Oolong roll call

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


Aug 27th, '13, 19:14
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Oolong roll call

by mugger » Aug 27th, '13, 19:14

I'm interested in compiling a comprehensive list (personal checklist, maybe?) of the major varieties of oolong tea and all their alternative names. I don't think there are many people in the world better equipped to help with that than the folks at teachat. If you see a tea missing from the list (which there will be many) or a missing common alternative name (or spelling) or even just something I've gotten wrong, please point it out!

Oolongs:
  • Ali Shan
    Bai Hao / Dao Feng Mei Ren / Oriental Beauty
    Da Hong Pao / Big Red Robe
    Dong Ding / Tung Ting
    Feng Huang Dan Cong
    Huang Mei Gui / Yellow Rose
    Jade (refers to dongding or green tgy?)
    Jin Guan Yin / Golden Goddess
    Jin Xuan / Milk Oolong
    Li Shan
    Pouchong / Bao Zhong
    Rou Gui
    Se Chung
    Shui Jin Gui / Golden Turtle
    Shui Xian / Shui Hsien / Water Sprite
    Tie Guan Yin / Iron Goddess
I'd love to see this list completed, perhaps even with some information about oxidation levels and origin. I hope teachat's willing to help!

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Aug 28th, '13, 02:34
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Re: Oolong roll call

by wyardley » Aug 28th, '13, 02:34

I would take a look at

http://wikicha.com/index.php/Glossary
http://babelcarp.org/babelcarp/

etc.
I think it would be better to add things to the list above than try to do a list like this on a forum (grouping into categories or the tea's most common region of origin would also be helpful)

It's more useful IMHO to have hanyu pinyin (with diacritics) and the simplified and traditional characters; non-standard romanizations could be listed in another column or something.

Aug 28th, '13, 05:56
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Re: Oolong roll call

by mugger » Aug 28th, '13, 05:56

wyardley wrote:http://wikicha.com/index.php/Glossary
...
I think it would be better to add things to the list above
I would agree, but my reason for posting here is that I've been unable to find a comprehensive list anywhere else (one I can read[1], anyway), I don't think I'm well suited to decide what is-or-isn't a major variety, I'm liable to confuse two names for the same tea for two different teas, or even a red or yellow for an oolong if the only name available is in Chinese or is something I've never tried. Some of the best maintained lists of tea I've found are the lists of tea that a particular vendor sells, and those, of course, are always limited to just the teas sold by that vendor. Trying to compile them into a larger list poses the problems I mention above.

Babelcarp, though, looks like an excellent reference, at least for finding the most acceptable spelling.

[1] http://www.alltea.cn/sdmc/index_new.asp?id=80&qy=qt

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Aug 28th, '13, 11:54
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Re: Oolong roll call

by Evan Draper » Aug 28th, '13, 11:54

Mug, I applaud your enthusiasm. I would recommend you treat your list of oolongs as a journey, and not a destination. No two people will agree on any list of teas, because what counts? Are Fenghuang Shuixian and Wuyi Shuixian two different teas? What about Wuyi Shuixian and Minbei Shuixian? Does Laocong make it a different tea? How about different roast levels? So this list should be a record of your personal journey. You will learn which names refer to the same tea, and you will learn some Chinese. And you will learn things about tea that are meaningful to you. (I highly recommend babelcarp and wikicha, and another resource to consider is the Tea Geek Wiki, which requires a paid subscription, but is well-curated for relative beginners.)

Aug 28th, '13, 15:10
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Re: Oolong roll call

by mugger » Aug 28th, '13, 15:10

Evan, I think enthusiasm is the right word. It would take a lot of trial and much error to compile this list myself, and I think I came here to appeal to the wealth of experience this community presents, as a means to avoid some of that error. The error I am most concerned with is the error of omission! Really, I just don't want to miss out on something I should have heard of years ago, or accidentally purchase two samples of the same tea when money is tight, and forego the opportunity to try something I've never tried before.

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Aug 28th, '13, 22:20
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Re: Oolong roll call

by gingkoseto » Aug 28th, '13, 22:20

It's interesting to collect names of oolong varieties. But one obstacle is, in tea, there isn't clear definition of varietals. Sometimes it's hard to tell which and which belong to the same varietal. For example, in your list, Ali Shan and dong ding are usually of the same variety if they are both made of green heart oolong cultivar. On the other hand, should southern Fujian shuixian, northern Fujian shuixian and feng huang dan cong all count shui xian variety? Should various types of feng huang dan cong count as various varieties? People don't give consistent answers on these.

There is a guy named Luo Shengcai who wrote a Wuyi Yan Cha book which includes photos and cultivation experience (not really very useful to tea drinkers) 70+ Wuyi "varieties", which are some of his favorite among 1000+ Wuyi "varietals" that he had cultivated. Each of his "variety" has unique characteristics. But since there isn't a clear definition about tea varietal, I'm not sure if all these could be called individual varieties (which seems a word rooting from vine cultivation?). In botany, variety is often used to mean subspecies of plants. In this sense, extremely few of the tea cultivars qualify for being varieties.

Sorry for making it messy. But I guess that's how tea is :mrgreen:

Based on the context, it seems that the varieties op is collecting are diverse types based on cultivar+geography+processing. That is indeed fun.

One thing I want to add is, two samples of the same tea might be more different than two samples of two different teas. :wink:

Aug 29th, '13, 00:51
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Re: Oolong roll call

by mugger » Aug 29th, '13, 00:51

Allrighty then, new goal: make a list of every individual tea plant ever grown and what became of it.

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Aug 29th, '13, 09:20
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Re: Oolong roll call

by Evan Draper » Aug 29th, '13, 09:20

mugger wrote:Allrighty then, new goal: make a list of every individual tea plant ever grown and what became of it.
:lol:

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Aug 29th, '13, 09:59
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Re: Oolong roll call

by jayinhk » Aug 29th, '13, 09:59

Here are some tea plants for you to start with:

http://www.inpursuitoftea.com/category_s/34.htm

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Jan 7th, '15, 19:47
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Re: Oolong roll call

by The Pepper Assassin » Jan 7th, '15, 19:47

mugger wrote:Allrighty then, new goal: make a list of every individual tea plant ever grown and what became of it.
I've got one on my deck in San Francisco. Please add it to your database, and I'll keep you posted.

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Jan 8th, '15, 09:12
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Re: Oolong roll call

by Poseidon » Jan 8th, '15, 09:12

The Pepper Assassin wrote:
mugger wrote:Allrighty then, new goal: make a list of every individual tea plant ever grown and what became of it.
I've got one on my deck in San Francisco. Please add it to your database, and I'll keep you posted.
:lol:


While this is a good idea, Oolong tea is the largest tea category so this could be a LONG LONG list.

Off the top of my head here are a few to add:
Wuyi Oolong
Dancong Oolong
Phoenix Oolong
Gaba
Green Heart
Da Yu Ling
Etc.

That is a mix of vareitals as well as a few named oolongs. If you really want to have a complete list, I think it would be a good idea to have a list of the major cultivars with a list of the teas it produces under each one. It would be easiest to keep to the most produced oolongs to keep your sanity.

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Jan 11th, '15, 23:39
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Re: Oolong roll call

by ABx » Jan 11th, '15, 23:39

Poseidon wrote:
The Pepper Assassin wrote:
mugger wrote:Allrighty then, new goal: make a list of every individual tea plant ever grown and what became of it.
I've got one on my deck in San Francisco. Please add it to your database, and I'll keep you posted.
:lol:


While this is a good idea, Oolong tea is the largest tea category so this could be a LONG LONG list.
...
I think he meant that he has a tea plant on his desk :)

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