Café Acquisition Thread

[mikeschu]

Moar pu-erh:

View attachment 616023

Monthly delivery of Jalam Teas arrived: a '14 Mengsong sheng.

The order from white2tea arrived, which had a 150ml tea pot plus:

Top row L-R: 1998 generic shou tuocha, sleeve of 10x20g '06 melon shou tuocha, '15 Smootch (freebie, sheng), '08 Often (sheng), '12 Bulang cake (sheng)

Bottom row L-R: 25g samples of '02 CNNP 7572 (shou), '03 Hongyin (CNNP shou), '05 Rocket Yiwu (sheng), '05 Gaoshan Qingbing (sheng), '01 CNNP Orange Mark Shou

 

[SiBurning]

winter oolong fresh from Taiwan-- my favorite tea

Left to right
Fu Shou Shan Premium Jade Oolong
Wu She Gao Feng High Mountain Jade Oolong Tea
Wu She Gao Feng High Mountain Light Roast Oolong Tea
Li Shan Tie Guan Yin Jade Oolong Tea -- included as a freebie

 

[pmaster]

winter oolong fresh from Taiwan-- my favorite tea

Left to right
Fu Shou Shan Premium Jade Oolong
Wu She Gao Feng High Mountain Jade Oolong Tea
Wu She Gao Feng High Mountain Light Roast Oolong Tea
Li Shan Tie Guan Yin Jade Oolong Tea -- included as a freebie

View attachment 616609

Nice selection! Where'd you get them from?

 

[SiBurning]

Taiwan Sourcing. First time ordering from them. Only way I know to get them early is to order direct from Taiwan. They're hard to find in local shops before late January. It's really only oolongs that I order direct because I like them very fresh. And my favorite oolongs are from Taiwan. Order every year from whoever has something that takes my fancy. I liked the percents on these. Usually look for 15-20%. Last year I ordered an 8% and it was too green for my tastes. These are around 20-25%. Guess that makes them like the charbucks of oolong.

 

[mikeschu]

Taiwan Sourcing. First time ordering from them. Only way I know to get them early is to order direct from Taiwan. They're hard to find in local shops before late January. It's really only oolongs that I order direct because I like them very fresh. And my favorite oolongs are from Taiwan. Order every year from whoever has something that takes my fancy. I liked the percents on these. Usually look for 15-20%. Last year I ordered an 8% and it was too green for my tastes. These are around 20-25%. Guess that makes them like the charbucks of oolong.

Oh, if you want roasty, Red Blossom has a charcoal roasted Tung Ting that is fabulous. That was in one of the acquisitions I posted this year.

 

[pmaster]

Taiwan Sourcing. First time ordering from them. Only way I know to get them early is to order direct from Taiwan. They're hard to find in local shops before late January. It's really only oolongs that I order direct because I like them very fresh. And my favorite oolongs are from Taiwan. Order every year from whoever has something that takes my fancy. I liked the percents on these. Usually look for 15-20%. Last year I ordered an 8% and it was too green for my tastes. These are around 20-25%. Guess that makes them like the charbucks of oolong.

Hadn't realized there was also an oxidation level i could factor in when selecting an Oolong! One more oxidated will have a slightly stronger taste?
I was mostly looking at light-medium-high roasting

 

[SiBurning]

Green tea is 0%, red is 100%. Oolong has a toasty taste, and don't taste like brussel sprout (I think all greens have that raw vegetal taste). The higher percent ones have more toast, and the raw vegetal taste is more like nicely fried green beans at 8%, then mostly disappears by 15%. I'm not a big fan of greens, so at some point down the oxidation level, around 10-12% I lose interest. But the prize winners are almost always in the 8-15% area because people that put on the contests like green tea. The nice aromas from the "toast" dissipate quickly, which is why I like to drink them down within 3 months. They're still quite nice after that, and some of them age nicely, but they all lose that freshness edge. I haven't seen oolongs above 30%, but I have seen some mid level Darjeelings at 60% or 80%, whatever that means.

 

[SiBurning]

Oh, if you want roasty, Red Blossom has a charcoal roasted Tung Ting that is fabulous. That was in one of the acquisitions I posted this year.

Hmmm. I've had charcoal roasted from mainland China, but not in an oolong, and not from Taiwan. Might try that for the spring harvest.

 

[pmaster]

Green tea is 0%, red is 100%. Oolong has a toasty taste, and don't taste like brussel sprout (I think all greens have that raw vegetal taste). The higher percent ones have more toast, and the raw vegetal taste is more like nicely fried green beans at 8%, then mostly disappears by 15%. I'm not a big fan of greens, so at some point down the oxidation level, around 10-12% I lose interest. But the prize winners are almost always in the 8-15% area because people that put on the contests like green tea. The nice aromas from the "toast" dissipate quickly, which is why I like to drink them down within 3 months. They're still quite nice after that, and some of them age nicely, but they all lose that freshness edge. I haven't seen oolongs above 30%, but I have seen some mid level Darjeelings at 60% or 80%, whatever that means.

Thanks for the description, ill keep that in mind next time I put in an order!

 

[stoop]

After mentioning it to others in the forums I realized I had no Barry's. Dropped $5 (plus shipping) on 80 bags and am now complete again

Drinking some StarWest Botanicals Organic English Breakfast right now. It's not really legit, it's kind of a tastealike as it is made from China Black and Qimun, and not Assam and Ceylon. Heretical but not bad. But Barry's is better as a breakfast style tea, really.

StarWest, however, is like $18/lb. Crazy cheap for small-grower boutique tea.

 

[beginish]

Santa came through with a Baratza Virtuoso burr grinder. Now to go looking for some whole coffee beans!

 

[Parjay]

Santa came through with a Baratza Virtuoso burr grinder. Now to go looking for some whole coffee beans!

That's great. I've probably run 300# through my Baratza, and it's still going strong.

How will you be brewing the coffee?

 

[tailoredfamcam]

Acaia Black Pearl, black Fellow Stagg kettle, and a bag of Elida Honey from Panama roasted by Portola Coffee.

 

[Red Rider]

Local roast small lot.

 

[Mick]

Picked up a 2 cup Bodum Columbia which showed up today.

Took it on its maiden run using Folgers

Very smooth press. It uses a silicone side gasket/scraper and a much finer screen then the Chambord

 

[ChefJohnBoy-ardee]

Got a display model Aeropress for $14. Had all pieces just no box or papers. Apparently they changed the numbers on the side...

My gain. Been wanting one for a bit. :-D

 

[oc_in_fw]

The owners of the Cuban sandwich shop where I get my cafe con leche have gone on vacation, thus forcing my hand. The wife wanted one, and I told her I had to have a Bialetti 6 cup espresso maker to make it happen. She relented, but insisted on red-'fine by me.

 

[jhadsell1883]

I posted about this in another thread but figured it belonged here. Couldn't pass up this Craigslist deal for $75. After a quick cleaning it is working perfectly.

 

[fightingillini22]

Swung by Ipsento yesterday after work to pick up some more beans. This time, the Guatemalan was the freshest roast. Brewed some up in the Aeropress this morning; best cup I've made to date! Delicious, full-bodied cup.

 

[Parjay]

That's a great one, Ryan!