My first go at oolongs...

[bsteele]

Tea noobie alert

I wanted to take a shot at oolong and bought the oolong sampler from adagio. I've tried the oolong #8 and TKY so far and I didn't really care for them. My first reaction to tasting the #8: hay and grease, like when you deep fry something and it absorbs too much oil... and Chinese restaurant (you know... when something tastes like it smells... but not the smell of delicious food but again of grease). Okay, perhaps an odd association.

The TKY was a tad better for me, but marginally. I enjoyed the sweet/floral aroma but that's about it... I still tasted grease with this one.

And no I wasn't using greasy cups

brew info: cup of water just off boil, rounded teaspoon of leaf, 5 minute infusion
(I also tried a 2nd and 3rd infusion for the #8 and didn't care for those much either.)

Any thoughts/help/suggestions would be appreciated.

Cheers

[tenuki]

Your tongue is broken, get a new one.

< joke. >

[edkrueger]

I would suggest Adagio's Alishan as a remedy. I can see grease as a good description of their TGY.

[Victoria]

Don't go over 3 mins on the first infusion.

[Vulture]

Get a 4 or 6oz gaiwan for brewing oolongs. Mostly because its good for multiple infusions that you can get out of oolongs. It is also a lot easier to brew a good oolong in a gaiwan than a large infuser.

[teaguy]

I've tried both the teas you mention, and found them to be average at best, compared to what I usually drink. You should warm your mug first (rinse in boiling water), add the leaf, then pour near-boiling water over the leaf. Try doing a quick rinse first - that improved the flavor a bit for me.

Better teaware will help some, but isn't a cure-all for mediocre tea.

Also, mainland TKY and Taiwan TKY are very different teas, and I strongly recommend the Taiwan variety. I can get you some samples if you'd like. My blog is taiwanteaguy.com, and you can contact me there.

[bsteele]

Thanks for the suggestions/guidance. I am going for round 2 with the #8 as I write this.

I don't have a gaiwan so I just used a couple coffee cups to get it done. I did an initial rinse and then went for 3 minutes for my first infusion. There definitely is an improvement for me... I'm not nearly as revolted and can handle drinking this cup without being overwhelmed with that grease taste. It's still there slightly... and I think I'm picking up on some astringency in the back of my mouth this time?

And teaguy, I think I may have to contact you about the TKY

[Victoria]

A light astringency is normal.