Help me find an Oolong I like!

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Jun 15th, '11, 15:07
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Help me find an Oolong I like!

by verus » Jun 15th, '11, 15:07

Hey people,

I want to try more oolongs and it would be awesome if anyone had recommendations. I haven't been very succesful with oolong in the past, I've only ever had one that I liked, some others that I bought from local shops were horrible. But the one I liked I actually liked a lot, and I'd like to try more...

I'd like to buy from EU based vendors, because I don't want to have to deal with customs. So maybe a nice oolong from postcardteas, or cantontea? Has anyone tried those? I think I would like the smooth chocolatey or "earthy" oolongs best, so I guess that might be a wuyi oolong...although the descriptions of some of the dancong oolongs on cantontea's website seems very nice as well. Has anyone tried the Magnolia Blossom (Yu Lan) Dan Cong from cantontea?

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Jun 15th, '11, 16:52
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Re: Help me find an Oolong I like!

by bob » Jun 15th, '11, 16:52

Hi! I can recommend Canton Tea Co. I've bought oolongs from them two times and was very satisfied.

I didn't try Yu Lan, but I like their Mi Lan very much. In fact it was this tea that started my interest in Dan Congs. I'm drinking it right now and it definitely has some chocolatey aroma, but not much of the incredible peachy aroma that I liked so much the first time I tried it.

I can also recommend their Traditional Shui Xian, fantastic tea with a mix of very nice flavours. I wasn't very impressed with their Da Hong Pao, but I only brewed it a few times and I might like it later... :)
I think generally all their oolongs are very nice, and of course with a matching price...

For chocolatey I would also suggest Lao Cong Shui Xian and Rou Gui from Wan Ling Tea House, I find them very good for a decent price.

But if your taste in teas is very different from mine, all this isn't very helpful! :wink:

Jun 15th, '11, 18:18
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Re: Help me find an Oolong I like!

by Rayuela » Jun 15th, '11, 18:18

I'm not a big fan of Canton's oolongs at all. Their standard dan cong is lacklustre and the da hong pao is similarly lacking sparkle. Wan Ling's Rou Gui is rather nice if brewed more Western style, but doesn't have the guts for gong fu; their TGY "heavy" is good for the price, but a little unpleasant if overbrewed - i.e. it doesn't have the quality to take large dosages.

I think Jing tea's oolongs are really rather nice, albeit outrageously priced (oriental beauty or da hong pao). Essence of Tea's Wu Yi oolongs are fabulous, but massively expensive.

Hope that helps. I'm sure other people will say quite the opposite though.

Jun 15th, '11, 18:59
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Re: Help me find an Oolong I like!

by verus » Jun 15th, '11, 18:59

I'm looking for some top quality stuff, to get a taste of what very good oolong is like, so price is not a real issue this time (well unless it's really isnanely expensive...) The oolongs I've had so far were all cheapies, and I all of them - except one which was very nice and which is an everyday drinker - were bad...

Bob, the traditional Shui Xian from Canton Tea could be one to try. The Yu Lan seems to get raving reviews on their website...

Rayuela, the Jing you mention is Jing Tea, am I correct? And not Jingteastore? Their Oriental Beauty is £ 10,00 for 50 grammes which seems like a very good price. Tempted to try that one if you say it's good.

Jun 16th, '11, 05:31
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Re: Help me find an Oolong I like!

by Rayuela » Jun 16th, '11, 05:31

If price is not an issue, then I'd say try some of the ten gram samples from Jingtea (yes, the UK one - although the Chinese Jing is said to be much better) and some samples from EoT and see what you like. Also Postcard teas are said to be good, but they're a bit out of my range.

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Jun 16th, '11, 05:35
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Re: Help me find an Oolong I like!

by David R. » Jun 16th, '11, 05:35

I'd go with Postcard and EoT. You will find quality there. Don't know about the others.

Jun 16th, '11, 11:09
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Re: Help me find an Oolong I like!

by verus » Jun 16th, '11, 11:09

Cool, thanks for all the replies.

I think I'll get some of the samples from Essence of Tea and some from postcardteas. I'm also curious about those aged puerhs from essence of tea, I've never had puerh...

I've also read good reviews about some of the oolongs from mariage freres (the saphir himalaya) but the shipping cost is absurdly high, I'm in the Netherlands and shipping from Paris is over € 15...Although I believe there's a shop near here that has tea from Mariage freres.

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Jun 27th, '11, 01:59
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Re: Help me find an Oolong I like!

by bagua7 » Jun 27th, '11, 01:59

Dancong and wuji rock oolongs are predominantly fire.

Gaoshan oolongs (Taiwan) are more yin but in general they show a good balance of the fire and water elements; however the teas harvested in the highest locations develop a unique sweet taste and are really yin. These are my favourites.

Jul 10th, '11, 05:15
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Re: Help me find an Oolong I like!

by Tekoppen » Jul 10th, '11, 05:15

Sounds like you would love Oriental Beauty (Bai Hao) :) Taiwanese dark oolong with loths of flavour from chocolate and toffee.

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