Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

Owes its flavors to oxidation levels between green & black tea.


Aug 17th, '16, 02:45
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by ethan » Aug 17th, '16, 02:45

Again posting about an organic oolong from Yunnan named Xiang Fe. Its narrow distinctive leaves are so light I accidentally emptied my packet. Instead of returning the extra leaves, I used them for gongfu preparation.

First infusion was the same lovely lightly green oolong w/ a touch of character of roasted or fairly well-oxidized oolong. The second infusion somehow produced a much greener cup (= quite vegetal) than western preparation made. A third gongfu infusion was again "greener" than I like.

Surprisingly, a blend of the infusions was not overly green-vegetal for me (to my liking); & also haf an edge to it (not to my liking). That unpleasant edge might be what Bok in the dong ding thread called "dirty ruggedness". I think we often say "bitter" for this, but I like the dirty ruggedness description because bitter is so broad a term.

I like this Xiang Fe at its best but am wary of tea that is not very forgiving about preparation that is a bit off.

Aug 22nd, '16, 14:34
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by ethan » Aug 22nd, '16, 14:34

Drinking aged charcoal roasted as I have been almost everyday since I got it a few weeks ago. Today tart fruit flavors present themselves much > they have been. No way that I can explain that. I love the taste of the roast & fruit together.

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Aug 24th, '16, 07:53
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by mcrdotcom » Aug 24th, '16, 07:53

Enjoying some Old Man Dong Ding from Global Tea Hut. I bought the 600g in and Yixing jar intended for drinking over the coming years, with a second for long term ageing. Unfortunately I never had the money to buy the second jar and they are all out now :( Too much dedication to learning about puerh in 2016!

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Aug 30th, '16, 21:58
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by jayinhk » Aug 30th, '16, 21:58

Drinking Spring 2015 ShanLinXi in a 250ml high fired modern Yixing 'lvni' pot, but with long, four to five minute infusions. Really lovely drinking it this way; much more depth of flavor. I seem to be moving away from gongfu brewing for many teas, aside from Wuyicha/TGY/aged pu. I even brewed up some 90s 7581 in a big pot yesterday--lovely, and a lot less work.

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Sep 1st, '16, 22:07
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by jayinhk » Sep 1st, '16, 22:07

Had an exceptional mid 90s shuixian yesterday. Aged in pewter here in HK the entire time. Not cheap, but wow! Red date and Chinese medicine/ginseng-like flavor profile. Balanced and smooth. Maybe a little residual roast flavor (it's high roast stuff). Went five infusions and the flavor persisted through all five...lovely. Extremely powerful cha qi too...I felt very relaxed and was voraciously hungry. All from a 40ml pot session! I felt it was a real privilege to be able to try this shuixian. Definitely one for the site!

Sep 2nd, '16, 18:06
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by ethan » Sep 2nd, '16, 18:06

Enjoyed a tea session of several hours w/ Vee & Palita at Tea-Village in Pattaya drinking Thai Bai Hao Oriental Beauty. This recent harvest of 2016 has again shown how each season can be so different.

This is wonderfully "soft" (Vee's word). Many flavors are well appreciated; yet, the tea is so subtle while dynamic. The tea is so interesting we drank round after round, at least 10. The lightness of it went well w/ exceptionally good scones which Palita had baked that morning.

The backroom of Tea-Village now has 4 Louis XIV chairs & 2 small tables. One can drink pots of tea quite reasonably. In a city known more for go-go bars, Tea-Village is an oasis of civility w/ prices that are a small fraction of usual cost for treats like a traditional English tea such as Earl Grey tea, baked goods, etc.

The Bai Hao Oriental Beauty is on T-V's website. I cannot be shy about recommending this tea which is full of flavor w/o being rough for the guts though one drinks cup after cup. It's a pleasure.

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Sep 3rd, '16, 15:48
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by debunix » Sep 3rd, '16, 15:48

Fushoushan in Greenwood Studios chawan by Shawn McGuire....click the link to enjoy the steaming tea in video...

Image160903 Fushoushan IMG_3613 by D B, on Flickr

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Sep 11th, '16, 17:50
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by debunix » Sep 11th, '16, 17:50

Enjoying some "Special Reserve" Dong Ding from Mountain Tea. Tasty, mineral rich, unrolling into something very like a Wuyi rock tea. There is a very fine scent from the Ent-pot where the tea spilled over a bit.

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Sep 11th, '16, 19:00
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by victoria3 » Sep 11th, '16, 19:00

Steeping LuGu from local BirdPick and when it cools down to +-130F I add Osmanthus flowers to the liquor for a few minutes. This light oolong really does well with this added flavor, making it richer and more complex. Earlier in the day I enjoyed Mountain Tea Imperial Pearl that Ferg shared with me after I purchased two of his Factory 1 pots. A sweet somewhat roasted complex oolong with an amber liquor. A nice new addition to my spectrum of oolongs.

Debunix, Ferg also gifted Mountain Tea's Medium Roast DongDing Special Reserve. Can you share your steeping parameters ?




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Sep 11th, '16, 19:33
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by debunix » Sep 11th, '16, 19:33

I have not taken notes on the Dong Ding brewing, but I used a Petr Novak treebark Ent-pot, and rather a lot of the tightly rolled leaves: enough that when well opened, they filled the pot without overflowing. I did one rinse, then a quick brew of 15 or 20 seconds with water about 205°. After that, more of the same until it seemed to need longer infusions. I'm sure I brewed at least a 8 or 10 infusions, and at least one of those was overdone enough that I had to dilute it several times to enjoy it properly.

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Oct 2nd, '16, 14:49
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by debunix » Oct 2nd, '16, 14:49

Having a lovely session with Dong Ding Special Reserve from Mountain Tea: warm, earthy, with spicy, fruity depths. So nice. Enjoying also the lovely sweet plummy scent from the Ent-pot.

Mmm.

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Oct 3rd, '16, 08:44
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by jayinhk » Oct 3rd, '16, 08:44

2000s shuixian from an old HK merchant in a 110ml zisha shuiping--Factory 1 from the 80s. I've had this tea stored in an airtight glass jar for several months, and the flavor seems to be more prominent than when I bought it. Not sure why that is, but it is pleasant drinking. Thick mouthfeel and a nice, full flavor--no particular unique character to this aged tea, but nothing remotely unpleasant, either...just a good, clean high roast shuixian. A very good example of what an old school high roast SX should be, IMO. I wish the dealer took better care of the leaves as they are more broken than I'd like, but the tea is fine, so I guess it's no biggie. :)

Oct 4th, '16, 09:08
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by ethan » Oct 4th, '16, 09:08

While I write my drink is made w/ an oolong teabag. Its packet has a pretty picture showing the engine of the train that goes to Taiwan's high tea mountains. The beverage has none of that fresh, green, clean air taste of good tea from there. No problem. It's the right thing to drink after having many great teas today & yesterday. Good to get back to earth. I'll try to remember the best of the last 2 days' teas.

A surprise for me: Boazhong from Wenshan. First one gets "green" as it is fresh & vegetal, but only slightly bitter-vegetal & smooth enough for me to feel it like an oolong. So much not a tea for me, I usually won't try it. Glad I did. I bought as the price seemed quite low to me for the quality. (Low price)

Traditionally made oolongs: These take a few days to make as tea is roasted over low heat for a few days. Leaves need to be moved around every 10 - 20 minutes keeping them from being overheated:
Made by Dr Chen's family & employees: Father's Love: organic from 2011 & organic from 2014. These high mountain rich, complex, leaves give layers of flavor for infusion after infusion. They are oxidized 50 - 70 % & roasted. One can taste the green gaoshan flavors the leaves begin with, dried stone fruit flavors, mature tea flavors of almost black tea. The older tea has more of the best flavor of aged tea; but difference is slight. (High price) Made by others: High Roller: same as above but just a bit lower in quality, for lack of a better phrase. Not organic & not as expensive as above.

Note: Except for Boazhong, all of these teas give me quite a hit in the head & a bit in the body. A different kind of chaqi. Really nice.

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Oct 5th, '16, 17:05
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by victoria3 » Oct 5th, '16, 17:05

ethan wrote:Traditionally made oolongs: These take a few days to make as tea is roasted over low heat for a few days. Leaves need to be moved around every 10 - 20 minutes keeping them from being overheated:
Made by Dr Chen's family & employees: Father's Love: organic from 2011 & organic from 2014. These high mountain rich, complex, leaves give layers of flavor for infusion after infusion. They are oxidized 50 - 70 % & roasted. One can taste the green gaoshan flavors the leaves begin with, dried stone fruit flavors, mature tea flavors of almost black tea. The older tea has more of the best flavor of aged tea; but difference is slight. (High price) Made by others: High Roller: same as above but just a bit lower in quality, for lack of a better phrase. Not organic & not as expensive as above.
Is this the same Chen as in our group 'FuShoushan Spring 2016' order by Kyarazen ? His Traditional Roasted Dongding from Spring 2016 oolong is fabulous.

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Oct 5th, '16, 17:38
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by victoria3 » Oct 5th, '16, 17:38

This morning I switched up my routine and prepared a higher grade oolong than I typically do first thing; Floating Leaves 2016 Spring LiShan. It is exceptionally buttery, sweet and smooth. The aromatics of wet leaf, liquor and empty pitcher are sweet, complex and subtly floral, really entrancing. Also, this LiShan has a very present lingering aftertaste. A winner for sure. I’m almost finished with it so used half of what was remaining and proportionately increased leaf to water ratio based on my last successful steeps. Interestingly, the first steep came out slightly bitter, so I decided to combine the first 3 steeps (adjusting the second and third) into one pitcher and added a very small amount of hot water. This solution worked well, although I was disappointed the first steep turned out slightly bitter, even though I proportionately increased both water and leaf. Possibly, because I used a tea-boat I inadvertently overheated the first steep.
Here it is using my new 200ml Shimizu Ken Nosaka Kyusu without Namamigaki from Ferg via Hojo.
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Floating Leaves LiShan w Shimizu Ken Nosaka Kyusu 200mlL 1060401_3sm.jpg
Floating Leaves LiShan w Shimizu Ken Nosaka Kyusu 200mlL without Namamigaki
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