Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

[DarkenedSun]

I'm not sure what kind of oolong this is exactly.. I believe it is a 2nd/3rd grade formosa green oolong. It's lovely. Everything I love about green oolongs. Sweet, floral... mmm. I'm putting in pics but they are from my phone and the lighting in here is awful so the colors are a bit off. Just imagine they are a bit greener.

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[Chip]

Drinking a Pure Heart Oolong from this Spring. Great summer tea before we transition into winter and start craving the heavier, richer fall Oolongs.

[debunix]

Aged Fo Shou Oolong – 2001 Fujian Oolong Tea from Norbu

3 grams of plummy, chocolate-scented dark twisted and compacted leaves in a small unglazed porcelain pot; flash rinse; about 120 mL water 205 degrees, first infusion 20 seconds

strongly earthy, but also fruity and tart—not in the sweet dark almost prune notes I usually think of as plummy, but more like a tart, barely ripe plum, yet very mellow—needed to steep longer, despite sitting a few minutes after the flash rinse—seems like it wasn’t yet releasing as much flavor as it was absorbing water for this infusion

(this tartness seems to distinguish it from an aged puerh)

But there seems to be a char or bitterness from fresh roasting….so I’m putting it in one of the yixings to air out a bit.

[I suddenly have a reason to buy a couple of nice loosely sealed ceramic tea caddies, just for times like this, when I want the tea to air out just a bit, but not really to sit open on the counter.]

And a week or so later, I’m drinking it again, and less of the bitterness is there—it DID need to air out a bit, and Greg had told me the sample he sent had been just re-roasted the day before. It is still fruity and tart and dark but the bitter is muted, and I’m enjoying it more. This is not a mellow, sip-while-working-on-something-else tea: a little slip with the infusion time and I’m back to bitter char.

It’s very interesting stuff, and I’ll enjoy working with the rest of this sample, but it’s not going to make it into my regular rotation, because there are too many teas I like better, that are not so demanding. But given how dilute I’m preparing it, I anticipate many, many more infusions before I’m done.

[Herb_Master]

Woe is Me!

Just Opened a Bag of Da Hong Pao in sealed foiled bag, inside a cheap gold coloured Tin canister.

I bought it in Malaysia, almost certainly this January. But just possibly the year before. I always try and get a cheap tin to put the foil or paper bag/packet in for a bit more protection when in my suitcase.

The Foil pack is marked Da Hong Pao, and 2005 is write large in marker Pen on the outside.

My Notebooks from my last 2 trips do not reveal where I bought it.
I can probably narrow it down to one of 5 Shops. 1 in Penang, 3 in Kuala Lumpur's Chinatown and 1 in Kuala Lumpur's Jalan Alor area.

Why do I need to do this ?
Because it is absolutely superb!
Probably the best DHP I have ever had

Looking through my photos, I suspect it was from this Canister at Jing Dian Teashop



I Notice it is the same price as her Shui Jin Gui mother tree. I need to get more of this tea, and more details about it, from her when I next visit. The site and age of the tree, and how she roasted it.

[teaisme]

sounds like a steal herb

Some houde boazhong, yes it is very good

[Herb_Master]

sounds like a steal herb

But with The Malaysian Ringit strengthening against western currencies - that is now $58 for 100grams

and checking my notes, I find the Shui Jin Gui mother tree was actually cheaper 120rm or $38.69 for 100grams

[Firemoss]

I'm drinking Hand-Picked Spring 2011 Tieguanyin from Verdant Tea. I'm a little lost for words at the moment...the tea is quite something. It's been snowing here for over a week so this tea is the perfect cure for the beginning-of-winter blues.

I'm pretty new to oolong, though.

[bagua7]

Hehuanshan oolong (zen8tea). It really made my early evening. Roses, menthol, honey and a hint of raisins.





A real winner!

[teaisme]

sounds like a steal herb

But with The Malaysian Ringit strengthening against western currencies - that is now $58 for 100grams

and checking my notes, I find the Shui Jin Gui mother tree was actually cheaper 120rm or $38.69 for 100grams

oops I thought your picture said RMB not RM on the canister

[debunix]

Bai Yun oolong from Norbu, a yunnan oolong made in the style of Oriental Beauty, and tasty as always. Almost done with this batch, and glad to have another large pouch of it waiting in the wings. Yunnan sourcing sells a nearly identical and also delicious tea. It reminds me as the best elements of a highly oxidized, fruity and aromatic black tea, but without the bitterness found in broken leaf CTC teas.

[debunix]

Today, some very nice oolong moments: this afternoon, worked on Shade-grown Tie Guan Yin from Norbu, and this evening, I keep waiting for the Hawaiian-grown oolong from the Hilo Coffee Mill to give up, but it hasn't yet. It's always a treat to break into this one.

[debunix]

Organic Miyazaki Oolong Tea Kuchinashi by Yuuki-cha

Sample for a tasting from another forum

The leaves are curly green twists, with a rich sweet scent, and hints of chocolate

2.3 grams of tea in a small porcelain gaiwan with about 70 mL water, filtered tap water at about 195 degrees

first infusion, 30 seconds
pale yellow liquor, sweet, rich, warm summer meadow, grass just turning golden with caramel sweetness, with just a hint of a more astringent vegetal grassiness that adds interest without being at all unpleasant

2nd infusion, 20 seconds
this time the vegetal/grassy flavors are stronger, a bit in front of the golden meadow.

3rd infusion, 45-60 seconds (lost track of time a bit)
this is the moment the tea should bite back with bitterness if it were so inclined, but it is only a little sharper and more insistently green-like, yet still that clearly oolong backdrop that is so surprising in this Japanese tea.

4th infusion, 1 minute
Ok, a teeny bit of astringent bite-back. Teeny. Bit. But still the vegetal/golden warm meadow is stronger in the overall impression, with some astringent aftertaste.

Several more warm delicious infusions, astringency fading again.

I'm now on the 8th or 9th infusion, and out to 4 minutes, and we're at sweet water. But that was a lot of tea from just a few leaves.

[AdamMY]

Heritage Golden Buddha from Red Blossom Tea. Somehow seems to be a nice pair with the Seafood Gumbo I am having for dinner.

[gasninja]

i'm drinking the wash of a fifty year old Shui Xian yancha and it is sublime. I couldn't bring myself to waste one drop of this stuff. surprisingly after fifty years this stuff still has some very similar traits to its origins.

[NOESIS]

Finishing up Shui Xian 2-Stamp from Tea Gallery. Not a big fan of the HK roast style, sad to say. Yancha with a medium-high roast is definitely more to my liking. I want to taste the underlying leaf, not just overpowering roast.