oolongs from thailand

[mr. Less]

hi people,

a while ago , i bought some oolong in one of the shops from palais du thés.
the oolong was called gan nen , and is one of the few thai oolongs...
i find it really delicious, but i was wondering if any of you guys have ever tasted these oolongs from thailand, and maybe have some thoughts to share on brewing methods


thanxs

[Herb_Master]

hi people,

, and maybe have some thoughts to share on brewing methods


thanxs

What does it look like, have you any photos?

[mr. Less]

i will take a picture and post it...

well the leaves are rolled, like a taiwanese oolong.
In fact i read somewhere that the chinese immigrants in northern thailand planted some taiwanese tea bushes, so my guess is they have the same characteristics...
I also have a milk oolong from thailand, and its also shaped like the gan nen or a taiwanese high mountain oolong,but this milk oolong is playing hard to get games with me, very difficult to brew
i guess i have to seduce her even more

[mr. Less]

i also read that most of the oolong from thailand is from the 'soft stem' varietal
But what does this mean ?

[xuancheng]

i also read that most of the oolong from thailand is from the 'soft stem' varietal
But what does this mean ?

soft stem is a general name for a certain class of varietals. It is mentioned briefly here on teamasters. He writes it luanzhe, which is a common southern chinese combination of the r and l sounds, which are sepatate in more standard Chinese. It is also pronounced 'ruanzhe' in more standard mandarin. soft stem is usually used for making oolong, and like you said, it was probably brought to Tailand by Taiwanese.

[Herb_Master]

i also read that most of the oolong from thailand is from the 'soft stem' varietal
But what does this mean ?

soft stem is a general name for a certain class of varietals. It is mentioned briefly here on teamasters. He writes it luanzhe, which is a common southern chinese combination of the r and l sounds, which are sepatate in more standard Chinese. It is also pronounced 'ruanzhe' in more standard mandarin. soft stem is usually used for making oolong, and like you said, it was probably brought to Tailand by Taiwanese.

That is interesting - given that varietals extend to hundreds if not thousands - and that there are only 3 varieties of Camelia Sinensis - var Sinensis (China), var Assamica (India) and var Parvifolia or Cambodiensis (Cambodia) . . . . . other vars have been named (walden, bohea etc but botanists having analysed them they are usually re-classified as one of the main 3) . . . . . and with Vietnam & Thailand so close and holding similar climate to Cambodia I had always somehow assumed that Oolongs from Vietnam and Thailand would be made from Camelia Sinensis var Parvifolia.


Though

The tea plant originates in an area between India and China. There are three main varieties of this plant—China, Assam, and Cambodia—and a number of hybrids in between. The China variety grows as high as 9 ft (2.7 m) and has an economic life of at least 100 years. The Assam variety is a tree that grows as high as 60 ft (18.3 m), with an economic life of 40 years dependent upon regular pruning and plucking. The 16 ft (4.9 m) high Cambodia variety is naturally crossed with other varieties.

I wonder if the plantations use cultivars that are crosses between native and imported bushes.

Presumably soft-stem is a class used in a non-Linnaeus sense.

[mr. Less]

yeah i am very curious about these oolongs as well, in march i will be going to thailand for about 3 months.I will be staying in the north , very close to mae salong, the place where the most oolong is produced.So you can imagine i will be like a kid in a candy store when ill be there.

i just got into oolong and i am learning alot about it with experimentation and stuff on this forum, but it would be great to actually see people with great tea knowledge at work.for me it will be the first time because here in belgium i dont know oolong freaks

[Salsero]

yeah i am very curious about these oolongs as well, in march i will be going to thailand for about 3 months.I will be staying in the north , very close to mae salong, the place where the most oolong is produced.

Of course we will be expecting regular photos and posts here about your exciting trip!

[mr. Less]

normally i am not a real photo kind of guy, but i can imagine me taking lots of pictures when i am there for some reason

i hope there is a way i can refine my oolong brewing skills over there(i am still a beginner, but hey life is for learning said joni mitchell )

[rick suddes]

I was in Mae Salong on the 20 th of January. Learning about Thai oolong Tea.

Learning how they drink tea. The little tea cups with the shot glass. I came home
with lots of tea. I have a tea web site thaioolongtea and I wanted to learn about
Oolong tea. The problem is they speak Chineese & Thai so it was not easy to get
answers. But I will go back and stay for a week and try to learn all about the Oolong Teas.

The weather was very cool. There are plenty of places to drink and purchase
tea products. I came home with the little tea cups & shot glass, tea pots. It is not
an easy place to get to. I have a Thai wife and friends in Chiang Mai. We stayed about
70 clicks from Chiang Mai up the left side. We crossed over to the main Hgy
it has lots of curves, but a good road. Lots of traffic buses, big trucks, etc...
The forest is very beatiful.

When I go pickup tea next time I will spent like I said more time.

Rick

[mr. Less]

hey rick , thanxs for your reply, now i cant wait to get there myself

i will be staying in chiangrai(wiang chai) so i think thats a little closer to mae salong then chiang mai
I have a thai girlfriend, and my thai is getting good( good for really basic conversations) but i think my girlfriend will have to translate alot the days i will visit mae salong
do they have many different oolong teas over there, and do you remember if the prices were relatively cheap

thanxs for your reply