Oolongonians, I need some help identifying an oolong from The Tea Spot simply called "Vintage Oolong." I don't know much about oolong types so any help is appreciated
The aroma and taste is similar to Adagios oolong #18. Since the pictures are on the large side, I'll post a direct links.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_863CcyQyf4o/Sde3k ... olong1.jpg OR http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o231 ... eda953.jpg
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_863CcyQyf4o/Sde3k ... olong2.jpg OR http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o231 ... e607d8.jpg
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_863CcyQyf4o/Sde3l ... olong3.jpg OR http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o231 ... 49b2d1.jpg
Apr 4th, '09, 15:48
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bsteele
Need help identifying an oolong
Last edited by bsteele on Apr 4th, '09, 19:11, edited 1 time in total.
Apr 4th, '09, 20:25
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It's medium roasted taiwan style oolong, and the leaves don't look like the traditional taiwan oolong cultivar (green heart oolong, which has pointed leaves). So it could be the new cultivar cui yu (green jade). It's non-pointed leaves and sparse teeth are consistent with features of green jade oolong.
Since you said it tasted very much like adagio#18, which is called jade oolong (I guess it's the same translated name as cui yu/green jade), this combined with its leaf appearance, then it's very likely to be a medium roasted jade oolong
Since you said it tasted very much like adagio#18, which is called jade oolong (I guess it's the same translated name as cui yu/green jade), this combined with its leaf appearance, then it's very likely to be a medium roasted jade oolong
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does not look like an aged oolong to me. I think the reddish splotches on the leaves are oxidation, not roasting. The rolling of the leaves during processing crushes them and creates those more highly oxidized areas. i would guess the name 'vintage' refers to the more oxididized style, but really it's anyone's guess and probably their marketing department who made it up doesn't even know why. could also hint that chin shin was used (leaves may suggest not), or the hand cut and rolled appearance, or whatever. I would guess that is ~20% oxidized and mostly unroasted. The varietal is hard for me to guess without feeling the leaves, looking at them very closely front and back (and eating them) so I'll leave that one alone.
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Apr 5th, '09, 11:48
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Green or darker roasts are all relative. It's just an intuitive thought from the color of the photo that the tea looks a medium roast. It instantly reminds me of a medium roast dong ding I have. My tea looks very similar to bsteele's, but with slightly different leaf shape. (but my pohoto skills are poor )amy210 wrote:I'm curious, and eager to learn. How did you come up with the conclusion that it was medium roasted? The description of the flavor on the site doesn't seem to have many taste indicators that would make me think "roasted" except for possibly the mention of a nutty flavor. I mean when you have a roasted oolong you pretty much know it, at least in my opinion.gingko wrote:...then it's very likely to be a medium roasted jade oolong
I mean could it be the hints of reddish brown on the used leaves? Though being more knowledgeable about pu rather than all the various types of oolongs myself, it reminds me more of the look of an aged leaf. Or is it the more muted color?
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Tjz7-dt8PhM/S ... %A1%B6.JPG
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Tjz7-dt8PhM/S ... %BA%95.JPG
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Tjz7-dt8PhM/S ... +infus.JPG
As tenuki said, the leaves have some degree of oxidation (the wide red rim and red dots on the leaves). I hold the general assumption that most of the time heavy oxidized oolongs are more heavily roasted to bring out their characters, and less oxidized oolongs are very lightly roasted (or simply heat to dry rather than real roasting) to maintain their floral fragrance.
But of course all these are just guessing, without really touching the tea. [/url]