Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

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


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Jun 24th, '16, 02:08
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by Tead Off » Jun 24th, '16, 02:08

shah82 wrote:That's the point...

I'm not sure about the '80s, but I've had the '70s oolong and it was somewhat like that.

Aged oolong are simply not exciting teas. Don't heat them or reroast them unless there is something seriously wrong with it.

You drink aged oolong because it's extremely mellow, easy on the tummy, and with good qi.

You should not, as a rule, overpay for aged oolongs. Just spend that money on enough good oxidized/roasted oolong and eventually you'll have some aged tea of your own. Time does fly.
I'm not sure how and why one would compare aged oolongs to aged puerh. The aging process is different for both teas, the puerh undergoing a fermentation process and the oolongs undergoing an oxidation process.

Typically, oolongs are re-roasted periodically because of humidity problems. In the case of yancha, they can become very dark as we see in Shui Xian teas. Green oolongs from Taiwan are rarely roasted like this. Puerhs are never roasted.

The end user will rarely duplicate an aged oolong tea that has been looked after properly and charcoal roasted over the years. In the hands of a teamaster, aged oolongs can be terrific. Personally, I do not care for the aged green Taiwanese oolongs and agree about their taste profile with Shah. But, it is still a matter of subjectivity and there is a thriving market for it which will get hyped up like everything else.

Puerh and aged oolongs are both drunk by those looking for an easier experience in their guts, but that is as far as the comparison should be taken, I think. Both types of teas have their followers and both types of teas have their 'myths'. There is obviously a market for it all and I do agree with Shah's statement that most of the aged Taiwanese oolongs are just leftover stock that couldn't be sold whereas puerh is intentionally aged from the getgo and also some yancha.

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Jun 24th, '16, 09:35
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by debunix » Jun 24th, '16, 09:35

Enjoying Milk Oolong from Bird Pick Tea. This is only the 2nd Milk oolong that I have had, and the first one from another vendor tasted so strongly and overwhelmingly of carmalized milk that I could not drink it all--I have to suspect it was adulterated.

This Bird Pick Milk Oolong is far more subtle, tasting like tea with a warm mellow flavor that is a little bit but not terribly like milk and is quite delicious. I've brewed it hot where it is very nice, but today what I'm enjoying is the 2nd infusion of a grandpa style brewing, where I'd started the tea with one hot water infusion last night, and then covered the leaves with cold water overnight. I would not taste this and think 'milk': melon is more like it. But however I describe it, it's lovely. Very nice. I will buy this again.

Jun 24th, '16, 11:29
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by ethan » Jun 24th, '16, 11:29

debunix,

I had stopped trying milk oolong because after being lucky w/ 2 purchases several years ago, I failed to obtain any that was the same. Your description of milk oolong sounds like what I had then. Good to know good milk oolong has not disappeared completely. Thanks.


After a few days of reading & participating in threads about expensive bottled water & expensive aged oolong, which I enjoyed; I am drinking a relatively cheap Imperial Pearl from Mountain Tea.

Lately on Teachat we have emphasized that good tea & good water are most important; though we know that the third requirement is good preparation.

I'd say that w/o ideal preparation Imperial Pearl is at best a medium-quality tea that I happen to like a lot & most people think is "okay". W/ ideal preparation, using 80C water & blending first & second one-minute infusions w/ a third two-minute infusion, Imperial Pearl is very good. It is tart, medium-bodied, slightly complex, & comfortingly familiar (like tea in a Chinese restaurant). As the first tea of the day, part of my preparation is preparing my tummy: I drink water & eat breakfast before tea.

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Jun 24th, '16, 14:17
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by William » Jun 24th, '16, 14:17

ethan wrote:William, Looking at the prices of Teamasters' aged oolongs which start at $1 per gram & go up to as much as $25 per gram, one might lean more towards Shah's perspective & away from yours.
If one buys an excellent oolong for 12 to 40 cents per gram in a larger quantity than needed & age improves it, great. If not, so what? It is already excellent.
If Teamasters' aged oolong is excellent, for most people including me, again "So what?" It is not affordable.

Aged oolong will never be affordable .. this is why every encounter with this tea is so special. I personally drink aged oolong a couple of times a year, because of the price, because of the rarity of good quality material .. and mostly important because future generations need to know what an aged and good quality oolong was in this current time .. if we drink everything, nothing will remain for them.

If you don't have the chance to afford 25 or 50 grams of aged oolong every year, the problem isn't the price, but you.

Of course you can age some tea by yourself, but firstly you need to buy good quality material in high quantity, be lucky (and careful) with the storage, and patiently waiting for 20/30 years. Doing this would be tremendous expensive, given the price most of high quality material command nowadays, given the factor that processing and harvesting method changed during the last decades, therefore it isn't possible to predict how these teas will turn out, especially if you are trying to recreate a certain palette of flavors (or aromas, or qi ..) you enjoyed with an already aged oolong.

Just to give you a concrete example, I bought 50 grams of DD (early 80s harvest) from EoT, spending around 35 € in 2014. This tea is terrific with its spicy and cinnamon flavours, enduring for days and days. I brew it around 2 times a year .. one of the most joying fact is not only the incredible quality (and storage) of this tea, but also the fact that I vividly remember every session I had with this tea. I still have around 22 grams left .. and will savor it in the future till the last remaining leaf.

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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by ethan » Jun 24th, '16, 15:08

William, I write w/ a sense of gratitude & appreciation after having read how well you appreciate tea & offer your experience. What you wrote makes sense, especially for people who can enjoy the memory of a great tea session many times & for a long time. Also, you have the discipline not to reach for this tea more than you can afford to, even though it is so special to you.
I am not that mature. I will consume tea or food quickly even if they are very special & expensive. So, I cannot buy tea that is very, very expensive.
I remember that the aged oolongs pleased me. I cannot remember them well enough now, a few years later, to know how much.
Posts here make me think I should buy a bit. There's a vendor I trust offering 2 oz. for $25 (if I remember correctly). Even if this is not the best aged oolong, it should tell me what I need to know.

Cheers

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Jul 2nd, '16, 19:06
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by victoria3 » Jul 2nd, '16, 19:06

Last night I revisited Norbu's Medium Roasted Dong Ding, this time in my humble (but nicely decorated & perfectly shaped) yixing teapot from CCCI, probably from the late 90's. What a difference a teapot makes. The first time I steeped this oolong it was in O-Cha's Shiboridashi that is glazed inside, the results were just so so. Last night I pulled out the CCCI yixing pot and voila a perfectly rich multilayered brew unveiled itself. Sipping this oolong in my new mid 19th century Canton tea bowl was an uplifting experience.
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Jul 2nd, '16, 21:45
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by debunix » Jul 2nd, '16, 21:45

It's fun when it all comes together like that.

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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by victoria3 » Jul 2nd, '16, 22:19

debunix wrote:It's fun when it all comes together like that.
Yes, and I was surprised how different the steeps tasted. Thank You for recommending Norbu, good oolongs.

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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by victoria3 » Jul 3rd, '16, 15:03

Mixing patterns and cultures this morning with Norbu's Ali Shan. The first steep is a little light for me, but then it delivers in subsequent steeps in richness and depth. Sweet, floral and woodsy with a lingering palate.
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by victoria3 » Jul 11th, '16, 22:06

A friend came over with a mystery LiShan that she received as a gift after a Japanese archer broke her bow (her yumi was made by a national treasure), they are both Kyudo experts. We decided to do a tasting of her LiShan and mine from Norbu. We also tasted her mystery Houji-Cha (a Japanese high fire roasted tea) which had a a very very chocolatey flavour.

Norbu's LiShan had more body and was much richer/ woodier/ earthier and had smaller leaves. The Unknown LiShan had more aroma and was more floral with less body and had larger leaves. I was a surprised how different they were in terms of body and aroma.
Does anyone know this mystery oolong?
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Jul 11th, '16, 23:53
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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by Bok » Jul 11th, '16, 23:53

You can never know what really is in a tea tin from Taiwan. Most farmers and shops use pre-fabricated stock material. So in the whole of Taiwan there are very few who have customized packs and tins. Mostly only the big chains, which have usually not very good tea (> they spend the money on the looks).

Lishan (or any tea for that matter) can vary in taste a lot. Picked on a different day, in a different place of the farm, a different farm, the variations are endless already only concerning th leaves itself, processing adds more potential for differentiation.
Lishan is just an umbrella term. Lots of variety in that category. In Taiwan it also indicates a certain price range, rather than specifically being from Lishan. Usually they price curve goes like this:
Gaoshan>Alishan/Sanlinxi > Lishan >Fushoushan/Dayuling

They are not very precise in the way the name the teas in Taiwan, quite frustrating if one wants to know exactly…
Wanting to know exact information seems to be more of a western thing, people here seem less concerned about it.
I drink mostly Lishan, and even in one season from the same farm I can get quite a few varieties which have totally different qualities!

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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by daidokorocha » Jul 12th, '16, 15:41

I finally got around to trying Ethan's Bai Hao. Nice aroma, pleasant flavor. Reminds me of violets.

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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by victoria3 » Jul 12th, '16, 16:43

Bok wrote:You can never know what really is in a tea tin from Taiwan. Most farmers and shops use pre-fabricated stock material. So in the whole of Taiwan there are very few who have customized packs and tins. Mostly only the big chains, which have usually not very good tea (> they spend the money on the looks).

Lishan (or any tea for that matter) can vary in taste a lot. Picked on a different day, in a different place of the farm, a different farm, the variations are endless already only concerning th leaves itself, processing adds more potential for differentiation.
Lishan is just an umbrella term. Lots of variety in that category. In Taiwan it also indicates a certain price range, rather than specifically being from Lishan. Usually they price curve goes like this:
Gaoshan>Alishan/Sanlinxi > Lishan >Fushoushan/Dayuling

They are not very precise in the way the name the teas in Taiwan, quite frustrating if one wants to know exactly…
Wanting to know exact information seems to be more of a western thing, people here seem less concerned about it.
I drink mostly Lishan, and even in one season from the same farm I can get quite a few varieties which have totally different qualities!
Super interesting thanks for your reply Bok. I am curious, do you steep your different Lishans pretty much the same way each time, or a variety of ways depending on the leaf? Gongfu, Grandpa, Western style or your own mix?

Today, I tried Floating Leaf's 2016 Spring Lishan and found using the parameters I noted for Norbu's Lishan resulted in too weak a steep for my palate. Floating Leaf's was more buttery, had a lighter liquor, not much body, but plenty of lingering palate and after mouth feel. I'm missing the body and feel it was a tease steeped the way I did. I steeped it in my Yixing 6.7gr/120ml/195f/80sec. Next time maybe I'll try Gaiwan style 7.7/120/205f/20sec-17-20-35-55

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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by ethan » Jul 12th, '16, 16:53

Victoria, You spoke to Bok; so please forgive me for jumping in. Looking at the amount of leaf that steeped in not so much water & for a fairly long time, I guess you are not going to get as much body as you want no matter how you brew.

I am envious of something else: I like to have a buttery mouthfeel drinking oolong but gave up on seeking it. It seemed that when it is listed as a favored characteristic, I don't like the tea for other reasons. I look forward to hearing how the gaiwan session went.

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Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by victoria3 » Jul 12th, '16, 17:03

ethan wrote:Victoria, You spoke to Bok; so please forgive me for jumping in. Looking at the amount of leaf that steeped in not so much water & for a fairly long time, I guess you are not going to get as much body as you want no matter how you brew.

I am envious of something else: I like to have a buttery mouthfeel drinking oolong but gave up on seeking it. It seemed that when it is listed as a favored characteristic, I don't like the tea for other reasons. I look forward to hearing how the gaiwan session went.
Hi Ethan, Are you saying shorter steeps result in more body? Interesting. Will see when I compare... I enjoy a good present body and may be leaning more and more these days toward higher roast.

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