How to brew Wuyi rock oolong (yancha)
Da Hong Pao, Rou Gui, Shui Xian.
Long twisted strips with heavy roast: lots of leaf, boiling water and quick steeps that stay short for the first few rounds before they lengthen.
Starting recipe
| Setting | Western (mug or teapot) | Gongfu (small pot or gaiwan) |
|---|---|---|
| Temperature | 203–212°F (95–100°C) | 203–212°F (95–100°C) |
| Leaf | 1.2–2.5 g per 100 ml | 6–10 g per 100 ml |
| Steepdial starts at | 208°F (98°C) · 4 g · 250 ml | 210°F (99°C) · 7 g · 100 ml |
| First steep | 1:00–4:00 | 0:03–0:20 |
| A whole session | 2:00 · 2:30 · 3:30 | 0:08 · 0:06 · 0:08 · 0:10 · 0:15 · 0:20 · 0:30 · 0:45 · 1:00 |
The details
Rinse
Optional. A 3-second rinse warms the pot and wakes the leaf; plenty of people skip it to keep the first steep's aroma.
Drinking window
Keeps well: at its best for about 12 months once opened. Heavily roasted yancha often improves for a while after roasting, and traditional roasted yancha can also be rested or aged on purpose; if you do, move it to the Aging Shelf.
Caffeine
Contains caffeine. How much depends on the leaf, the water temperature and the steep time; the style alone is a poor guide.
Iced and cold brew
Cold brew: 1.2 g per 100 ml of cold water, in the fridge for about 10 hours. Keep it cold and drink it within a day or two. For iced tea now, brew a concentrated hot cup (the same leaf in half the water) and pour it over an equal weight of ice; Steepdial accounts for the ice in the total water.
How Steepdial adjusts
After a session you tap what you'd change: more flavor, less bitter, less drying. Steepdial changes one thing at a time, staying near the ranges above, and remembers what worked for that tea.
Short steeps and pour time
The first gongfu steep is 0:08. If your pot takes several seconds to empty, start pouring a little early, or turn on the pour cue in Steepdial.
More oolong
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Taiwanese gaoshan: Alishan, Lishan, Shan Lin Xi
190–212°F (88–100°C) · 1.5–3 g per 100 ml→OolongTieguanyin
Anxi Tieguanyin, light and modern style
185–212°F (85–100°C) · 1.5–3 g per 100 ml→OolongBaozhong
Wenshan Baozhong, open twisted leaf
185–203°F (85–95°C) · 1.2–2.5 g per 100 ml→OolongRoasted rolled oolong
Dong Ding, traditional Tieguanyin, roasted high mountain
203–212°F (95–100°C) · 1.5–3 g per 100 ml→OolongPhoenix oolong (dancong)
Mi Lan Xiang, Ya Shi Xiang, Huang Zhi Xiang
190–212°F (88–100°C) · 1–2 g per 100 ml→OolongOriental beauty
Dong Fang Mei Ren, bug-bitten Taiwanese oolong
176–194°F (80–90°C) · 1.2–2.5 g per 100 ml→