Optimal DHP brewing (Page 1 of 2)

I can think of something... Take some pictures and post them for me to look at!

would you like to share your source for this tea? And how much of it did you get? Post a description here, if it's not too much trouble, or at least a link to a description.

In my opinion you should get your darker roasted yancha pot ready too. Best within 3 years here may refer to a high fire tea. I say this because tea can last longer if it is stored in large amounts and may tend to go bad quickly in small amounts even if it is sealed. Also, the vendor may be worried that most customers won't keep the little bags in optimal storage conditions to last more than three years. Lastly you can't refresh roast a single infusion worth of leaf.

Really, my only advice is enjoy yourself. I have never had any tea this expensive, and would love to hear if it was worth it.

Speaking of Evian, many of you have probably read this post as The half-dipper is a pretty popular web log, but read this before buying Evian for tea use.

http://half-dipper.blogspot.com/2007/04 … sting.html

This is actually Wuyi-Star's "Superfine" grade. I got it locally at Serenity Art. The guy said they only make 500 (something I couldn't understand - he was having a hard time with his English - "jin" maybe? A small harvest at any rate) and they would only sell him one case. It comes in a hand-etched steel canister with 8 packets inside - total of 56g for $140 - but $125 with my keep-the-crazy-obsessive-white-man-coming-back-and-spending-obscene-amounts-of-money discount :)

Here are pics - there's some writing on it that I wouldn't mind translated (the front of the box). You can see that it's on the box that says to use it in 3 years. There's also the story of DHP on the side, but I didn't figure you guys would be terribly interested; if I'm wrong then just let me know and I'll get a pic. Inside the big box is the yellow silk covered foam with cutout for the canister, and then a cardboard "skeleton" to keep the canister in place.

http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/rr22 … s/DHP1.jpg

http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/rr22 … s/DHP2.jpg

http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/rr22 … s/DHP3.jpg

http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/rr22 … s/DHP4.jpg

I've not been much for Wuyi-Star's pre-packaged stuff (I know most people don't think much of them), though the white box is generally pretty good stuff (although I've gone through a few before getting it right). I do have greater expectations for this one, however I don't really know what to expect. Conversationally he mentioned some time ago that the time he brewed a little (tiny) bit, the fragrance filled the store. He clearly didn't expect me to buy this one - you should have seen how surprised and elated the guy was. :)

(Just got your package while writing this, criminy thanks w :) )

The yancha pot I use actually excels with roasted TGY, it's just that I tried the greener ones in it and it worked out really well too. I suspect it's one of those pots that just works for anything you put in it :) I got the pot from the same store, and the guy really knows how to choose good pots with reasonable prices (usually around the $20-$40 range, often right around $30). It's just that the first tea that I put in it was yancha and it came out amazingly well, so I just immediately dubbed it my yancha pot.

Now I just wait for my fancy new canister to arrive to put it in :D (Yes, I went a little overboard this month, but I probably spent less in total than I do in some months - just on fewer items.)

So now I'll just have to get some good tea folks together to try it :) I'll definitely want to try it on a "good tea day" though. Two ounces gives me some room to fudge, but at that price I'd rather not waste any at all.

Maybe I should order just one or two packets of TeaCuppa's "Tribute DHP" to compare. This one is actually even more expensive, though, at $17.50 per packet. Serenity Art typically has lower prices (sometimes much lower) than most of the online vendors, too.

yeah, well he did say that it was a very limited production. He was trying to tell me how limited (500 something, but he also tried to say more) but he was having a hard time with words. He did also say that they would only sell him one case. It was toward the end of his day, and he always has problems with English when he's tired.

Surprisingly he sold quite a few. The case contained twenty-something boxes, and I got the second to last one. What surprised him most was that I was the second to buy one that day.

Thanks for the translation :) I guess I should have figured that it would just be the company name.

I think the fact that it's Wuyi-Star killed everyone's enthusiasm :P :)

chrl: So does that mean that most of the "real" DHP out there is Wuyi-Star in some form?

Well I decided to grab a couple packets of the Tribute DHP from TeaCuppa as well. I figure it will be fun to brew them side-by-side to compare. I've already got some of the Imperial DHP from Jing, though I doubt it really compares.

I guess what I will have to do is get a few types of water and try them with some less expensive DHP - maybe even some Wuyi-Star (I'm thinking the white pack, since it's a little picky).

I would almost think that a water with high mineral content would be best, since that's likely what the plants grew up with (taking the rocks in the soil into account). Or maybe some softer water with meifan stones?

So does anyone know of any brands of volvic water?

Hehe, I kinda started to wonder if that was the case earlier today. I'll definitely check it out, thanks

Last thing to get is a Kamjove kettle, rather than making it with my Zoji. I really like the $37 one from Bird Pick, but I'll have to wait til they get it back in stock :P (unless I decide to go for the $30 one, or find something equally inexpensive that I like just as much)

So one of these days I'll have a very nice gongfu session.. hopefully with good company :)

I also find that a cup with visible calcium carbonate is sweeter.

I've only used Volvic a few times (usually for special teas), and I don't think specifically for yancha. It's a little expensive and wasteful (esp. in terms of the carbon footprint of shipping water from Europe, plus the added waste of the smaller containers) for day to day brewing. I've mostly just used it because other tea folks I know seem to use it on occasion, and I think it has a little less mineral content than stuff like Evian.

I didn't get a chance to check out the spring water near Wuyishan... the water at one of the factories I visited was pretty good, but they said it was from the well in the traditional courtyard house (四合院) their factory is located in (they said the local spring water was better, but too much trouble most of the time). I thought about trying to collect some and get it home with me somehow.

Has anyone had experience with Iouseki stones and Binchotan charcoal for water filtering? Or with the Iousen water filter pot from Hario? Sort of an arty Brita but the charcoal and stones are submerged in the water.

In their shops they always use a gaiwan because an yixing pot may alter the taste for the customer. I did not see any nice Yixing pots in Wuyi for sale, but lots of producers might recieve nice ones as gifts from big customers.

They usually used a regular white gaiwan, not thick, but not what I would describe as eggshell. (I saw a very thin gaiwan about 2 weeks ago) but I would say that you should use an Yixiing or at least try it out. You probably have a nicely seasoned Yancha Yixing, and it would be a shame not to get some of that nice tea into it.

Let us know when you try the tea!

I'd champion Volvic over most other bottled mineral water...and about Wuyi Star, those who understand Chinese please go through their website and product page carefully...all is not what it seems to be...
:rolleyes:

Over & out