Help with memory problem

[Jayaratna]

Hi all,

it's always a pleasure to open this list and read your posts and comments.


There's some help I would like to ask you: it's about memories from my first and only trip to Beijing in 2002.
I bought some tea here and there while I was there, but at that time I did not have any internet or other means to expand my tea knowledge, so I can't say much about what I got.

Among the teas I had was a very nice oolong. It was two rather large leaves attached to a small stick (no gem on top), the leaves packed like greener oolongs I tried these days, just maybe not so tightly.The colour of the dry form was a brown or mild-brown, not at all black, and the taste of the infusion was, as much I remember it, flowery or fruity. Appearance and taste were rather similar to a Taiwanese oolong a friend sent some time later, but I can't tell the differences now.

To what I understand this kinds of oolong were more common some time ago, while now they prefer to make greener ones. But any of you subscribers know something which could be similar and/or can recommend an online source for this?


Thanks for your comments,

Andrea

[tsverrir]

It's hard to tell by this description. Given that it was bought in Beijing I would put my money on some kind of an Anxi Oolong rather than a Taiwanese one, most likely Tie Guan Yin, probably a medium to high roasted one due to the color of the dry leaves.

What was the color of the infused liquid?

[Jayaratna]

What was the color of the infused liquid?

I suspect it could be some Anxi. I can't remember the colour of the infusion, it was probably not too dark.

I just can't see many two-leaves-on-a-stick oolongs around, and Tie Guan Yin looks much greener...

[tsverrir]

I am far from being an expert on TGY, but...

Traditionally Tie Guan Yin used to be more roasted than today. While you can still get the roasted type (often called traditional roast) most of them are very green now.
But come to think of it I don't remember seeing TGY as two leaves on a stick.

[gingkoseto]

It was two rather large leaves attached to a small stick (no gem on top),

Are all the leaves like these? Could there be some leaves with 2 leaves and 1 bud?

What you described seems like some medium roast oolong. But as for varietal, it could be any of the many. It's highly likely a TGY, because that's the most popular fisted shape oolong in mainland china.

I enjoyed some nice medium roast oolongs from Wu Yu Tai, a tea store in Beijing with long history. I like their degree of roasting. Nowadays in market, many TGY and other oolongs are featured to be "greener" or "heavily roasted" and most of them are too green or too dark for me. Even some medium roast oolong tastes really dark to me.

[chrl42]

My guess is old-fashioned TGY. Taiwanese Oolongs are relatively hard to get in Beijing. Some decade ago, removing twigs weren't necessarily done I heard.

To gingko, did you go to Wu Yu Tai in Wang Fu Jing?
It's one nice tea shop really.

[Eugene]

Taiwan produces one of the best oolong teas in the world. It has a wonderful taste, I like it most because of its sweetness and complexity. A wide variety of flavors and colors can be found among oolong teas, primarily because of processing methods that attain all different intensity of leaf oxidation. So all depends on your taste and selection.

[gingkoseto]

My guess is old-fashioned TGY. Taiwanese Oolongs are relatively hard to get in Beijing. Some decade ago, removing twigs weren't necessarily done I heard.

To gingko, did you go to Wu Yu Tai in Wang Fu Jing?
It's one nice tea shop really.

I normally go to the Wu Yu Tai in Dong Si (east 4). WFJ is always a jungle in my eyes, an ocean of people

[Jayaratna]

Are all the leaves like these? Could there be some leaves with 2 leaves and 1 bud?

Yes, I'm almost sure about that: just two leaves on a stick and no bud.

I enjoyed some nice medium roast oolongs from Wu Yu Tai, a tea store in Beijing with long history. I like their degree of roasting. Nowadays in market, many TGY and other oolongs are featured to be "greener" or "heavily roasted" and most of them are too green or too dark for me. Even some medium roast oolong tastes really dark to me.

I knew that! They've drunk all the medium roasted and left nothing for me!


Does Wu Yu Tai, have an online shop?

[ABx]

zen8tea on eBay sells a lot of light/mid roast wulong. She's in Taiwan and sells Taiwanese wulong, so it may not be exactly what you had but it will probably be some of the closest. Overall she has great teas at low prices. You can also get a small discount if you email her instead of buying through eBay.

Other than that there are a disparate few light/mid roast teas around. Seven Cups has a "traditional roast" TGY that I've not tried and Tao of Tea has TGY of various roasting levels (I have and like the "Deluxe" TGY but haven't had the others and haven't been impressed with their other wulong offerings).

[tenuki]

which one of these did it look like?

http://www.teaspring.com/oolong-tea.asp

[Jayaratna]

which one of these did it look like?

http://www.teaspring.com/oolong-tea.asp

None of these really looks like it...

Well, I'll try some of zen8tea medium roasted, let's see if I can trace some similar taste...

Thank you all for your suggestions,
Andrea

[gingkoseto]

Does Wu Yu Tai, have an online shop?

They recently just started taking postal money order (not e-payment or even debit card!) for online sales within China. It's like stone age!