Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

[ethan]

Drinking a medium-priced/medium quality 40% roasted 1600 meter tea that is quite enjoyable. Each of 4 infusions is significantly different; &, the best drinking is all of them combined. Going totally w/o temperature, timing, & measuring devices, I'm enjoying what develops w/o taking notes etc. Lots of flavors all at once. 1 or 2 infusions there was some unpleasant sharpness in the flavor of the charcoal roast which is not in the blend of the infusions. Really good.

[ethan]

Last Saturday & today, I had the great pleasure of extensive tea sessions w/ Vee & Lita at Tea-Village in Pattaya. Highlight of each session was a fantastic Dancong (which is not a tea that the shop sells). Numerous infusions provided a host of fruit flavors & a few were also floral. So delightful, flavorful, & interesting.

What's strange is those sessions were great, dynamic pleasure; yet, today & last Saturday I felt like drinking much lower-quality tea that has more body before going to sleep.

[jayinhk]

Horsemeat rougui session with a friend who was able to appreciate it, even if she burned the tip of her tongue at first! Lovely flavor, thick body and great cha qi.

[victoria3]

On my recent visit to NYC I came across a good source for Taiwanese oolongs, the Te Company in the West Village on 10th street. Elena, the owner who is from Taiwan, was super generous having me sample several oolongs before I decide on a purchase. I was with a coffee drinking friend, so unfortunately could only spend a little time there. So far I've really enjoyed her 'Pear Mountain at South Ridge' a very high mineral content lightly roasted LiShan from Ren'ai Township, Nantou County. Wet leaf is smooth, sweet, buttery, with a warming aroma. The liquor is silky smooth, rich with a distinct flavor profile that's hard to define, maybe sweet chestnut.... Very nice and a warming accompaniment to all this raining weather we are having here in California.

p.s. I thought there was a place on Teachat that discussed tea shops by city? Couldn't find it...

[jayinhk]

I lived on 10th Street in the East Village for a semester in '98 (NYU)--pretty sweet location for a Taiwanese oolong place!

[victoria3]

It is a small tea house with maybe 5 tables, the place was full. Nice to see that I also went into Harney & Sons in SoHo also full, but their teas are mostly blended. I went to Columbia Univ. love walking the city...

[jayinhk]

It is a small tea house with maybe 5 tables, the place was full. Nice to see that I also went into Harney & Sons in SoHo also full, but their teas are mostly blended. I went to Columbia Univ. love walking the city...

Walking the city is great! Did it in all seasons and biked through the city on my last summer there. My usual tea fix back then was Arizona or Snapple!

[jayinhk]

Drinking a decent medium-high roast spring 2016 dancong in a lovely Chaozhou pot that just arrived. Amazing--the clay really smooths out the dancong and makes it much smoother to drink. Less intense aroma in clay, but so much cleaner tasting. I can see myself burning through dancong with this pot as it has a remarkable effect on the tea. Fortunately I'm close to the source and decent drinking-grade dancong is still quite affordable! the pot cost a fair bit, but is absolutely amazing. Lovely high fired clay and you can tell it was made by a very skilled craftsperson!

110ml pot: https://www.instagram.com/p/BPPqY2rDUAH ... =tealifehk

Chaozhou kettle--soaking overnight: https://www.instagram.com/p/BPPqjt1jA4P ... =tealifehk

Pewter tea table (Chaozhou): https://www.instagram.com/p/BPPrJbvDKy7 ... =tealifehk

Dancong: https://www.instagram.com/p/BPPstp2jy4i ... =tealifehk

Dancong liquor: https://www.instagram.com/p/BPPtb7Hj0fl ... =tealifehk

[ethan]

Drinking a decent medium-high roast spring 2016 dancong in a lovely Chaozhou pot that just arrived. Amazing--the clay really smooths out the dancong and makes it much smoother to drink. Less intense aroma in clay, but so much cleaner tasting. I can see myself burning through dancong with this pot as it has a remarkable effect on the tea. Fortunately I'm close to the source and decent drinking-grade dancong is still quite affordable!

I have only drunk dancing several times; & some of those sessions may have been w/ the same dancing as another; yet, I might as well ask, "How rough was it to begin with?"

What I mean is the dancong that I have drunk was smooth for several infusions before manifesting bitterness.

Second ? is about affordability. Prices I've gotten for dancong that I have liked put quite high even when I like one of the cheaper ones. So "affordable" for dancong, or "affordable" relating to tea in general?

Glad the pot is a good purchase.

[ethan]

On my recent visit to NYC I came across a good source for Taiwanese oolongs, the Te Company in the West Village on 10th street. ... So far I've really enjoyed her 'Pear Mountain at South Ridge' a very high mineral content lightly roasted LiShan from Ren'ai Township, Nantou County. Wet leaf is smooth, sweet, buttery, with a warming aroma. The liquor is silky smooth, rich with a distinct flavor profile that's hard to define, maybe sweet chestnut.... Very nice and a warming accompaniment to all this raining weather we are having here in California.

p.s. I thought there was a place on Teachat that discussed tea shops by city? Couldn't find it...

Seems a great place w/ good tea available. A few times tea shops in & around New York City got discussed, but I also don't remember which thread(s) had it in them. There is TeaMap at the top of TeaChat, but it is more about places for having a British tea (scones etc) than getting good oolongs etc.

[jayinhk]

Drinking a decent medium-high roast spring 2016 dancong in a lovely Chaozhou pot that just arrived. Amazing--the clay really smooths out the dancong and makes it much smoother to drink. Less intense aroma in clay, but so much cleaner tasting. I can see myself burning through dancong with this pot as it has a remarkable effect on the tea. Fortunately I'm close to the source and decent drinking-grade dancong is still quite affordable!

I have only drunk dancing several times; & some of those sessions may have been w/ the same dancing as another; yet, I might as well ask, "How rough was it to begin with?"

What I mean is the dancong that I have drunk was smooth for several infusions before manifesting bitterness.

Second ? is about affordability. Prices I've gotten for dancong that I have liked put quite high even when I like one of the cheaper ones. So "affordable" for dancong, or "affordable" relating to tea in general?

Glad the pot is a good purchase.

ethan, I often brew 8-10g/100ml (or more) at a time when I brew dancong, and brew at full boil. Sometimes I let infusions go too long and they get dangerous. In the clay I feel I would just get a much smoother, milder experience, regardless of the quantity of leaf used, even if I went a little too long. I had a great session today, but I also used a little less leaf than usual. The clay just seemed to make the overall experience much better, but the aroma was a little muted too. Good clay improves tea, but it does reduce aroma a little

[victoria3]

Drinking a decent medium-high roast spring 2016 dancong in a lovely Chaozhou pot that just arrived. Amazing--the clay really smooths out the dancong and makes it much smoother to drink. Less intense aroma in clay, but so much cleaner tasting. I can see myself burning through dancong with this pot as it has a remarkable effect on the tea. Fortunately I'm close to the source and decent drinking-grade dancong is still quite affordable!

ethan, I often brew 8-10g/100ml (or more) at a time when I brew dancong, and brew at full boil. Sometimes I let infusions go too long and they get dangerous. In the clay I feel I would just get a much smoother, milder experience, regardless of the quantity of leaf used, even if I went a little too long. I had a great session today, but I also used a little less leaf than usual. The clay just seemed to make the overall experience much better, but the aroma was a little muted too. Good clay improves tea, but it does reduce aroma a little

Jay, nice Chaozhou set, I'm especially envious of that kettle. I'd love to try a stovetop clay kettle and taste how it effects water to then steep with. I'm assuming it is not glazed inside? Am with you on how good clay smooths out the tea, but with the trade off being aroma. Sometimes I switch back to a glass pot just to get aroma swirling around stimulating the olfactory system. Also, why I use a glass pitcher, to enjoy the aroma coming off the empty vessel. Glass, being less porous than clay, allows aroma to evaporate off it really well within very tiny atomized water particles.

[jayinhk]

Drinking a decent medium-high roast spring 2016 dancong in a lovely Chaozhou pot that just arrived. Amazing--the clay really smooths out the dancong and makes it much smoother to drink. Less intense aroma in clay, but so much cleaner tasting. I can see myself burning through dancong with this pot as it has a remarkable effect on the tea. Fortunately I'm close to the source and decent drinking-grade dancong is still quite affordable!

ethan, I often brew 8-10g/100ml (or more) at a time when I brew dancong, and brew at full boil. Sometimes I let infusions go too long and they get dangerous. In the clay I feel I would just get a much smoother, milder experience, regardless of the quantity of leaf used, even if I went a little too long. I had a great session today, but I also used a little less leaf than usual. The clay just seemed to make the overall experience much better, but the aroma was a little muted too. Good clay improves tea, but it does reduce aroma a little

Jay, nice Chaozhou set, I'm especially envious of that kettle. I'd love to try a stovetop clay kettle and taste how it effects water to then steep with. I'm assuming it is not glazed inside? Am with you on how good clay smooths out the tea, but with the trade off being aroma. Sometimes I switch back to a glass pot just to get aroma swirling around stimulating the olfactory system. Also, why I use a glass pitcher, to enjoy the aroma coming off the empty vessel. Glass, being less porous than clay, allows aroma to evaporate off it really well within very tiny atomized water particles.

Victoria, not glazed inside or out. I have to change the plug on the ceramic glass stove I bought as it has a Chinese plug and we use the UK plugs in Hong Kong. Really looking forward to trying it out!

[john.b]

I'll be getting further into oolongs soon since I just passed through Taiwan but since a few of these recent comments really ring a bell I'll chime in here.

I was just in NYC too, a week ago, although I missed Te Company. A blogger friend mentioned T Shop (in Soho, I think it was), and they had some Taiwanese oolongs around. I bought one, but the most interesting versions were sticker-shock priced, some way over a dollar a gram, and the place was more set up as a cafe anyway. About another place I visited, I'm not sure how great the teas are since I've only tried one--a modest Kenyan black tea--so far so good though--but Sun's Organic teas might be worth a look, on the Northern side of Chinatown, I guess that would be. It's not the kind of shop most tea purists would be looking for, with teas stored in jars (not the giant version sure to ruin a tea, but jars all the same), and one example of tea per type spanning a few dozen types I've tried, and a few I hadn't (I bought a Russian tea there). I'd have picked up oolong but since I was onto a good place to look for that next I stuck with gambling on black tea and random pu'er, and I recognized a nice Nepalese tea I'd tried not so long ago.

About oolong, I bought a little in Taiwan too, two high mountain versions and some OB at two shops (Lin Mao Sen and the one next door to them), but I've not been into it yet since I just got back. I tried a black tea version yesterday and it was nice, that standard profile I like, maybe just a little heavy on bread-dough, but still good, earthy, full and soft with some spice, fruit, and depth.

[Bok]

About oolong, I bought a little in Taiwan too, two high mountain versions and some OB at two shops (Lin Mao Sen and the one next door to them), but I've not been into it yet since I just got back. I tried a black tea version yesterday and it was nice, that standard profile I like, maybe just a little heavy on bread-dough, but still good, earthy, full and soft with some spice, fruit, and depth.

You went through all the trouble looking for Oolong overseas, but only go to two shops while in Taiwan?? I assume you didn’t have much time, otherwise that seems like a waste! Heard from a few people who are tea-trustworthy that Lin Mao Sen is not a very good place to buy tea, at least not as a foreigner... I can’t confirm myself, I do not buy tea in Taipei, do not want to pay the capital surcharge