Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

[PolyhymnianMuse]

Have prob over a pound of TKY from a local Wegmans that is rather boring. I decided to roast 50 grams of it over the stove today, I would say a rather dark roast... Wow, the brew changed and the flavors became much more complex. Maybe will do a larger batch and try aging it.

[kyarazen]

just had an impressive wuyi laocong shuixian, perhaps one of the better (if not amongst the best) i had these past couple of years

[bilochun]

wow beautiful big leaves. where do u get it?

[Frisbeehead]

Would also like to know what vendor that is from kyarazen.

It's about time that I order some more yancha and I've been looking for some good vendors I haven't tried. I've been pretty set on trying Tea Hong and Jing Tea Shop, and maybe Tea Urchin. I've heard their yancha is good.

[ethan]

Again, Himalayan Tips (HT) from Jun Chiyabari. It is an oolong, not fully oxidized tea. 90C water on the dry leaves does not release aroma as powerfully as boiling water, but the lower temperature also avoids my being overpowered when I am not ready for the jolt of flavors darjeeling teas can provide.

Using a tall, glass mug has improved the experience because my nose gets well into the vessel to enjoy aroma as I drink.

[kyarazen]

Would also like to know what vendor that is from kyarazen.

It's about time that I order some more yancha and I've been looking for some good vendors I haven't tried. I've been pretty set on trying Tea Hong and Jing Tea Shop, and maybe Tea Urchin. I've heard their yancha is good.

wow beautiful big leaves. where do u get it?

hmm.. these are yancha from Master Huang in wuyi.. carried by a local vendor (cliffthreetea). EOT offers yanchas from Master Huang as well, but not sure if they are from the same batches/shipments.

[bagua7]

Enjoying and finishing almost tea drunk with various YS's dancongs I bought less than a fortnight ago. Highly recommended. It looks like Scott likes this particular tea now, which I madly LOVE!

Move on puerh! (nah I just need a short break).

[jayinhk]

Drinking Maokong (Taipei) TGY. Larger leaves and sweeter than the Chinese kind, with a more delicate taste. Good stuff.

[BW85]

Would also like to know what vendor that is from kyarazen.

It's about time that I order some more yancha and I've been looking for some good vendors I haven't tried. I've been pretty set on trying Tea Hong and Jing Tea Shop, and maybe Tea Urchin. I've heard their yancha is good.

wow beautiful big leaves. where do u get it?

hmm.. these are yancha from Master Huang in wuyi.. carried by a local vendor (cliffthreetea). EOT offers yanchas from Master Huang as well, but not sure if they are from the same batches/shipments.

Though, like you kyarazen said, I don't know if the master huang yancha essence of tea sells are the same batches carried by the local SG vendor, I can attest that they are indeed very good. Even the half hand options are very good for more affordable daily/casual drinking. And being able to buy the same tea from different years can be educational

[wyardley]

hmm.. these are yancha from Master Huang in wuyi.. carried by a local vendor (cliffthreetea). EOT offers yanchas from Master Huang as well, but not sure if they are from the same batches/shipments.

Though, like you kyarazen said, I don't know if the master huang yancha essence of tea sells are the same batches carried by the local SG vendor, I can attest that they are indeed very good. Even the half hand options are very good for more affordable daily/casual drinking. And being able to buy the same tea from different years can be educational

I have never tried yancha from EOT or the SG vendor mentioned. I have had some excellent teas that I believe to be from the same maker, especially a rou gui. However, I have heard of some difficulties actually getting the good stuff.

I don't know why this vendor decided to pack their tea in those terrible little packets.

[kyarazen]

Though, like you kyarazen said, I don't know if the master huang yancha essence of tea sells are the same batches carried by the local SG vendor, I can attest that they are indeed very good. Even the half hand options are very good for more affordable daily/casual drinking. And being able to buy the same tea from different years can be educational

could be different lots, but indeed Master Huang's handmade teas are quite the top of what I had ever encountered, not the cheapest option available, but there must be a price to quality.

I dug deeper into the details and one of the major contributions to the cost is due to the tea being singly harvested per year only in spring, whilst many other plantations do a few harvests per year. Historically, the processing of some of the teas like tie lo han needs 2 days of continual work and supervision, almost like the work at a tamahagane iron forge, and i'm glad to hear that Master Huang is quite staunch on traditional processing.

his hand made tie lo han was very good too, it was bold, the brew had an interesting light hint of bitter at the core, and with the hui-gan coming almost at the same time, giving the experience of chewing a piece of liquorice root. if you brew it intense, you can feel the tea acting on the salivary glands, a drying sensation at the edges of the cheeks that draws forth the salivation (ok sounds gross.. but thats how it is). the aromatics was not boldly floating on the surface of the brew unlike their rougui/shuixian, but instead the floral aroma was located deeper within the brew, with the mineral notes leaving a long trail behind. this results in the tea giving more enjoyment in the "retro-olfaction phase", i.e. after sipping, and exhaling, you feel the aromatics in the breath

along with the samples i bought, I also procured one of the regular grades of shuixian (which i assume to be the half hand made ones), about half the price of full handmade teas. the leaves were huge and aromatic, a bit of the roast showing up in the first couple of steeps, the mineral kick was noticeably milder, the floral note was medium in bloom, a bit gentler that what I would have liked. still amongst the better ones within local sources for me, but the full handmade ones are the teas that delight.

whilst i've placed tie lo han on the consideration list, my next purchase would definitely be the handmade rou gui, that tea, as described in my instagram post, is a winner for me.

[kyarazen]

I have never tried yancha from EOT or the SG vendor mentioned. I have had some excellent teas that I believe to be from the same maker, especially a rou gui. However, I have heard of some difficulties actually getting the good stuff.

I don't know why this vendor decided to pack their tea in those terrible little packets.

the rougui was yumz.
is your source/supplier able to give slightly better prices? i'm keen! or at least to buy smaller quantities to try first.

it is definitely not easy getting the good stuff, and one of the surest way to gain access is to locate the vendors and the tea groups that were present at the recent wuyi tea gathering. EOT was there, lin pin xiang and many others were there too


i actually like these little packets, although I would have preferred if they had included a pack of sillica gel in each pack. perhaps it is the weather here, humid all year round it is not suitable to open and re-open yancha which is most optimally stored below 5% water content. each pack is 8 grams.. just enough for one pot one session. most impressively, the vendor actually ordered metal tins that fit only one pack each, just to protect the tea and make it easy to carry around~ nice to give too.

[AT333]

Wow! Another place to get great cliff tea. A top rated one as well. I will check them out when I cross the border to examine the quality more keenly. Heard their showroom in the industrial area is very nice. Their tea are from the same source as some vendors, I think, EOT and some local vendor in Malaysia and nicely in RM.

[kyarazen]

Wow! Another place to get great cliff tea. A top rated one as well. I will check them out when I cross the border to examine the quality more keenly. Heard their showroom in the industrial area is very nice. Their tea are from the same source as some vendors, I think, EOT and some local vendor in Malaysia and nicely in RM.

you should. since you're in malaysia now there's no need to come to singapore to pick up the same teas if someone local is vending at your side

maybe it may be more economical to buy in ringgit too

[AT333]

Wow! Another place to get great cliff tea. A top rated one as well. I will check them out when I cross the border to examine the quality more keenly. Heard their showroom in the industrial area is very nice. Their tea are from the same source as some vendors, I think, EOT and some local vendor in Malaysia and nicely in RM.

you should. since you're in malaysia now there's no need to come to singapore to pick up the same teas if someone local is vending at your side

maybe it may be more economical to buy in ringgit too

I think the experience with different vendors for the same tea is different. Buying experience is important, at least to me. Sometimes I don't mind to pay a little more to support dedicated and passionate vendor. Thanks for your good write up. Certainly in my list of things to do.