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Group tea tasting: Fuding BaiMudan White Tea


cdh

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So we've reached a quorum and samples have been dispatched.  The tea is from a cake I ordered from one of the alibaba-ish direct-from-China sites, DHGate.com.  Here are photos of the wrapper and the cake.  This tea has been very forgiving in my attempts to brew it... 180F works, 195F works.  Gongfu works, more western ratios work.  I generally use about 5g, whether doing gongfu or western.  But I also use the same tea basket for both styles of brewing.  This tea will keep giving tasty reinfusions all day.  When you get it, give t a brew and let us know what you find.

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Christopher D. Holst aka "cdh"

Learn to brew beer with my eGCI course

Chris Holst, Attorney-at-Lunch

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6 hours ago, cdh said:

Here are photos of the wrapper and the cake.

 

I'm a little confused. Nowhere on the wrapper does it say that this is Fuding BaiMudan White Tea, which would be 福鼎白牡丹茶. Instead it says 福鼎野年老白茶, which means Fuding wild, aged white tea.

 

But I'm no tea expert.

...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

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Since I don't read Chinese, I don't see what you saw, Liuzhou.  The folks I bought it from sold it as BaiMuDan, and to look at it, it looks about like the picking style defined as baimudan... As I understand white tea nomenclature, there is yin zhen, which is just unopened buds, baimudan, which is upper leaves and a late  bud or two, and shou mei, which is bigger leaves from further down the stem.  

Christopher D. Holst aka "cdh"

Learn to brew beer with my eGCI course

Chris Holst, Attorney-at-Lunch

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11 hours ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

Please!    You had me Googling the Gongfu ceremony.    I am entranced by the tray.     THAT is the definition of purpose-designed!  

 

Gongfu  isn't so much a ceremony as a procedure... six of one, half a dozen of the other, I guess. It's about higher leaf to water ratios and shorter steeping times, and repetitive steepings. 

Christopher D. Holst aka "cdh"

Learn to brew beer with my eGCI course

Chris Holst, Attorney-at-Lunch

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Here's my good-enough gaiwan setup. A corelle coffee cup and a strainer basket that just about takes up all the space in it.   That's an oolong I've been brewing again and again for the past few days... interesting tea in that the early infusions are close to tasteless, but now that I'm 3 days and 8 or 9 infusions in it is getting very flavorful.  No idea why that is, but it is.  

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Christopher D. Holst aka "cdh"

Learn to brew beer with my eGCI course

Chris Holst, Attorney-at-Lunch

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56 minutes ago, cdh said:

... interesting tea in that the early infusions are close to tasteless, but now that I'm 3 days and 8 or 9 infusions in it is getting very flavorful. 

 

Thank you for this invaluable insight.    You've given us a lot to "chew".    

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eGullet member #80.

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Ha.  Wasn't the tea kettle... was the circuit breaker... the espresso machine, the microwave and the teapot all pulling current at the same time seems to trip it. A trip to the basement has sorted it out. 

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Christopher D. Holst aka "cdh"

Learn to brew beer with my eGCI course

Chris Holst, Attorney-at-Lunch

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For a bit of preparatory info, here's a fun video about white tea: 

 

That channel is a fun tea rabbit hole to jump down and learn about tea from the perspective of a Swiss/Chinese London tea shop owner. 

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Christopher D. Holst aka "cdh"

Learn to brew beer with my eGCI course

Chris Holst, Attorney-at-Lunch

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3 hours ago, cdh said:

For a bit of preparatory info, here's a fun video about white tea: 

 

That channel is a fun tea rabbit hole to jump down and learn about tea from the perspective of a Swiss/Chinese London tea shop owner. 

Mei Leaf has been a large part of my tea education in the past couple of years.  I only wish the videos were more condensed.  Very informative when you have the time, though.

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We stepped into Aroma Tea Shop on 6th Avenue at Clement, San Francisco, this morning.    Tiny shop but well displayed stock.    I was impressed by the young salesman who was helpful without being hard-sell in any way.    I will return to buy when needs arise.   This is one wall; the opposite one contained the large stock of bulk teas.

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eGullet member #80.

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I'm starting a session today.  5.7g of the little bits that have collected on the wrapper when I dug chunks out of the cake went into my good-enough gaiwan which is around 100ml. Water is at 185F.   Did an initial rinse.  20 second initial steep.  Slightly floral aromatics, rich woodsy flavor, long aftertaste. Some dried fruit is coming out after infusion 2, also about 20 seconds.  Infusions 3 and 4 were 30ish seconds.  Body is filling out and it is getting a nice thick mouthfeel and long aftertaste.  Woodsiness is abating and fruitiness is coming out more.

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Christopher D. Holst aka "cdh"

Learn to brew beer with my eGCI course

Chris Holst, Attorney-at-Lunch

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