Troubles with Adagio alishan

[stanthegoomba]

Has anyone found that the Adagio's alishan comes out a little bitter?

I picked up a tin in anticipation of the inaugural tea tasting (though I don't feel at all qualified to participate!) and I am having trouble gongfu-ing it. I cover the bottom of my yixing—so it's a pretty conservative amount—and use water off the boil. The same parameters have worked well for a different rolled high mountain and a light TKY, so I'm sure something is off...

I have noticed that there seems to be a fair bit of dust and leaf pieces mixed in with the rolled leaves. Could this be causing the tea to over-extract?

I hope I'm doing something wrong and it's and not the tea!

[Drax]

Odd you mention this. I brewed the very last of my Adagio ali shan this morning.

I used a little bit more than I normally have (and I already used probably more than you were, from the sounds of it) to help finish it all off, which included the dusty bits on the bottom.

And I thought I could taste a slight bit of bitterness, at least more than I normally have (and by that, I mean that I hadn't noticed it at all before).

Unfortunately, since it's all gone now, I can't brew another batch to figure out if it was a quantity problem...

[stanthegoomba]

I brewed it again at 185 degrees and the bitterness was gone, even though there was still quite a lot of dust. This is the first oolong I've tried that seems to react so badly to boiling water... is that typical for a high mountain?

[tenuki]

I brewed it again at 185 degrees and the bitterness was gone, even though there was still quite a lot of dust. This is the first oolong I've tried that seems to react so badly to boiling water... is that typical for a high mountain?

typical of a low quality oolong. if an oolong reacts badly to boiling water I always blame the tea.

[Chip]

Alishan One of several topics on Adagio's new Alishan. This is not proclaimed to be a high mountain oolong nor is an elevation declared. It is however a good Taiwan oolong for the money from a domestic vendor. It is clearly a step in a positve direction for Adagio.

My early experience with this offering was positive. Interestingly, early discussion did not include the concerns discussed here. I wonder if they restocked. I have an original version and one I just received last week.

I will break out the new tasting sets and compare the two side by side. Hopefully report back tonight.

[tenuki]

I didn't mean to make 'low quality' sound so disparaging. The Ali Shan's I drink and love cost 3 times as much, and that is from a reasonably priced local US vendor.

It sounds like it's a decent tea _for the money_, and I agree, there is probably no need for adagio to carry anything else. Of the 'mainstream' higher volume vendors I actually like Tao of Tea's Ali Shan pretty well, but again, it's slightly more expensive (6/oz) but I still consider it to be a lower quality gao shan, but a great value.

[Chip]

Good points, Tenuki.

I saw an opportunity to give my new Adagio Competition Tasting sets a trial run comparing the Alishan I received when it first came out (A) to the one I just received (B).

There were several noticable differences. The rolled leaf of A was clearly larger than B, perhaps a full third larger.

Next, the brewed liquor of each of the first 3 steeps was noticably darker for B.

And while neither was realllllly astringent, I did pick up a little astringency with B.

Otherwise, they seemed pretty much alike. The above differences could be due to several factors. Perhaps B was from lower in the box or bag, thus smaller leaf would be expected which could also be why the liquor was darker, and it would brew faster than A, thus could exhibit more astringency than A.

Or, they are from differnent packages or shipments.

I am definitely going to do another comparison Saturday if I can. I will keep you posted.

[Drax]

Thanks for the update, Chip! I await with eagerness your further testing.

I thought it was odd that I hadn't noticed any astringency until I brewed the last bit that was in my sample tin... If you're daring, maybe you can dig down to the bottom of yours, too?

[wyardley]

I thought it was odd that I hadn't noticed any astringency until I brewed the last bit that was in my sample tin... If you're daring, maybe you can dig down to the bottom of yours, too?

I think sometimes metal canisters, esp. the cheap tins that vendors use, have weird reactions with tea that's sitting on the bottom, but maybe I'm just imagining things.

[stanthegoomba]

Alishan One of several topics on Adagio's new Alishan. This is not proclaimed to be a high mountain oolong nor is an elevation declared.

Isn't Alishan... (阿里山） well... a mountain?

I'm happier with some of the results I'm getting now, even though I am still wondering about all the dust and how easy it is for the brews to go astringent. Thanks for your notes, Chip.

[Chip]

Yes, of course Alishan is a mountain, but it is possible it is a lower elevation selection. In this case, we are not told.

Many traditionally high mountain oolong are not always high mountain anymore due to higher demand for them. I am hoping Adagio willl fill us in perhaps.

If it is just occuring at the bottom of the tin, the increased astringency could simply be overbrewing due to smaller particles.

[murrius]

I got a tin of adagio alishan a couple of months ago and am still enjoying it. I found the brew more astringent at higher temps as well. However, I cranked the heat back and brew now below the boiling point. Now it's a lovely sweet, floral tea. I have limited experience with oolongs so I presumed the lower temperature was because the tea is part way between green and black; therefore the temparature would be part way between what is needed for greens and black.

[skywalker]

Ali Mountain is the first place to produce high mountain tea in Taiwan. The tea growing area's elevation is from 800m to 1400m.
The most character of high mountain tea is its fragrance without bitterness. As we know high mountain tea's production is limited and far behind the demand. The government also has limited farmer to develop new areas. In order to meet the demand from market, some merchants blend with other tea or use other tea from China or Vietnam.
Ironically, even though you were in Ali mountain, no one can promise the tea is 100% from Ali Mountain.