OTTI 15 MountainTea, Range of Taiwan Oolong
OTTI 15 MountainTea, Range of Taiwan Oolong
by Chip » Jul 5th, '12, 13:27
Welcome to OTTI 15. This round features 6 selections from a grower/vendor we have not discussed before, MountainTea.com. I met this grower at the World Tea Expo last month. They were selected for this round out of the many Taiwan oolong vendors attending this year's WTE.
http://www.mountaintea.com/
And they are excited to participate as well. They even conducted special tastings to select the 6 oolong for this round.
MountainTea.com is a multi-generation grower and manufacturer of Taiwan oolong. This is an opportunity to sample direct from the grower!!! BTW, since they are a grower and seller, they wholesale and retail, thus their prices are extremely reasonable.
Below are Priscilla, Chicco, Christine, and Mao Sheng.
Chicco is mostly in the USA. Christine is his mother.
Each participant will receive all 6 (six) selections, 10 grams each, 60 grams total. You know me, I was saying, "just do 6 greener oolong."
You know me, right? 
But good news, this is a really nice range of Taiwan oolong consisting of 2 greener, 2 medium, and 2 dark!!!
Here are the selections:
2 GREEN Oolong:
Spring 2012 Lishan http://www.mountaintea.com/collections/green-oolong/products/lishan-spring
Jade Oolong http://www.mountaintea.com/collections/green-oolong/products/jade-oolong
2 MEDIUM Oolong:
Medium Roast Dong Ding http://www.mountaintea.com/collections/medium-oolong/products/medium-roast-dong-ding-special-reserve
Medium Roast Taiwan Tie Guan Yin http://www.mountaintea.com/collections/medium-oolong/products/medium-roast-tieguanyin
2 DARK Oolong:
Imperial Pearl http://www.mountaintea.com/collections/dark-oolong/products/imperial-pearl
Bai Hao (Oriental Beauty) "Cake" http://www.mountaintea.com/collections/dark-oolong/products/formosa-bonita-cake
Without saying too much ... the one dark really blew me away ... it is worth the price of admission! I really enjoyed the first round of prelim tastings. It was eye opening. I am anxious to do another tasting with a higher ratio this time.
http://www.mountaintea.com/
And they are excited to participate as well. They even conducted special tastings to select the 6 oolong for this round.
MountainTea.com is a multi-generation grower and manufacturer of Taiwan oolong. This is an opportunity to sample direct from the grower!!! BTW, since they are a grower and seller, they wholesale and retail, thus their prices are extremely reasonable.
Below are Priscilla, Chicco, Christine, and Mao Sheng.
Chicco is mostly in the USA. Christine is his mother.
Chicco wrote:Mao Sheng is one of our tea masters and his father is one of Taiwan's top tea roasters. For the past 4 years, Mao Sheng has personally hand-grown, hand-processed, and hand-sorted the 1st place winning oolong tea in the prestigious Nantou County Oolong Championship.
Each participant will receive all 6 (six) selections, 10 grams each, 60 grams total. You know me, I was saying, "just do 6 greener oolong."
You know me, right? But good news, this is a really nice range of Taiwan oolong consisting of 2 greener, 2 medium, and 2 dark!!!
Here are the selections:
2 GREEN Oolong:
Spring 2012 Lishan http://www.mountaintea.com/collections/green-oolong/products/lishan-spring
Jade Oolong http://www.mountaintea.com/collections/green-oolong/products/jade-oolong
2 MEDIUM Oolong:
Medium Roast Dong Ding http://www.mountaintea.com/collections/medium-oolong/products/medium-roast-dong-ding-special-reserve
Medium Roast Taiwan Tie Guan Yin http://www.mountaintea.com/collections/medium-oolong/products/medium-roast-tieguanyin
2 DARK Oolong:
Imperial Pearl http://www.mountaintea.com/collections/dark-oolong/products/imperial-pearl
Bai Hao (Oriental Beauty) "Cake" http://www.mountaintea.com/collections/dark-oolong/products/formosa-bonita-cake
Without saying too much ... the one dark really blew me away ... it is worth the price of admission! I really enjoyed the first round of prelim tastings. It was eye opening. I am anxious to do another tasting with a higher ratio this time.
-
Chip - Moderator
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OTTI 15 MountainTea, Range of Taiwan Oolong
by Chip » Jul 5th, '12, 13:28
For general info on how the OTTIs run, please see this topic: viewtopic.php?f=66&t=16242 The biggest change is if you are interested in participating in this OTTI round, I am asking that you email me on or after 6 pm Eastern USA time today, Wednesday July 5, 2012 at teachatmoderator@yahoo.com ... SUBJECT: OTTI 15.
If you email me from your paypal email, that will simplify things, but it is not necessary!
"Dedicated to one vendor" OTTI rounds will be a bit higher in cost, but I feel a great deal anyway. Where else are you going to try 6 (six) premium Taiwan selections for a couple bucks each? Please remember, this is not funded by Adagio nor any other vendor nor entity at this time), so therefore costs have to be recouped.
The plus side to no funding sponsors, there is no outside influence. We do what we do without fear of stepping on the toes of a sponsoring vendor, etc.
Not complainin', just sayin'!
Of course, packaging and shipping costs are included in the costs below based on destination.
Total Cost in USD (shipping is included):
USA $8.50
Canada/North America $9.50
Europe/South America $10.75
Asia/Australia/Africa $11.75
Other please inquire (I guess that leaves penguins of Antartica and for any extraterrestrials out there wanting to participate)
DEPENDING upon availability, If you want to 2X this OTTI round and receive 20 grams per tea, 100 grams total, please simply double the amount above and subract 1 USD. For instance, USA would be 17 - 1 = 16 USD.
These costs are just that, costs. There is a cushion of less than 1 USD per participant after estimated expenses to cover any "surprises" in shipping, etc. This is really tight, but OTTI is NOT a for profit program. It is to benefit those of us who want to sample great teas ... and it benefits vendors by promoting their offerings.
Any surplus will roll over into the OTTI fund. Surplus at the end of the 2012 will go towards charity, possibly the TC Japan Relief Fund which has raised over $1300 for this effort.
Email your interest to teachatmoderator@yahoo.com (with OTTI 15 as subject) including your:
TeaChat User Name
Your name
Mailing address formatted exactly as it would appear on a package or letter addressed to you.
Country
If outside of USA, your phone number is recommended for customs forms!
Paypal email address
If you email me from your paypal email, that will simplify things, but it is not necessary!
"Dedicated to one vendor" OTTI rounds will be a bit higher in cost, but I feel a great deal anyway. Where else are you going to try 6 (six) premium Taiwan selections for a couple bucks each? Please remember, this is not funded by Adagio nor any other vendor nor entity at this time), so therefore costs have to be recouped.
The plus side to no funding sponsors, there is no outside influence. We do what we do without fear of stepping on the toes of a sponsoring vendor, etc.
Not complainin', just sayin'!
Of course, packaging and shipping costs are included in the costs below based on destination.
Total Cost in USD (shipping is included):
USA $8.50
Canada/North America $9.50
Europe/South America $10.75
Asia/Australia/Africa $11.75
Other please inquire (I guess that leaves penguins of Antartica and for any extraterrestrials out there wanting to participate)
DEPENDING upon availability, If you want to 2X this OTTI round and receive 20 grams per tea, 100 grams total, please simply double the amount above and subract 1 USD. For instance, USA would be 17 - 1 = 16 USD.
These costs are just that, costs. There is a cushion of less than 1 USD per participant after estimated expenses to cover any "surprises" in shipping, etc. This is really tight, but OTTI is NOT a for profit program. It is to benefit those of us who want to sample great teas ... and it benefits vendors by promoting their offerings.
Any surplus will roll over into the OTTI fund. Surplus at the end of the 2012 will go towards charity, possibly the TC Japan Relief Fund which has raised over $1300 for this effort.
Email your interest to teachatmoderator@yahoo.com (with OTTI 15 as subject) including your:
TeaChat User Name
Your name
Mailing address formatted exactly as it would appear on a package or letter addressed to you.
Country
If outside of USA, your phone number is recommended for customs forms!
Paypal email address
-
Chip - Moderator
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OTTI 15 MountainTea, Range of Taiwan Oolong
by Chip » Jul 5th, '12, 13:29
Blind Key below! SPECIAL NOTE. This is a DOVe "dedicated to one vendor" OTTI round, and therefore discussion in this topic will be open, names/numbers, etc. So, if you want to taste blind, please do so, but be aware and beware, there will be full disclosure in this topic.
If you want to conduct this blind, though I do not see how this is possible given the disparity on brewing suggestions, simply flip over the pouch so the name is not visible.
If you want to conduct this blind, though I do not see how this is possible given the disparity on brewing suggestions, simply flip over the pouch so the name is not visible.
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Chip - Moderator
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OTTI 15 MountainTea, Range of Taiwan Oolong
by Chip » Jul 5th, '12, 13:30
[EDIT 7/28] Brewing Guidelines/suggestions.
BTW, here are Chicco's brewing parameters I received in an email.
BTW, here are Chicco's brewing parameters I received in an email.
The site's suggestions are mainly there for novice tea drinkers who need a starting point. Of course ratio, steep time, and even water temperature are more a matter of preference.
For seasoned tea drinkers, I'd say stick to what you're comfortable with. Here is a range of what I personally use for my teas
For green oolongs I prefer a Gaiwan
Jade Oolong
Cream, corn, floral
195-210F
5-8g/5-6floz
Lower temp => Floral
Higher temp => Sweet corn
LiShan, Sp12
Cream, gardenias, floral
200-210F
5-8g/150ml
Personally find it more aromatic and thicker mouthfeel @ higher temps
-----
For roasted teas:
Use Gaiwan for more roastiness
Use YiXing to mute roastiness
Medium Roast TieGuanYin
Toasted fruit/jam
200-210F
5-8g/5-6floz
Lower temp => fruit/jam
Higher temp => roasted fruit
Dong Ding Special Reserve
Sweet barley
205-210F
5-8g/5-6floz
Lower temp => Sweet barley
Higher temp => Roasted sweet barley
-----
Oriental Beauty Cake
Apricot & Spice
200-205F
Imperial Pearl
Nutmeg, orange peel, malt sugar, cocoa
200-210F
5-12g/5-6floz
9-12g @ ~0:30-1min => Sweeter
5g @ ~2:30-3min => Spicier
Hope this helps.
Chicco
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Chip - Moderator
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OTTI 15 MountainTea, Range of Taiwan Oolong
by Chip » Jul 5th, '12, 13:30
OTTI Rating System!
Please follow this so we are all on the same page regarding ratings. Thanks. This is also located in the first several posts of this topic for convenience. If you feel a tea is more like a 4.5 or whatever, go for it!
5 Outstanding, excellent
4.5 Very good
4 Good
3 Fair, mediocre
2 Not good
1 Poor
When tasting, remember to use all your senses! You can rate a tea by each sense and then cumulative experience. Or simply overall ... however involved you want to be!
Sight- how does the dry leaf look, color, the brew, the wet leaf?
Touch-how does the tea feel ... astringency
Hearing-hard to rate a tea based on hearing, but it is part of the experience nevertheless
Smell-some feel this is as important as taste! I am one of these. The dry leaf aroma, the dry leaf as it warms in your brewing vessel, the brew aroma, the wet leaf aroma. eh hem, clear your nose before doing a tasting!!! You will be rewarded.
Taste-your sense of smell dictates much of your taste perception, try and differentiate. Basic tastes include sweet, bitter, sour, umami, salt.
Please follow this so we are all on the same page regarding ratings. Thanks. This is also located in the first several posts of this topic for convenience. If you feel a tea is more like a 4.5 or whatever, go for it!
5 Outstanding, excellent
4.5 Very good
4 Good
3 Fair, mediocre
2 Not good
1 Poor
When tasting, remember to use all your senses! You can rate a tea by each sense and then cumulative experience. Or simply overall ... however involved you want to be!
Sight- how does the dry leaf look, color, the brew, the wet leaf?
Touch-how does the tea feel ... astringency
Hearing-hard to rate a tea based on hearing, but it is part of the experience nevertheless
Smell-some feel this is as important as taste! I am one of these. The dry leaf aroma, the dry leaf as it warms in your brewing vessel, the brew aroma, the wet leaf aroma. eh hem, clear your nose before doing a tasting!!! You will be rewarded.
Taste-your sense of smell dictates much of your taste perception, try and differentiate. Basic tastes include sweet, bitter, sour, umami, salt.
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Chip - Moderator
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Re: OTTI 15 MountainTea, Range of Taiwan Oolong
by Chip » Jul 5th, '12, 15:03
OK, this topic is open for previewing. At 6 pm Eastern USA time, you can email me and post here.
I will also be adding to this topic, some more information on the grower/vendor, etc.
I will also be adding to this topic, some more information on the grower/vendor, etc.
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Chip - Moderator
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Re: OTTI 15 MountainTea, Range of Taiwan Oolong
by Chip » Jul 5th, '12, 16:15
OK ... remember, this goes live at 6 pm Eastern USA time TODAY! In 2 hours and 45 minutes.
I will be away from the 'puter for a bit. Heading to my mom's, she is having an operation tomorrow. So, I will have smart phone access only for a while.
So, email me, and I am sure I will reply to you tonight.
I will be away from the 'puter for a bit. Heading to my mom's, she is having an operation tomorrow. So, I will have smart phone access only for a while.
So, email me, and I am sure I will reply to you tonight.
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Chip - Moderator
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Re: OTTI 15 MountainTea, Range of Taiwan Oolong
by Chip » Jul 5th, '12, 18:20
And we are officially Live.
Please email your interest to teachatmoderator@yahoo.com.
Thank you for your interest ... and if you already emailed ... thanks for your participation.
Please email your interest to teachatmoderator@yahoo.com.
Thank you for your interest ... and if you already emailed ... thanks for your participation.
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Chip - Moderator
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Re: OTTI 15 MountainTea, Range of Taiwan Oolong
by sherubtse » Jul 5th, '12, 18:52
Chip wrote:For general info on how the OTTIs run, please see this topic: viewtopic.php?f=66&t=16242 The biggest change is if you are interested in participating in this OTTI round, I am asking that you email me on or after 6 pm Eastern USA time today, Wednesday 6/13/12 at teachatmoderator@yahoo.com ... SUBJECT: OTTI 14.
You may wish to edit this section, Chip.
Best wishes,
sherubtse
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Re: OTTI 15 MountainTea, Range of Taiwan Oolong
by sherubtse » Jul 5th, '12, 18:56
I need more tea like I need a hole in the head. 
However, I am very interested in this company & their teas. And unlike senchas, 10g per tea will be just fine for me to get a good feel for each selection.
Best wishes,
sherubtse
However, I am very interested in this company & their teas. And unlike senchas, 10g per tea will be just fine for me to get a good feel for each selection.
Best wishes,
sherubtse
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sherubtse - Posts: 484
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- Location: Toronto, Canada
Re: OTTI 15 MountainTea, Range of Taiwan Oolong
by sherubtse » Jul 5th, '12, 19:04
E-mail sent! Looking forward to this OTTI!
Best wishes,
sherubtse
P.S. Hope your Mom's surgery goes well tomorrow, Chip.
Best wishes,
sherubtse
P.S. Hope your Mom's surgery goes well tomorrow, Chip.
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sherubtse - Posts: 484
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Re: OTTI 15 MountainTea, Range of Taiwan Oolong
by iannon » Jul 5th, '12, 19:27
sherubtse wrote:E-mail sent! Looking forward to this OTTI!
Best wishes,
sherubtse
P.S. Hope your Mom's surgery goes well tomorrow, Chip.
ditto squared!
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iannon - Posts: 1631
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Re: OTTI 15 MountainTea, Range of Taiwan Oolong
by AdamMY » Jul 5th, '12, 19:41
sherubtse wrote:Chip wrote:For general info on how the OTTIs run, please see this topic: viewtopic.php?f=66&t=16242 The biggest change is if you are interested in participating in this OTTI round, I am asking that you email me on or after 6 pm Eastern USA time today, Wednesday 6/13/12 at teachatmoderator@yahoo.com ... SUBJECT: OTTI 14.
You may wish to edit this section, Chip.
Best wishes,
sherubtse
Didn't catch that, definitely gave mine the subject line of OTTI 14. Doh!
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AdamMY - Posts: 2102
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Re: OTTI 15 MountainTea, Range of Taiwan Oolong
by Chip » Jul 5th, '12, 20:18
AND there is still room at the MountainTea.Com virtual OTTI 15 TeaTable.
Thanks everyone who has already emailed me ... so far you are all in. I will forward the yadda yadda yadda email. If you do not receive a reply from me to your email later tonight, be sure I got your original by resending!
Thanks everyone who has already emailed me ... so far you are all in. I will forward the yadda yadda yadda email. If you do not receive a reply from me to your email later tonight, be sure I got your original by resending!
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Chip - Moderator
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Re: OTTI 15 MountainTea, Range of Taiwan Oolong
by Chip » Jul 5th, '12, 20:22
AdamMY wrote:sherubtse wrote:Chip wrote:For general info on how the OTTIs run, please see this topic: viewtopic.php?f=66&t=16242 The biggest change is if you are interested in participating in this OTTI round, I am asking that you email me on or after 6 pm Eastern USA time today, Wednesday 6/13/12 at teachatmoderator@yahoo.com ... SUBJECT: OTTI 14.
You may wish to edit this section, Chip.
Best wishes,
sherubtse
Didn't catch that, definitely gave mine the subject line of OTTI 14. Doh!
Adam will be receiving OTTI 14, sorry, rules are rules
!!! OK, just kidding. A pitfall of copying/pasting is not catching all the previous references ... even after rechecking several times.
Thanks for the TeaHeads up!
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Chip - Moderator
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