Fo Shou / Buddha's Palm

[AlexZorach]

I haven't tried many fo shou oolongs (also called Buddha's Palm)...but I had one from Life in Teacup that really impressed me. It had a sort of depth to it...it was not all smoothness, there was some bite and some deep, wild, herbaceous qualities that I really liked.

Is anyone familiar with this style of oolong? Any recommendations about other sources of obtaining it that you think would be worth trying?

[iannon]

Sorry..never had that particular one..although i must sayat first i thought it qwas Fu Shou Farm..bit not its Fo not Fu!
I know ive seen it at Teaspring as well as DTH (dragon tea house) on ebay though

[debunix]

I got a sample of this lovely tea in a tea swap, and it was presented as a 'black' tea then.

[teaisme]

floating leaves had a wirey roasted one that was pretty good and similar to the description you gave, rather thick, wild, herbaceous

Not there anymore though, maybe it will be back in the spring harvest

[tortoise]

floating leaves had a wirey roasted one that was pretty good and similar to the description you gave, rather thick, wild, herbaceous

Not there anymore though, maybe it will be back in the spring harvest

Yes I've had the one from FL. I liked it ok. I've liked a few of their other selections better, but as I recall it was inexpensive and quite serviceable.

[AlexZorach]

Interesting about the black tea...perhaps it's a black tea made from the same cultivar?

[TIM]

There is Buddha Hand and there is Golden Buddha Hand oolong. Both are from Anxi, Wai Chun (forever spring) originally. The different is Golden Buddha hand has a warming energy rather than others anxi oolong which has cooling property.

[thomas]

Teamaster used to sell one from Taiwan. A much greener version of the same cultivar I think.
Not available for the moment, but if it appear again, I think it worth a try.

[AlexZorach]

The different is Golden Buddha hand has a warming energy rather than others anxi oolong which has cooling property.

What does this mean, in more familiar terms? I'm familiar with warming / cooling in foods...but can you give examples of some other teas that have warming or cooling energy? I'd be curious to see if I have an intuition for this already and can assign a name or label to it in my mind, or if it's an unfamiliar concept.

[TIM]

The different is Golden Buddha hand has a warming energy rather than others anxi oolong which has cooling property.

What does this mean, in more familiar terms? I'm familiar with warming / cooling in foods...but can you give examples of some other teas that have warming or cooling energy? I'd be curious to see if I have an intuition for this already and can assign a name or label to it in my mind, or if it's an unfamiliar concept.

This is the foundation of Chinese medicine. Yin and Yang, Cooling and Warming, Female and Male, Moon and Sun.

Cooling:
Anxi / Taiwanese (normal) TiKwanYin light.
Dragon Well
Japanese Green tea
Green bean

Warming:
Wuyi Yancha (roasted)
Keemun Kung Fu Red
Aged (20+) yrs sheung Puerh (Yiwu)
Dry aged Porterhouse

Hope this help?

[the_economist]

dry aged porterhouse YUM. im sure you're thinking about the same place as i am

is the golden version the 'yancha' version? and then the greener stuffs are the rolled anxi styles?

[teaisme]

Any recommendations about other sources of obtaining it

I completely forgot about the 2009 autumn fo shou at houde. High roasted, very good esp during winter, very aromatic experience. Curious to see what it will taste like with a little more mellowing out considering that it is already so smooth and comforting

[brandon]

Drinking some spring harvest Anxi fo shou right now...
But have always loved the Wuyi kind - one of my first "gongfu" teas.

[AlexZorach]

Thanks, TIM, about the warming / cooling.

That list gives me an intuition...I definitely notice a "warmer" feel to all the "warming" teas you listed, and similarly for the cooling quality of the "cooling" ones.

Sometimes Chinese medicine seems bizarre to me, but the more I have learned about it the more I have seen that it really does describe something real and useful, and it's possible to develop an intuition for it.