Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

[jayinhk]

Drinking a very good HK roasted TGY--charcoal baked to a medium high roast. Not cheap by HK standards, but really quite lovely. I bought some on impulse several years ago and it's mellowed nicely with age. Somewhat sour, though, especially when brewed with water at full rolling boil.

[debunix]

This morning enjoying the remains of a thermos of the very dark, roast-flavor only TGY I bought recently, made interesting with a large quantity of dried osmanthus. Suddenly it's a more than acceptable tea! Time to order more osmanthus.

I recently brewed up the end of a tin of jasmine pearls I'd bought quite a while ago, and again was reminded that I'm not so fond of that as a tea flavoring anymore, but the osmanthus is as appealing as ever.

[JRS22]

Jasmine pearls were my first love. I still enjoy jasmine tea occasionally, but now it's the jasmine silver needles that I order from Rishi.

Osmanthus tea sounds as if it would be interesting to experiment with. Who do you order it from?

[debunix]

Osmanthus tea sounds as if it would be interesting to experiment with. Who do you order it from?

It's a rich floral flavor like a very ripe peach but more tart.

I think I might have bought a lot of it from Vital Tea Leaf once, but more recently got it from my chinatown tea shop. Their online shop shows it can be ordered from them as well:

<https://www.birdpick.com/teas/loose-tea ... nthus.html>

[bagua7]

Hello, you can also buy osmanthus from DTH. I have not bought this particular herbal tea from them (only chrysanthemum, very good quality) but I doubt what they sell is of low standards.

Cheers!

[jayinhk]

I've only ever had oolongs that taste like osmanthus...and osmanthus jelly from Chinese Buddhist places in HK.

From Wikipedia:

In traditional Chinese medicine, osmanthus tea has been used as an herbal tea for the treatment of irregular menstruation.[10] The extract of dried flowers showed neuroprotective, free-radical scavenging, antioxidative effects in in vitro assays.[11]

Here's a recipe for the jelly...I think I'll get some tomorrow

http://www.bearnakedfood.com/2015/05/07 ... lfberries/

[Frisbeehead]

About to brew up some Taiwan Oriental Beauty purchased from ethan. A very enjoyable tea. I am almost out of it, and I definitely would like to buy some more OB in the near future.

Anyone have any favorite vendors for Oriental Beauty? I know of several that sell it, but wanted to see if anyone has had a particularly good experience with a certain vendor.

[wei301]

Anyone have any favorite vendors for Oriental Beauty? I know of several that sell it, but wanted to see if anyone has had a particularly good experience with a certain vendor.

My 2 favourites:

http://www.mariagefreres.com/UK/2-orien ... T2721.html

and

http://www.postcardteas.com/site/produc ... al-beauty/

[Frisbeehead]

Anyone have any favorite vendors for Oriental Beauty? I know of several that sell it, but wanted to see if anyone has had a particularly good experience with a certain vendor.

My 2 favourites:

http://www.mariagefreres.com/UK/2-orien ... T2721.html

and

http://www.postcardteas.com/site/produc ... al-beauty/

I've heard about Postcard teas a few times now, how are their teas in general?

[hopeofdawn]

About to brew up some Taiwan Oriental Beauty purchased from ethan. A very enjoyable tea. I am almost out of it, and I definitely would like to buy some more OB in the near future.

Anyone have any favorite vendors for Oriental Beauty? I know of several that sell it, but wanted to see if anyone has had a particularly good experience with a certain vendor.

I can recommend Taiwanteacraft.com's OB--they have a whole bunch of different grades, though their top tier stuff tends to sell quickly once they get it in.

[Frisbeehead]

About to brew up some Taiwan Oriental Beauty purchased from ethan. A very enjoyable tea. I am almost out of it, and I definitely would like to buy some more OB in the near future.

Anyone have any favorite vendors for Oriental Beauty? I know of several that sell it, but wanted to see if anyone has had a particularly good experience with a certain vendor.

I can recommend Taiwanteacraft.com's OB--they have a whole bunch of different grades, though their top tier stuff tends to sell quickly once they get it in.

What about their lower grades? It seems all the higher ones have sold out, the highest one in stock is "superior" grade.

[hopeofdawn]

I can recommend Taiwanteacraft.com's OB--they have a whole bunch of different grades, though their top tier stuff tends to sell quickly once they get it in.

What about their lower grades? It seems all the higher ones have sold out, the highest one in stock is "superior" grade.

It's very good--it's been a couple years since I ordered the middle grades, because I splurged the last time they had their top grade reserve stuff available, but it definitely was the equal of anything I could get locally (I live in Seattle, where we have several top notch tea shops, including Floating Leaves), and definitely had the distinctive OB aroma/flavor. It just didn't have quite as much of the fuzzy silver tips or the complexity of some of their higher grades, but definitely well worth drinking. And if you're in the US, a lot cheaper than ordering from Postcard Teas or Mariage.

[victoria3]

I have been enjoying Taiwan High Mountain Oolong Tea from Bird Pick (my local Los Angeles tea provider) for two years now as my go-to travel oolong. It is forgiving of varying water types and has a very pleasant woodsy palate. Lan, the owner, indicated this oolong 'is grown and harvested in the mountains in eastern Taiwan' although no specific location was given so I'm waiting to hear if it is from Hualien or Taitung County. At 80$ a pound it's a great value.

Wanting to expand my oolong horizons, I've ordered several new oolongs from Norbu based on Teachat recommendations of debunix. I'm still adjusting temperature/brewing times for Ali Shan, Dong Ding and Li Shan. The Li Shan was very refined with a sweet floral very slightly musky nose and lingering palate. The other two were brewed too light for my taste so I'm going to try increasing steep time. I'm hoping to find a few more oolongs to enjoy that are floral and musky yet not so light and delicate that my palate is left wanting.

[ethan]

Victoria,

I enjoyed reading your post, especially "very light sweet floral and slightly musky nose". When I was sampling tea in Taiwan & said I wanted specific flavors etc., it was as if I were from another world. Rather than describing flavors & scents, strength: light or strong; quality: top, medium, or low; & price were how tea was categorized mostly.

People called what I tasted as a fresh, vegetal flavor "sweet". When I tasted some black tea that I obviously liked & then called it "sweet", they said "top-quality".

Unfortunately, getting what one wants in flavor & aroma while avoiding what one dislikes (e.g. bitterness) is not easy & often expensive. I have had an easier time being satisfied w/ roasted oolong & oriental beauty than w/ the greener part of the world of oolong.

[debunix]

I have been enjoying Taiwan High Mountain Oolong Tea from Bird Pick (my local Los Angeles tea provider) for two years now as my go-to travel oolong.

I buy their Zhangshu Lake oolong for similar situations--great cool brewed, lasting all day without going 'off', and brewed hot and fresh. I've not tried this one but will next time I'm at their shop.

I've ordered several new oolongs from Norbu based on Teachat recommendations of debunix.

Glad to be of service. I'm finishing off some odds and ends and it won't be too long before I need to make another order myself.