2009 Spring Oolongs - What have you tried?

[Victoria]

Reach for the top Herb Master!! ;o)

[geeber1]

Tipsy Concubine - Zui Gui Fei

Ya just have to smile at that name!

[Herb_Master]

I have placed my first order for 2009 Oolong

With Wan Ling UK


Buying 3 Anxi teas, and some small bowls

http://www.wanlingteahouse.co.uk/uk_tea ... -yin.shtml

Pushing the boat out with their range topping
Tie Guan Yin - Oolong Tea
Can Sai Jin Pin Guan Yin Wang - Spring 2009
Careful selected from the best plants, on the best day, at the optimal time and hand processed by a farmer with generations of experience, this 'Wang' or emperor Tie Guan Yin is an exquisite Oolong tea. The lightly oxidised (20-30%) leaf produces a magical, clear liquor with a pale golden tones and the leaf, after a few infusions, is a glorious emerald green. The limited production of Can Sai Jin Pin is such that this tea is normally sold before it arrives in Wan Ling's Shanghai shop. We expressly reserve a limited amount for our European customers to enjoy.
£30 for 50grams

A more modestly priced one that I enjoyed immensely from Autumn 2008
Tie Guan Yin - Oolong Tea
Jiu Jiu Jiu - Spring 2009
'999' Guan Yin is a play on the Chinese for nine and also long (period of time). The tea is specially selected for its wonderfully long lasting aroma. Flavours linger in your mouth and fill your senses with well being, giving you the feeling of being transported a lush mountain-side. This tea produces a pale liquor and the leaves can be infused up to 8 times using gong fu style preparation.
£8 for 50grams

And a super economy
Se Zhong Oolong Tea **Spring 2009**
Specially selected by Wan Ling's sister for her local market. This tea is aimed to provide a great tea at a superb price.
50g - £1.50

with a couple of these

[Herb_Master]

I have placed my first order for 2009 Oolong
With Wan Ling UK

I have just received a reply from James at Wan Ling

Thanks for the order. You were very quick on ordering the new season TGY, the teas only arrived Friday and as you will have seen I only just had time to write the announcement for our existing customers today.

Tried the new Tai Pin Hou Kui green tea today. Amazing leaves, good quality liquor coupled with that delightful fresh aroma you get with very fresh green tea. Tasted briefly a couple of the TGY, personally the Jiu Jiu Jiu is much more to my liking this year. The flavours are much fuller and smoother in my opinion. For the Hong Xin Te Chun I think it still needs another 7-10 days to settle, this tea was only picked on 11th May. Not had a chance to try the Se Zhong. This tea was one that Wan Ling's sister ordered for her customers, who not been in the city are more price sensitive but still expect a good quality.

How was your trip to Malaysia? Any good discoveries?

Wan Ling has also organised a new 2009 Shu Xiang TGY. Not sure when she will get delivery but all being well she will bring a stock with her in July. If you are interested please let me know.

[Victoria]

Sounds good! Some nice bowls there!

[TokyoB]

I have now had 3 - One from Hou De and two so far from Tea Masters, with several to go.

Hou De 2009 Spring A-Li-Shan "Shui Xian", Hand-Harvested
Good but just ok

Luanze Oolong from TeaMasters
Shan Lin Shi @ 1650 meters - April 10th '09
Better than Hou De, but , but still jut good.

Spring 2009 Subtropical Forest Baozhong from Tea Masters
Best of the three by far. Living up close to the hype of last year's crop,
I'm really digging this one.

.

Victoria - don't forget to let us know how the rest of the oolongs are. Since I got carried away with shincha this year (3 bags, 100gms each) and my Chinese greens just arrived from Jing (in the UK) I've put off ordering any spring Taiwan oolongs until I hear of something really good.

Thanks!!

[emeraldrobot]

I bought some Phoenix Single Grove Honey Fragrance (gee thats a word full) from Teance over the weekend since they just got it in a few days before (or something). I've had alot of oolong teas, mostly being lower quality, but I think this is alot higher quality than i've had, certainly the freshest oolong.

I have to say, I really really love this oolong. It has such a delicious scent, honey-like, that it made my mouth water when I was smelling it in my gaiwan. Sorry I don't have many notes. If you go to the teance website and find the tea though, there's a link to Winnie's blog about acquiring this tea.

$25 for 2 oz.

edit: I bought the tea from their store front which had the new crop...not sure what is sold on the website, and the blog entry from winnie is talking about here 2008 adventures, but there's an entry about 2009 too.

[J.]

Hi,

I bought "montagne dong ding" 3 hours ago and I'm now drinking it...
I don't like the odour, it reminds me a stuff my grandparents used to spray on clothes to protect these against moths...
And the taste, it's very difficult because I often under-infuse oolongs because I stop infusing when the oudour becomes "strong enough"...

It's only the second infusion, let's try the third one.

[TokyoB]

Hi,

I bought "montagne dong ding" 3 hours ago and I'm now drinking it...
I don't like the odour, it reminds me a stuff my grandparents used to spray on clothes to protect these against moths...
And the taste, it's very difficult because I often under-infuse oolongs because I stop infusing when the oudour becomes "strong enough"...

It's only the second infusion, let's try the third one.

I find dong dings to be very unpredictable - you never know what you're going to get in terms of oxidation, roast, flavor. I find Taiwan green high mountain oolongs and TGY to be more predictable.

[iheartea]

I have found a jingtea.com and jingteashop.com. Which is the one that everyone on TeaChat refers to?

[Herb_Master]

I have found a jingtea.com and jingteashop.com. Which is the one that everyone on TeaChat refers to?

They both get good reviews by TeaChatters, I have yet to try either but many on these boards like them both.

Jing is based in the UK and is more used by UK, European and a few U.S. Chatters

JingTeaShop mails direct from China and is highly praised by more U.S. Chatters and those in S.E. Asia.

[Herb_Master]

I have now tried all 3 Wan Ling 2009 purchases.

The Se Zhong performs great at the price.

The Jiu Jiu Jiu was great, the first infusion was especially green, vibrant and fresh (Don't do a rinse)

But the Can Sai Jin Pin was unbelievable, the texture and sweetness ran on and on through 7 infusions - I can't wait to see how it compares to the RB Spring Wang.

[Victoria]

I have found a jingtea.com and jingteashop.com. Which is the one that everyone on TeaChat refers to?

Most people here are referring to Jing Tea Shop.com
They have some awesome oolongs.

[Tead Off]

Hi,

I bought "montagne dong ding" 3 hours ago and I'm now drinking it...
I don't like the odour, it reminds me a stuff my grandparents used to spray on clothes to protect these against moths...
And the taste, it's very difficult because I often under-infuse oolongs because I stop infusing when the oudour becomes "strong enough"...

It's only the second infusion, let's try the third one.

I find dong dings to be very unpredictable - you never know what you're going to get in terms of oxidation, roast, flavor. I find Taiwan green high mountain oolongs and TGY to be more predictable.

Prophetic words, TokyoB! Today, I had my first disappointment with teafromtaiwan. I broke open their Spring 2009 Dong Ding and thought I was drinking a Wuyi. The amount of roasting or oxidizing done on this tea made it unrecognizable to me. Their teas are usually first rate but his one gets a thumbs down from me. I immediately reached for the new bag of Long Feng Xia and my smile and equanimity returned. This is a really nice tea with large, full leaves. Refined, feminine, and, sweetly sexy.

[xuancheng]

...
Spring 2009 Subtropical Forest Baozhong from Tea Masters
Best of the three by far. Living up close to the hype of last year's crop,
I'm really digging this one.

I got the Subtropical Forest, the Lily Flower, and the Half-Wild; all 2009 Baozhong from Stephane.

I did like them all, but thought the Half Wild stuff was the best, then the subtropical forest, then the Lily flower. The half wild is slightly more oxidized than most baozhongs, and has a little bit more fruity taste in the huigan.

Has anyone else had any great baozhongs this year?