Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

[ethan]

John, That O.B. sounds delicious. I've found the fruit flavors of o.b. vary a lot while the cinnamon seems to be the constant spice flavor (though it does vary a lot in how strong it is).

At about $7 an ounce, Hatvala's gives a good price for top quality also. (In Taiwan top oriental beauty costs > twice as much.)

Thanks for posting blog links.

[bryan_drinks_tea]

I finished Jing Tea Shop's 2017 Qi Lan Yancha. Not bad, but it needs more time to rest before drinking again.

[ethan]

Drinking Dr. Chen's Father's Love: This is such a wonderfully complex oolong, so deeply flavored. The heavy traditional roast does not bury so many other flavors. Some days my palate seems to handle flavors as a rich blend; other days I taste all of them individually; however, I always enjoy them.

I spent 2 weeks drinking High Roller which also is traditionally roasted and has the rich base of quality high-mountain leaves. I've gone from excellent to stupendous the best way for me lately, concentrating on one oolong for a while.

[ethan]

Cut the amount of leaves by about a third and steeped much longer to bring out wonderful fruity, tart flavors of Father's Love. This and some other traditionally roasted oolongs that I have, can hit me with very strong roasted flavor dominating, but if prepared this way the flavors are well-balanced. Ceramic tea caddies that breath well definitely handle hot and humid weather well.

[debunix]

A particularly lovely session with some AAA Tie Guan Yin from JingTeaShop.com a few days ago at work: I discovered that the IT guy who was helping me with a particularly knotty computer problem likes tea. So when he got it mostly fixed, I brewed up the TGY. It is a light roast version that was wonderful out of the freshly opened bag despite not being vacuum packed, floral and rich and deep, and Jose was just amazed. It was terrific to watch the revelation of just how nice tea can be. He took notes on the tea and I showed him the shop and this site. It will be interesting to see if it 'takes'.....

[victoria3]

These past few days I've been going through some of Origin Tea's stash that Freg gifted me. Yesterday 2014 Spring DaYuLing 102k, today 2010 Traditional High Fire Lishan (final roast). Wow, the roasted Lishan is spectacular with complex chestnuty camphor notes and now finished forever. What a tease to sample very high quality oolongs knowing one cannot get anymore. The DaYuLing was also very good just not at the exceptional level of the Lishan. Here's an action shot of the roasted Lishan steeped in 90ml green sticker yixing zisha (also from ferg) in a 19thc canton bowl.

IMG_7343_sm.jpg (32.61 KiB) Viewed 928 times

[Bok]

The DaYuLing was also very good just not at the exceptional level of the Lishan.
IMG_7343_sm.jpg

Doesn’t surprise me! If it is from 2014 then it will have lost a lot of its power during all those years! In my experience greener oolongs last up to 2 years in their original vacuum packs (refrigerated of course).

Once you open the bag, one week and most of the best flavours will be gone. Ideal is to finish it in 2-3 days then the decline is rather quick. Again that only goes for the greener fresh oolongs.

[Bok]

Some people I have met in Taiwan insist on finishing fresh spring tea (greenish) in a matter of weeks and are being almost paranoid about always storing it cooled (before opening).

It is something else to have a session with a freshly produced oolong, I always love to open the bags and have a first whiff of flavours! Funnily, the best green ligthly oxidised oolongs do not give off much smell when put in the preheated pot, unlike their roasted or aged cousins. When such an oolong is fragrant on the other hand it makes me suspicious as it is usually because of added flavours.

[victoria3]

Some people I have met in Taiwan insist on finishing fresh spring tea (greenish) in a matter of weeks and are being almost paranoid about always storing it cooled (before opening).

It is something else to have a session with a freshly produced oolong, I always love to open the bags and have a first whiff of flavours! Funnily, the best green ligthly oxidised oolongs do not give off much smell when put in the preheated pot, unlike their roasted or aged cousins. When such an oolong is fragrant on the other hand it makes me suspicious as it is usually because of added flavours.

I associate the green degradation that you speak about with fresh Japanese Sincha's. You've just given me a perfect excuse to hurry up and enjoy my lightly roasted Lishan's . Although you may be speaking about unroasted Taiwan teas? I have one from HauYing Chen, an unroasted DongDing, not really my thing so far.

[Bok]

I associate the green degradation that you speak about with fresh Japanese Sincha's. You've just given me a perfect excuse to hurry up and enjoy my lightly roasted Lishan's . Although you may be speaking about unroasted Taiwan teas? I have one from HauYing Chen, an unroasted DongDing, not really my thing so far.

I think probably not as urgent as for Japanese greens, but still to some degree, yes the best is gone quickly.

Correct, I am speaking of Taiwanese lightly oxidised teas, as you’ll find in most Lishan, Shanlinxi, Alishan etc. Of course you can have those more oxidised or roasted, but rarer.

Terminology gets a bit confusing in Taiwan sometimes: The ligthly oxidised mostly hogh mountian stuff is often called Qing Cha which loosely translates to Green tea. If they say Oolong they usually mean the rosted variety. Not many people here get into specifics nor do they seem to care…

Unroasted Dong Ding is probably not very nice, the low elevation makes for a quite flat tea. Unroasted is only worth it for high mountain teas, all others will benefit from further processing into roasted or black teas. At least what Taiwan is concerned. There are some true green teas in Taiwan as well, but nothing particualrily exciting…

[Bok]

I associate the green degradation that you speak about with fresh Japanese Sincha's. You've just given me a perfect excuse to hurry up and enjoy my lightly roasted Lishan's

I mostly stick to one bag until it is finished. Firstly to avoid wasting it at its best, secondly to better get to know it. Personal condition and mood differ from day to day, which affects the brewing. After one week of brewing, I know my tea

[ethan]

Father's Beginner. I got this oolong in January. Then it was more different than now from the aged Father's Love which is produced in similar fashion from identical leaves. Half a year later Beginner has acquired aged characteristics of of Father's Love (deeper flavors, more body). Lovely tea. In September, if it is still available and cheaper than Love, I'll load up on Beginner.

Bok and Victoria: I've enjoyed your recent comments. For several weeks I have stopped having several teas in rotation and switched to drinking only one oolong and one black tea. I get the best of the oolong that way and also the best out of myself as it becomes more apparent when my preparation is sloppy and moreover what deliberate variations in preparation effect.

Bok, it took a lot of sampling but I found 2 high-mountain green teas that are at excellent. Dr Chen had 2. His son, Snake, called one Drawer 41 which was quite affordable, flavorful and without bitterness; while the other he called Winterpeace which was very similar but even better and with sweetness (for the first 2 weeks after bag was opened).

[Bok]

Bok and Victoria: I've enjoyed your recent comments. For several weeks I have stopped having several teas in rotation and switched to drinking only one oolong and one black tea. I get the best of the oolong that way and also the best out of myself as it becomes more apparent when my preparation is sloppy and moreover what deliberate variations in preparation effect.

Bok, it took a lot of sampling but I found 2 high-mountain green teas that are at excellent. Dr Chen had 2. His son, Snake, called one Drawer 41 which was quite affordable, flavorful and without bitterness; while the other he called Winterpeace which was very similar but even better and with sweetness (for the first 2 weeks after bag was opened).

I think Winterpeace is what in Chinese is called Dongpian which is the latest Winterharvest and does not happen every year as certain conditions need to be met. I re-stocked on this one as it turned out to be quite good this year. I had previous years which I did not like as much. That said they have different qualities of it and I might have been offered a lower quality.

Glad you enjoy our posts

[victoria3]

Most mornings these days I'm enjoying one of several Medium roasted DongDing's & High Mountain's from Hau Yin Chen in Hokujo's pots. The aromatics swirling around fill the lungs nicely first thing, and the flavor profile is a rich mahogany with slightly spicy sweet chestnut notes.

This afternoon I was again blown away by his Primitive Wild Forest Winter LiShan. It is lightly oxidized with high mineral content, and a smooth, sweet, buttery, aromatic liquor. I've had this in a caddy since April with no degradation at all.

To be fair I revisited HY Chen's Unroasted 100 Year Garden Spring - I think my steeping parameters need tweaking - less leaf and lowed temp water to reduce slightly brassy background. I've been experimenting boiling water in my red clay kettle and still familiarizing myself with temperature control levels. Tomorrow I'll try again without the kettle, as it smooths out the water, and lower temps.

[joelbct]

This is interesting, 2017 Doomni Estate 2nd Flush Assam Oolong. I think this the third year they've been doing it.


high res 3024x3024px: http://imgur.com/S0WyFCS (Samsung S8 is really great for closeup dry leaf photography, it's almost become a hobby).

Tried it Gong Fu as well as my usual Western-ish, here are my humble notes:

"Gong Fu" 4g to 100mL

1: 190F, 0:45. Floral, hearty aroma yet subtle flavor, but with pleasing layers underneath. I should have gone 1:00 or 1:15.

2: 190F, 1:15. Fuller, still floral, astringent.

3. 200F, 2:00. Full, astringent, with more notes of Assam terroir, but accustomed as I am to Western, at this stage I feel something vital has been lost in the first two infusions, and that this would have been better in one take

"Western" 2g to 200mL, 190F, for 3:45: I prefer these results. Pretty much like all three of the above infusions at once. Tastes like good Assam material made into good Oolong, as the photo suggests. Worth a whirl.