three minutes was an unfortunate suggestion on my part which I have gone and changed.
Bonnie, thank you for the compliments on the videos. I am really excited to do a little brewing guide video for every specific tea on the site. I am going to start filming tomorrow!
Thanks for all the advice, everyone! I’m looking forward to a successful second attempt in the near future.
Invader Zim – I suppose I don’t go by smell because on numerous occasions, I’ve found that my delicious-smelling tea has next to no flavour! Perhaps it was with lower quality or older teas though (which these ones certainly are not!)
David – I really appreciate that you took the time to respond to me here! I’m new enough to brewing high quality straight teas that I often rely on instructions given by the company for at least my first attempt at a tea, mostly because my own attempts have usually fallen pretty flat. I also think that the videos are a great idea! I will definitely watch them for tips next time. I did previously watch your video on using a gaiwan, although I have yet to acquire one.
I will try brewing the tea as you suggested above, and suspect I will have a much better experience – I caught some lovely & unexpected aromas yesterday while pouring out infusions, and like I said, in spite of the bitterness/astringency, I could tell that there was something good underneath. I will definitely be making a second order very soon (and I’m so thrilled that I delayed it long enough to be able to order the spring tieguanyin!); I just was waiting until I tried the teas I purchased to know if I wanted to order more (or, if I wanted to try the new dancong as well). I’ll let you know when I place the order – a 5g replacement of the leaf from last night would be wonderful :)
It just occurred to me that some people may be wondering why on earth I was so dumb to keep with the 3-minute infusions after the first one was awful! Unfortunately, I’m a bit silly and like to a) compare infusions side by side and b) I can’t drink tea until it’s cooled a bit. So instead of infusing, drinking, infusing, drinking, etc., I pretty much infuse one after another into 5 separate cups, then trek up to my bedroom and drink them in order, going back to previous infusions to I can characterize differences between the two. Because these infusions all smelled delicious, I therefore had no idea that there would be a problem until the fateful first sip. So it’s definitely my fault in large part.
maybe try using less leaf or shorter infusions? I usually let my heavier teas go for 90 seconds the first time
Yeah, I’m going to go with much shorter infusions next time. I can tell that this is a good tea, but clearly oversteeped. :( You know, I think this happened to me with Dong Ding oolong from Teavivre too, so I guess I should have known better than to go with longer infusion times right off the bat.
I almost never listen to the brewing instructions. I do for water temp but for steep time I typically do it by smell, even if the tea has only steeped for a minute western style I can tell it’s to my tasting by the way it smells. I find that if I do listen to the instructions from the company for steep time that I typically have an unpleasant tea experience.
I would go with shorter infusions times also. I need to revisit this myself because I recall I wasn’t too impressed by it either.
Sorry to hear your experience with this one. Dancong can be very temperamental, but this one is also very rewarding when you get it right. I am working on two things to make steeping easier and more clear this week. First, I am doing short videos on brewing techniques for each tea. Second, I am revising all western brewing instructions to be more like Gongfu brewing, where you use no more than 8-10oz of water at a time, and do something in the 15-20 second range for multiple infusions.
I think Invader Zim has a good point here- smell is the best indicator. Sometimes it is hard to put down a specific amount of tea or time, because you eventually rely on smell and appearance to know when a tea is ready. As soon as it is fragrant, you can pull the leaves out.
For Dancong, I recommended using a lot of leaves, as the traditional way of drinking in Chaozhou is to really push the tea to the strongest point that you can before you get bitterness. However, you don’t need to use as much if you want a more forgiving brewing experience. Three minutes works best in a larger pot, but I am going to restest this today and revise downward in my suggestions based on your experience. In a cup, you could easily do 30 seconds and be happy.
I hope that you have a better experience with your next round brewing this tea. It is definitely worth returning to. If you find yourself ordering again, remind me, and I will send along an extra sample to make up for the leaves you lost following my perhaps flawed brewing tip for western style. In the mean time, try very short infusions. It is easier to add time than to take it away.
Good Luck!
David
I love the videos! They really help me! I check the Verdant website for instructions for each tea before starting.
An update- I had to go brew this one to see how it performs, and my best experience western style so far today has been using a small 6oz cup and about 3-4 g of tea (dry they filled the cup about a third of the way up). I did 15 seconds on my first steeping and 20 on the following steepings. When I think about it, I guess that this really amounts to gongfu style brewing, but in a cup with a brew basket, but it definitely worked well. Three minutes was an unfortunate suggestion on my part which I have gone and changed.
Bonnie, thank you for the compliments on the videos. I am really excited to do a little brewing guide video for every specific tea on the site. I am going to start filming tomorrow!
Thanks for all the advice, everyone! I’m looking forward to a successful second attempt in the near future.
Invader Zim – I suppose I don’t go by smell because on numerous occasions, I’ve found that my delicious-smelling tea has next to no flavour! Perhaps it was with lower quality or older teas though (which these ones certainly are not!)
David – I really appreciate that you took the time to respond to me here! I’m new enough to brewing high quality straight teas that I often rely on instructions given by the company for at least my first attempt at a tea, mostly because my own attempts have usually fallen pretty flat. I also think that the videos are a great idea! I will definitely watch them for tips next time. I did previously watch your video on using a gaiwan, although I have yet to acquire one.
I will try brewing the tea as you suggested above, and suspect I will have a much better experience – I caught some lovely & unexpected aromas yesterday while pouring out infusions, and like I said, in spite of the bitterness/astringency, I could tell that there was something good underneath. I will definitely be making a second order very soon (and I’m so thrilled that I delayed it long enough to be able to order the spring tieguanyin!); I just was waiting until I tried the teas I purchased to know if I wanted to order more (or, if I wanted to try the new dancong as well). I’ll let you know when I place the order – a 5g replacement of the leaf from last night would be wonderful :)
It just occurred to me that some people may be wondering why on earth I was so dumb to keep with the 3-minute infusions after the first one was awful! Unfortunately, I’m a bit silly and like to a) compare infusions side by side and b) I can’t drink tea until it’s cooled a bit. So instead of infusing, drinking, infusing, drinking, etc., I pretty much infuse one after another into 5 separate cups, then trek up to my bedroom and drink them in order, going back to previous infusions to I can characterize differences between the two. Because these infusions all smelled delicious, I therefore had no idea that there would be a problem until the fateful first sip. So it’s definitely my fault in large part.