Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

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


User avatar
Dec 5th, '12, 19:56
Posts: 146
Joined: Jul 25th, '11, 16:56

Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by Maxwell2079 » Dec 5th, '12, 19:56

Unless something changed since OTTI 15, MountainTea ships to retail customers from California. They have a California address.
Thank you Chip.

If I remember correctly in Order to participate in the OTTI I have to live in USA right? Or is it possible for me to participate anyway.

C'mon Chip let me join please :mrgreen: !!! (edited:forgot to say please, being courteous is always important)

User avatar
Dec 5th, '12, 21:26
Posts: 317
Joined: Sep 8th, '12, 12:26
Scrolling: scrolling

Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by Devoted135 » Dec 5th, '12, 21:26

Chip wrote:
Maxwell2079 wrote:
Owner of Mountain Tea here. Wanted to clear up some stuff about our teas. The Imperial Pearls are not roasted and are created using the QingXin varietal. Happy drinking.
Hi dr_cat_md,

Where are you shipping your tea from? I mean if I buy tea from your website.

Do you ship from Taiwan or USA?
Unless something changed since OTTI 15, MountainTea ships to retail customers from California. They have a California address.
I placed an order with them last week and it is currently making its way to me from California. So yes, they still ship from there. :mrgreen:

User avatar
Dec 5th, '12, 22:57
Posts: 20891
Joined: Apr 22nd, '06, 20:52
Scrolling: scrolling
Location: Back in the TeaCave atop Mt. Fuji
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by Chip » Dec 5th, '12, 22:57

Maxwell2079 wrote:
Unless something changed since OTTI 15, MountainTea ships to retail customers from California. They have a California address.
Thank you Chip.

If I remember correctly in Order to participate in the OTTI I have to live in USA right? Or is it possible for me to participate anyway.

C'mon Chip let me join please :mrgreen: !!! (edited:forgot to say please, being courteous is always important)
OTTI is open to any member on the planet Earth ... and interplanetary members! :mrgreen:

User avatar
Dec 5th, '12, 23:34
Posts: 2228
Joined: Jul 22nd, '09, 10:55
Location: Capital of the Mitten
Been thanked: 1 time
Contact: AdamMY

Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by AdamMY » Dec 5th, '12, 23:34

Chip wrote:
Maxwell2079 wrote:
Unless something changed since OTTI 15, MountainTea ships to retail customers from California. They have a California address.
Thank you Chip.

If I remember correctly in Order to participate in the OTTI I have to live in USA right? Or is it possible for me to participate anyway.

C'mon Chip let me join please :mrgreen: !!! (edited:forgot to say please, being courteous is always important)
OTTI is open to any member on the planet Earth ... and interplanetary members! :mrgreen:

This post almost prompted me to use one of my email addresses to create an alternate account. Username: "MarsCuriosityRover" Which would post in OTTI topics begging to be included due to lack of good tea on Mars. I would also often complain about how hard it is to get the water to suitable temps on Mars.

User avatar
Dec 5th, '12, 23:41
Vendor Member
Posts: 397
Joined: Feb 2nd, '12, 03:03
Location: RSA
Contact: SilentChaos

Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by SilentChaos » Dec 5th, '12, 23:41

Drinking these two unknown aged oolongs. Yum :mrgreen:

Image
Image

User avatar
Dec 6th, '12, 11:04
Posts: 146
Joined: Jul 25th, '11, 16:56

Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by Maxwell2079 » Dec 6th, '12, 11:04

OTTI is open to any member on the planet Earth ... and interplanetary members!
Great then. I will read the conditions to be able to participate in the next one.
This post almost prompted me to use one of my email addresses to create an alternate account. Username: "MarsCuriosityRover" Which would post in OTTI topics begging to be included due to lack of good tea on Mars. I would also often complain about how hard it is to get the water to suitable temps on Mars.
:lol: :lol: :lol:

User avatar
Dec 6th, '12, 11:13
Posts: 20891
Joined: Apr 22nd, '06, 20:52
Scrolling: scrolling
Location: Back in the TeaCave atop Mt. Fuji
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by Chip » Dec 6th, '12, 11:13

I send OTTI routinely to the international space station ... fortunately I can beam it up to them!

Masters Pouchong from our forum host, Adagio. It has been ages since I had a pouchong, but this is quite nice!

And all the recent MountainTea Imperial Pearl discussion has caused me to put this on the menu for today. :idea: :!: :arrow:

User avatar
Dec 8th, '12, 12:56
Posts: 111
Joined: Mar 29th, '12, 00:23
Location: NYC

Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by javi_sanchez » Dec 8th, '12, 12:56

It seems appropriate that today I am drinking Mountain Tea's medium roast dong ding special reserve. I'm using 10g in a 150ml gaiwan(though I haven't been filling to the top) and even the first wash has lots of nice flavor. Unfortunately this is the first dong ding oolong I've tried so I have nothing to compare it to!

User avatar
Dec 8th, '12, 13:38
Posts: 5896
Joined: Jan 10th, '10, 16:04
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Contact: debunix

Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by debunix » Dec 8th, '12, 13:38

Nothing unfortunate about that--there has to be a first, but with luck it won't be the last!

User avatar
Dec 8th, '12, 17:14
Posts: 111
Joined: Mar 29th, '12, 00:23
Location: NYC

Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by javi_sanchez » Dec 8th, '12, 17:14

I quite like this oolong. I've had a few oolongs that are wonderfully creamy and subtly sweet. This particular oolong has a lingering sweetness that I like. Where does this come from? Is it when the younger leaves are used since they have more sugars in them?

I like roast. Many tea merchants don't list the levels of oxidation and roast in their tea. Is there any other well to tell this? Is it the name that gives me a hint (ie dong ding tends to be around 30% roast right?)?

User avatar
Dec 8th, '12, 18:04
Posts: 2044
Joined: Jan 11th, '07, 20:47
Location: Los Angeles, CA

Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by wyardley » Dec 8th, '12, 18:04

javi_sanchez wrote:I quite like this oolong. I've had a few oolongs that are wonderfully creamy and subtly sweet. This particular oolong has a lingering sweetness that I like. Where does this come from? Is it when the younger leaves are used since they have more sugars in them?

I like roast. Many tea merchants don't list the levels of oxidation and roast in their tea. Is there any other well to tell this? Is it the name that gives me a hint (ie dong ding tends to be around 30% roast right?)?
With oxidation, you can maybe be that specific, but I don't think there's any way to precisely quantify a level of roast. There are different types of roasting - different heat sources, heat levels, different durations, whether, and how long the tea is rested between successive roasts, etc. All of these things affect the final result.

Even using terms like "high fire", "sufficient fire", "murder death roast", or "low fire" are pretty imprecise. We may all have an idea of what these mean to us, but I haven't found a lot of agreement about what most of these terms mean.

Absent being able to examine the dry and wet leaves and drink the tea in person, pictures of the dry and wet leaves, and the brewed tea broth are very useful in terms of assessing how a tea is made. But when specifying in words, rather than "60% roasted", I prefer the way Jing Teashop specifies it, e.g., "10 hours over hardwood charcoal".

That said, from what little I understand, many roasters use their senses ("when it smells good"), more than a fixed "recipe".

I think sweetness can come from multiple sources -- from roasting and from oxidation, as well as from the tea base itself. So the result is a combination of these factors. I have had teas with a apparently (comparatively) low level of roasting which have quite a bit of sweetness. I have also had teas with a moderate or heavy roast which are unpleasant and not at all sweet, even after plenty of time to rest.

With some teas, the smell under a gaiwan lid will smell very much like the smell of sticking your head over roasting tea, which is to say, very, very good.

User avatar
Dec 8th, '12, 22:53
Posts: 111
Joined: Mar 29th, '12, 00:23
Location: NYC

Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by javi_sanchez » Dec 8th, '12, 22:53

Thanks I figured such things are imprecise by nature. I got the pleasure to stand next to a roaster making hojicha while sightseeing in Japan. That smell and cacao roasting has got to be my favorite smells in the world! Completely intoxicating.

User avatar
Dec 10th, '12, 00:55
Vendor Member
Posts: 3124
Joined: Aug 28th, '12, 08:12
Location: Hong Kong
Been thanked: 1 time
Contact: jayinhk

Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by jayinhk » Dec 10th, '12, 00:55

Drinking my cheap, Chaozhou-direct Dancong this morning, aka speedball in a gaiwan. Intense flavor and it gives me more energy than coffee, although there is a hint of chlorophyll unpleasantness that I'm hoping will dissipate with time. I love the way this tea gets me moving, so I may buy another few lbs of it for the future.

I also have some of SC's Winter SLX going in another gaiwan...by far the most complex greener oolong I've ever tried (not that I've tried all that many)! There are so many layers to it it leaves me in disbelief.

Dec 10th, '12, 10:03
Vendor Member
Posts: 1301
Joined: May 27th, '12, 12:47
Location: Boston, MA

Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by ethan » Dec 10th, '12, 10:03

jayinhk, "speedball in a gaiwan" won't be in the advertising for that, I assume. Wait until you come off your "high" before you order those pounds of tea, you might change the order to ounces. lol

I've started the day w/ what I think is a dong ding. Courtesy of gasninja, I find myself completely satisfied w/ what at first seems to be a simple, gentle roasted flavor. Sitting at the computer w/ the first cup finished, the wonderful flavor is lingering w/ additional flavors appearing in the aftertaste which is lasting so long. What a terrific tea!

I may be on my way to descending down a slippery slope, as I fear this higher quality tea is not only better than what I have been buying but also more expensive. Yesterday, I tried a Mi Xiang oolong from Global Tea Hut that also was completely free of "distraction" (such as bitterness) & seemingly "simple" in flavor but likewise very satisfying.

User avatar
Dec 11th, '12, 03:52
Vendor Member
Posts: 3124
Joined: Aug 28th, '12, 08:12
Location: Hong Kong
Been thanked: 1 time
Contact: jayinhk

Re: Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

by jayinhk » Dec 11th, '12, 03:52

ethan wrote:jayinhk, "speedball in a gaiwan" won't be in the advertising for that, I assume. Wait until you come off your "high" before you order those pounds of tea, you might change the order to ounces. lol
I've been drinking it for a few weeks now: at around $13 a lb including shipping, it won't break the bank. ;)

+ Post Reply