Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

[tortoise]

It feels like spring here as well. Temps in the 70's each day.

I'm enjoying a Tie Luo Han from LIATC. Packed pot, 50 ml infusions. I like it very much and will be buying a lot more TLH over the course of my life.

[debunix]

Another tea I have not yet experienced--TLH. So many teas, so few tea-times. Tonight, after a quiet tea afternoon with some SeaDyke TKY, a tea as comfortable and familiar as an old fuzzy sweater, I'm enjoying more of Norbu's White Oolong spring 2011 from Taiwan, and wondering what the new year will bring for the tea harvest......more tea as delicately delicious as this?

[teaisme]

the shake from the bottom of bag of some Huang Mei Gui from jing

not out of this tea yet, but bag was a little crushed so I figured I'd finish off some broken pieces first at work

Great deal while it lasted, this stuff will be missed and it opened my eyes more to what wuyi rock teas can offer

[iannon]

2008 DHP from Lifeinteacup. Quite enjoying it. It appears to be a long lasting steeper. I keeps going and going

[Herb_Master]

Today I have been drinking Oriental Beauty with William Hwang at the Old China Tea House in Kuala Lumpur. This tea and others I drank with William were delightful. The conversation however was very confrontational. From practising Tao to a high level for 50 years, William was very outspoken about many things.

1. All the Oriental Beauty and all the Yan Cha sold by nearly everyone is fake. Cuttings and clones don't get anywhere close, the original tree in the original location is the only thing that deserves the original name.

2. We should not drink tea because we like the taste, we should all drink tea that will make us live longer with stronger bodies and minds. Un oxidised tea may have lots of anti oxidants BUT (take note Chip ) it will attack every organ in your body and over decades will destroy them.

3. Tea grown below a certain altitude is not capable of deserving our attention - too many caffeines and tannins compared to the polyphenols etc.

4. The really great teas are from wild yunnan trees at great altitude over 800 years old - or the high altitude Taiwan Oolongs.

5. Puerh should always be brewed with boiling water kept at a rollong boil - you do not want any Oxygen in the water that brews the leaf.

6. Oriental Beauty and other High Mountain Taiwan should be brewede with water at 95c that has not quite reached the boil - it must have plenty of oxygen in to fully extract the goodness.

7. (finally contradicting Hojo, who said I should not sip tea or keep it in my mouth, but should let it quickly fall down my throat and wait for the aftertaste) Sip and slurp the tea then allow it to slide down the throat.

[debunix]

We should not drink tea because we like the taste, we should all drink tea that will make us live longer with stronger bodies and minds.

I don't think I'd want to live longer if I had to drink horrid tea every day.....

[teaisme]

Those are some very strong opinions
I get a feeling there is some good wisdom in there though.

7. (finally contradicting Hojo, who said I should not sip tea or keep it in my mouth, but should let it quickly fall down my throat and wait for the aftertaste) Sip and slurp the tea then allow it to slide down the throat.

I can see how letting it sit longer in your mouth could be more beneficial to health, but to me some teas are more ideal slupper/sippers and some are quick absorbers

I don't think I'd want to live longer if I had to drink horrid tea every day.....

Well to be fair puerh that is from 800yr old trees, and good quality taiwanese hmt are about as far from horrid as you can get, you just need a lot of dinero

[debunix]

Certainly didn't meat to suggest that high mountain oolongs or antique-tree puerhs are bad (not not not!), but the idea that I should drink tea for health rather than for taste--the idea--is horrid.

[Chip]

2. We should not drink tea because we like the taste, we should all drink tea that will make us live longer with stronger bodies and minds. Un oxidised tea may have lots of anti oxidants BUT (take note Chip ) it will attack every organ in your body and over decades will destroy them.

Which is why Japanese tea drinkers are spontaneously vaporizing at work, play, while driving their cars, while strolling down the street, etc. at such an early age ...

[teaisme]

well he didn't say how many decades it would take

[gasninja]

Today I'm drinkiing some 1990 shui xian old bush (heavy Roasted) mmmmm toasty licorice . Some fruit notes started making a slight apearence in the aroma around infusion 4.

[Hannah]

This afternoon I have a Fujian Oolong that I bought locally, so it doesn't have anymore details than that (to be honest I expected it to be terrible since it was cheap with no details from a cooking shop) but it's easily one of the nicer ones I've had before! Strange!

It's also one of the few oolongs I've had which has actually held its flavour exceptionally well when exposed to air for a long time (which was by accident! )

[AdamMY]

Red blossom Tie Lou Han. Really hitting the spot today.

[brandon]

Gongfu for One.



Best Tea House Premium Tie Luo Han



Mini everything.

[BioHorn]

Gongfu for One.



Best Tea House Premium Tie Luo Han



Mini everything.

Goose feather fan in the background? Nice!