Over-roasted tea may not improve with age

When an oolong has been over-roasted, time and patience are necessary for it to have a chance to recover.  Weeks or years may pass before the fire subsides and one can taste the tea base again, but all too often, the fire remains long after the roast.  Some of the aged oolongs that one may come across were once over-roasted teas that have been set aside to rest and recover over the years; they’re sometimes forgotten about.  Some of these teas have been roasted to death and the tea will never recover.

Those searching for a pleasant aged oolong should recognize the difference between an aged tea with potential and one that has been roasted to death.  Irrecoverable over-roasted teas are especially shiny, have a particular taste that can seem nutty/smoky/caramel-like, and fail to open when brewed.  There are several retail and online shops that pass such tea off as premium, aged tea (with the lofty prices to match), but don’t fall for it!

A simple way to understand the differences is through some experimenting.  Ten to 20 grams of a hardy, well-oxidized oolong like a traditional TGY or Wuyi oolong would work nicely.  If you have a mini-roaster, set it to 90+ degrees and intentionally over-roast the tea over several hours until it smells like it may be burnt.  If using an oven, set it to over 200 degrees.  Loosely wrap the tea in foil and leave it in the oven for at least several hours.  This is not enough roasting to kill the tea, but it will be enough for you to taste significant changes to the tea.  You can try it shortly after and note how different the base of the tea is from the pre-roasted version.  Better yet, wait several days or several weeks for the roast to subside and taste the tea again to see what’s changed. 

As usual, buy small quantities to sample before making a bigger purchase.  You may end up with little baggies of junk this way, but that’s way better than big bags of crap!

Oxidation Levels and Flavor Profiles

The process for making oolong involves more steps than other types of tea.  The most important steps for determining the fundamental taste and base of an oolong during its processing are in the oxidation.

Oolong oxidation will produce 4 major categories of flavor/aroma.  From light to heavy oxidation, those categories are:

1)  菜香 (Cai Xiang) - Vegetal, such as Baozhong.
2)  花香 (Hua Xiang) - Floral, such as Alishan high mountain tea.  This category is often further subdivided by the types of floral, such as 蘭貴 (Lan Gui - orchid) or 桂花 (Gui Hua - osmanthus).
3)  果香 (Guo Xiang) - Fruity, such as Dong Ding or Muzha Tieguanyin.  A traditional medium-high oxidized, medium-high roast Muzha TGY may even have notes of ripe fruit, 熟果香 (shu guo xiang).
4)  蜜香 (Mi Xiang) - Honey, such as Oriental Beauty.  A highly-oxidized oolong’s flavor is also said to sometimes resemble 焦糖 (Jiao Tang) or caramel.  I think that tea that has been over-roasted and allowed to rest a while will also infuse tea that is caramel in color and has sweet notes.

Several different leaf varietals are used in the production of Taiwan oolongs, the most prevalent of which is the Qingxin varietal (青心).  Nearly all high mountain oolong is produced with Qingxin leaf.  Dong Ding oolong is also produced with Qingxin, and often with Ruanzhi (軟支, soft stem). 

I greatly prefer medium-oxidation teas to light or high-oxidation ones.  General taste profiles are helpful to me (in addition to other info/experience) when identifying different types of high mountain oolong.  Lishan tends to have a higher-oxidation level than Alishan, for example, and also tends to taste more fruity than floral.  Shanlinxi usually has an oxidation level between Lishan and Alishan and has a uniquely fruity and floral profile. 

Food and Tea…Together

I love Vancouver BC’s Chinese food and its availability of all things Chinese (herbs, snacks, music…).  Vancouver’s Chinese radio station is great as well, especially on Sunday afternoons when they have cool talks on a variety of life and lifestyle topics.

 It’s Fall, time for darker, full-bodied teas like this traditional Dong Ding

A few months ago, the station did a segment on ideas for food and tea pairings, given by a long-time tea drinker who is also a self-trained chef.  I tuned in late and missed a lot of the segment, but he talked a lot about the contrast of flavors.  You don’t want to, he said, pair similar foods with similar teas, just as you wouldn’t eat a sweet dessert after drinking orange juice, which would mute the desserts bounty of flavors.

The guest speaker compared tea pairings to wine pairings, which he has also studied in.  Because of tea’s relatively delicate tastes, he recommends foods that are lighter in flavor.

Some of his recommendations:

-With a sweet dessert, he recommends a smoky and/or bold tea, like a Wuyi Yancha or a Tieguanyin.  Pu’er also works, but doesn’t always highlight the range of a dessert’s flavors.

-For foods that have some tartness, like cheese, he said something like a traditional Phoenix Dancong with strong oxidation and a fruity note would be good.  Per his reasoning, Taiwan’s Oriental Beauty may also be a good choice.

-For a light and dry dessert (e.g. pastries, sponge cake…) he believes that a fresh and “thinner” tea, like a green Longjing or a white Longevity Brow (Shou Mei) would work nicely.

-For an after-dinner digestif, Pu’er is a wonderful choice.  He said something thick and heavy, like an old pu’er or a cooked cake, would work best.

In addition to pairing tea as a beverage with different dishes, there are many blog articles and even a few Chinese cookbooks that have touched upon using tea in cooking.  The trick is to make the tea a star in the dish, not just a supporting character.

Experiment and enjoy the new experiences of paired consumption.

The invisible energy around us

The subtle energy and air of the human body – how does one measure it?  Does it even exist?  If so, how do we make use of it?

I know that this debate continues both within the tea community and beyond.  Qi manipulation is a part of the body of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).  Last year, a Qigong doctor traced my leg pain to a misaligned disc in my back that months of treatment by various doctors and chiropractors could not identify.  One’s ability to sense and manipulate qi depends on many factors, and each person’s baseline ability seems to vary. 

Each individual’s experience with qi also differs.  In several issues of “The Art of Tea” magazine, there were reviews of pu’er tea where several tea masters were asked to independently taste and rate each tea.  Their sensations of each tea’s qi were quite different from each other.  The qi doctor told me that the sensation of qi is generally the same, but each person has a unique interpretation of it.  The ability to reliably identify the feeling of qi from other biological and environmental phenomena requires experience and training.

How does the breath of life affect our tea experiences?  I believe that tea can be a complete sensory experience.  Just as a delicious meal may activate multiple senses and provide complete satisfaction, so too can a beautiful tea.  It will delight us with its aroma and flavor, and make us feel complete with its lingering energy.  But how exactly are we able to differentiate between the tea’s energy and our own?  How do we know that what makes us feel happy and complete is the complete energetic nature of the tea and not our own minds providing a response for us?

Really, we don’t.  The feeling of qi and unseen energies are subjective and cannot yet be accurately measured by scientific equipment.  Several years ago, for example, my sister had a Feng Shui/Qigong consultant walk through her house.  The master came upon a piece of “antiqued” furniture and said that the energy from it was off the charts; it was holding unstable energy in it that had been absorbed through generations of ownership.  The consultant said that the energy of living organisms is absorbed into all of the things around us, such as furniture (and presumably teaware).   My sister revealed to her that the new piece was antiqued, not an antique, and was made to look old for decorative reasons.  The Feng Shui consultant, whose dowsing rod had been twirling like a weathervane in the middle of a storm, put her instrument back into her satchel of doo-dads and walked into another room as if nothing had happened.  That experience proved to be a load of hot air rather than a demonstration of qi energy.

I believe that qi exists and I believe that there is energy all around and within us.  It can contribute to our unique experience and enjoyment of many things, including our tea sessions. 

Slow Brew for a New Experience

A flame, a stand and a tea pot. 

Room temperature water and tea goes into the pot; heat the pot over a slow flame.

Works well with a full-bodied oolong tea or a complex pu’er that’s already been infused a few times.

New dimensions of flavor and taste.  This method forces you to really slow down to enjoy a nice cup of tea.

Drink good tea and enrich your life.

 

A Cheap Spot Roasting Solution

A good, well-oxidized oolong can last for years.  Some teas are OK just being put into a jar and kept over time, but most will benefit from regular re-roasting.  I usually spot roast by putting tea in a sheet of paper that I circle over a flame.  A quick touch-up makes a stale tea more enjoyable, but doing more than 10 minutes of spot roasting by hand gets tedious.  There are specialized spot roasting sets, but they’re not cheap. 

Teaguyver (that’s me, at least for today) pieced together a suitable & cheap spot roaster.

I took the lid and base from a yixing gaiwan.  The base went on top of the heating stand for a chocolate fondue set that I had (>$10).  Light the candle, stir it around from time to time, and you’re good to go.

I spot roasted a 2009 Dong Ding that had gone stale in my jar.  20 minutes made a HUGE difference - 30+ would’ve been even better.  The stale flavor of a tea is very noticeable, but staleness doesn’t taste the same between different teas.  For this Dong Ding, it’s a raw, vegetal taste, like past-date celery. 

(the moisture on the lid after just 2 minutes)

The point is to remove moisture and extraneous tastes.  There’s quite a bit of moisture that accumulates in the tea; I put a lid on top of the heating tea to show the escaping moisture.  It came out for a good 7 minutes. 

Some notes:

-I don’t think spot-roasting works as well with a lid.  It is important to trap some heat, but air circulation is important as well. Sticking some chopsticks/skewers between the lid and the base will help retain heat and provide better air circulation.

-An enclosed shape, like an old teapot, would be a good spot-roasting vessel.

-Spot roasting should be done shortly before drinking the tea.

-The process will not turn a “bad” tea into a “good” one.  It will help a good oolong that no longer tastes very good turn into something more pleasant. 

-Spot roasting will not return a tea to its original condition.  The taste will be improved, but different.

I love oolongs.