If you could drink only one oolong

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


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Sep 16th, '10, 22:31
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Re: If you could drink only one oolong

by theory » Sep 16th, '10, 22:31

tingjunkie wrote:
tortoise wrote:Those look very appealing, but only seen them on Stephane's blog. I'll have to poke around some more.
Camellia Sinensis has a couple. The '91 Ali Shan is quite nice in my opinion, as long as you are into cigar and leather notes. It's definitely as masculine tea.
Those do sound appealing! I am gonna have to try some. I'm learning that I like the higher fired oolong :)

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Sep 21st, '10, 13:39
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Re: If you could drink only one oolong

by Alex » Sep 21st, '10, 13:39

Herb_Master wrote::?: Ginger Flower Dan Cong or Sparrow's Tongue Yan Cha :?:
I bought some of the Ginger Flower Dan Cong. Probably not the highest grade in the world....Any tips on brewing it....I hate brewing dan cong...I'm so bad at it.

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Sep 21st, '10, 16:50
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Re: If you could drink only one oolong

by tortoise » Sep 21st, '10, 16:50

tingjunkie wrote:
tortoise wrote:Those look very appealing, but only seen them on Stephane's blog. I'll have to poke around some more.
Camellia Sinensis has a couple. The '91 Ali Shan is quite nice in my opinion, as long as you are into cigar and leather notes. It's definitely as masculine tea.
Sounds great to me.

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Sep 21st, '10, 20:19
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Re: If you could drink only one oolong

by theory » Sep 21st, '10, 20:19

Zensuji wrote:
Herb_Master wrote::?: Ginger Flower Dan Cong or Sparrow's Tongue Yan Cha :?:
I bought some of the Ginger Flower Dan Cong. Probably not the highest grade in the world....Any tips on brewing it....I hate brewing dan cong...I'm so bad at it.
I always see people saying DC is finicky with regard to brewing. So far, I've not had any problems - maybe its beginners luck :) I keep the infusions really short - under 15 seconds. Basically, I fill the pot or gaiwan, walk it to my tea tray, count to 5 or so (if using my gaiwan), then pour. Or something like that. Wow, that was vague - sorry. :lol:

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Sep 21st, '10, 22:13
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Re: If you could drink only one oolong

by Tead Off » Sep 21st, '10, 22:13

Good DC is not hard to brew. People that complain about the astringency often are buying cheap, commercial grades. Good DC is wonderful. So many flavors and aromas to enjoy.

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Sep 22nd, '10, 04:00
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Re: If you could drink only one oolong

by Alex » Sep 22nd, '10, 04:00

I think thats the problem to be honest. Before I get to any good amount of flavour I get a boat load of astringency. I can either get an extremly subtle cup that's slightly lacking or if I go past that point the bitterness kicks in......oh well.

This is what I bought
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0531195603

very much on the cheap side....that will teach me :(

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Sep 22nd, '10, 05:18
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Re: If you could drink only one oolong

by Tead Off » Sep 22nd, '10, 05:18

Zensuji wrote:I think thats the problem to be honest. Before I get to any good amount of flavour I get a boat load of astringency. I can either get an extremly subtle cup that's slightly lacking or if I go past that point the bitterness kicks in......oh well.

This is what I bought
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0531195603

very much on the cheap side....that will teach me :(
If you follow my $30/100g rule, you should be able to buy a tea that delivers. Don't get me wrong. I would love to buy a good DC for less and if anyone can convince me that there is a tea out there for less, don't hesitate to mention it.

BTW, in London, you should pay a visit to East Teas or Postcard teas and try their Peach Nut DC. Yum, but $$$. Sorry, I don't have the Sterling symobol. :D

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Sep 22nd, '10, 06:16
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Re: If you could drink only one oolong

by Alex » Sep 22nd, '10, 06:16

Thanks Tead off. I think I'm going to start buying 50grams for £10. Seem like a decent price point. And would be in keeping with what you're saying....basically £10 = $15

I'm actually spending too much on budget teas.... I think i'm getting to the point where I'd rather drink a little less but better stuff....time to change my sweet spot and drinking habits. Maybe just keep a little budget tea here and there for plain old drinking. MMM tea for thought.

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Sep 22nd, '10, 13:13
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Re: If you could drink only one oolong

by Tead Off » Sep 22nd, '10, 13:13

Zensuji wrote:Thanks Tead off. I think I'm going to start buying 50grams for £10. Seem like a decent price point. And would be in keeping with what you're saying....basically £10 = $15

I'm actually spending too much on budget teas.... I think i'm getting to the point where I'd rather drink a little less but better stuff....time to change my sweet spot and drinking habits. Maybe just keep a little budget tea here and there for plain old drinking. MMM tea for thought.
You could panhandle in Mayfair for extra tea money. :D

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Sep 23rd, '10, 04:22
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Re: If you could drink only one oolong

by Alex » Sep 23rd, '10, 04:22

LOL :lol:

Just ordered some of this

http://www.wanlingteahouse.com/product. ... pring_2010

First time I've bought 50 grams of tea that comes wrapped in individual 8 gram bags.

I got a 90ml gaiwan here so I'll probably try half a bags worth per gaiwan session.

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Sep 23rd, '10, 05:05
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Re: If you could drink only one oolong

by Tead Off » Sep 23rd, '10, 05:05

Zensuji wrote:LOL :lol:

Just ordered some of this

http://www.wanlingteahouse.com/product. ... pring_2010

First time I've bought 50 grams of tea that comes wrapped in individual 8 gram bags.

I got a 90ml gaiwan here so I'll probably try half a bags worth per gaiwan session.
A good way to start is put in 1/3 leaves. I find that usually does the trick.

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Sep 23rd, '10, 09:06
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Re: If you could drink only one oolong

by Alex » Sep 23rd, '10, 09:06

is that 1/3 of a gaiwan full of rolled oolong you mean? Seems like loads....but I guess I'm probably close to 1/4 or 1/5 at the moment

Sep 23rd, '10, 10:13

Re: If you could drink only one oolong

by brlarson » Sep 23rd, '10, 10:13

If I could choose only one it would be either a variety of DHP or an old bush shui xian, and I would be happy with either of them. Shui Xian have been a staple of mine for the last couple of years. I like it because it's easy to find good examples without smashing your piggy bank. And I like the size and structure of the DHP's that I've tried -- Bei Dou #1 from Teaspring and Hou de and Jing's Imperial DHP, with new samples from Postcard Tea and Red Circle tea -- so I could certainly stand to drink it every day.

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Sep 23rd, '10, 11:06
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Re: If you could drink only one oolong

by tortoise » Sep 23rd, '10, 11:06

I'm already altering my response. For about the last five years, I drank more oolong than anything else, and I was living in Seattle where I could get a lot of High Mountain Taiwanese easily. Now, I'm sliding back into Japanese greens and, though they aren't the same, I'm finding that sencha quenches my greener oolong thirst. Now, when I want an oolong, I'm reaching for wuyi. I still don't think I've had a great one though and I've exhausted my tea allowance this month at O-Cha. :D

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Sep 23rd, '10, 11:11
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Re: If you could drink only one oolong

by TwoPynts » Sep 23rd, '10, 11:11

Is it just me or does anyone else find it funny that Red Umbrella's WuYi comes from Adagio.

http://www.redumbrella.ca/p663/Wuyi-Ool ... _info.html

:lol:

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