Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

[Tead Off]

I too miss Origin's oolongs, for I too have run out of them to drink myself!

*TeadOff, nah didn't run into any legal troubles per-se, just too many bureaucratic oversights making things impossible.

Any chance of a return engagement?

[SilentChaos]

I too miss Origin's oolongs, for I too have run out of them to drink myself!

*TeadOff, nah didn't run into any legal troubles per-se, just too many bureaucratic oversights making things impossible.

Any chance of a return engagement?

I wish!

[Bef]

I too miss Origin's oolongs, for I too have run out of them to drink myself!

*TeadOff, nah didn't run into any legal troubles per-se, just too many bureaucratic oversights making things impossible.

Any chance of a return engagement?

I wish!

So do I!

[puyuan]

I too miss Origin's oolongs, for I too have run out of them to drink myself!

*TeadOff, nah didn't run into any legal troubles per-se, just too many bureaucratic oversights making things impossible.

I did not know. What a bitter shame. Those aged yancha... Oh, boy.

Hmmmmm..... I wonder why I'm the only one with return-to-sender on my mind. Only have a handful of sessions worth left of those myself.

I should have listened to you back then and gotten more of the shuixian king... I'm going to miss that tea so much.

Luckily I'm bravely resisting drinking the rest for further aging. For now, at least. lol

[Frisbeehead]

Trying the sample of TeaGschwender's "Edmon's" line Formosa Nantou Dong Ding that I got when I was in Chicago a few days ago. It's okay, I'm glad I didn't pay for 50g of it. It really just tastes like "roasted oolong", and doesn't have any interesting flavors or depth really. I just received the Muzha TGY I ordered from Beautiful Taiwan the other day, and the leaves of this tea look much better than TG's.

I actually had bought some Yunnan gold tip red tea from TG and liked it, so they do carry decent tea. Next time I go to Chicago and stop by, I'll make sure to stick with blacks/reds and a couple others.

It was a free sample though, so no complaints here The one I actually bought was good, so that's okay.

[MarcusReed]

Drinking BeiDou or North Star.
2015 harvest from around 1900 feet in elevation. Hand Harvest and Traditionally roasted.

I find this tea is distinct in it's own respect but similar to DaHongPao in taste profile. Not an overpowering roast with fruity mineral notes coming out around the 5th and 6th steep. Chaqi is smooth and calming.

Overall this tea has an appeal but I prefer stronger roast.

[bliss]

I too miss Origin's oolongs, for I too have run out of them to drink myself!

*TeadOff, nah didn't run into any legal troubles per-se, just too many bureaucratic oversights making things impossible.

I did not know. What a bitter shame. Those aged yancha... Oh, boy.

Hmmmmm..... I wonder why I'm the only one with return-to-sender on my mind. Only have a handful of sessions worth left of those myself.

I should have listened to you back then and gotten more of the shuixian king... I'm going to miss that tea so much.

Luckily I'm bravely resisting drinking the rest for further aging. For now, at least. lol

Yeah. Those yanchas. The 2004 Tie Luo Han was my favourite of the ones I tried. I'm fortunate to have a bit of the TLH stowed away for some glorious future occasions. Although, knowing it's gone when it's gone makes for a tricky situation. I think there are perhaps two sessions worth of leaves left in the Shui Xian King bag. Hrmm, any fellow Vancouver locals who would like to enjoy it with me?

+1 on wishing OriginTea would reincarnate in some form

[Frisbeehead]

Well I was thinking about this earlier, and don't you think the tea producers that supplied Origin are still making tea and selling it to someone? I'm sure those teas are still being made, but they either may not all be organized conveniently into one spot or they aren't being sold to an online vendor.

I'm not completely sure how the tea business works inside and out, but if it's like any other kind of merchant then the teas are still being produced and sold somewhere. Though perhaps the teas are being sold within China/Taiwan, and remaining there.

[SilentChaos]

Well I was thinking about this earlier, and don't you think the tea producers that supplied Origin are still making tea and selling it to someone? I'm sure those teas are still being made, but they either may not all be organized conveniently into one spot or they aren't being sold to an online vendor.

I'm not completely sure how the tea business works inside and out, but if it's like any other kind of merchant then the teas are still being produced and sold somewhere. Though perhaps the teas are being sold within China/Taiwan, and remaining there.

I wish things do actually work the way you think. Origin would still be open if they did. No two teas even made by the same producer in the same region in the same harvest are the same. Not top shelf teas. And that's just for freshly produced in season teas.

As for aged teas, they obviously don't get ''made''. And no two batch of aged teas the same, even if from the same original maker, and stored in the same warehouse. That's why aged teas are so precious. A batch drunk is a batch gone. No repeats.

These points don't hold for heavily blended teas like japanese greens of course, which are heavily blended in part to achieve consistency.

[Frisbeehead]

Well I was thinking about this earlier, and don't you think the tea producers that supplied Origin are still making tea and selling it to someone? I'm sure those teas are still being made, but they either may not all be organized conveniently into one spot or they aren't being sold to an online vendor.

I'm not completely sure how the tea business works inside and out, but if it's like any other kind of merchant then the teas are still being produced and sold somewhere. Though perhaps the teas are being sold within China/Taiwan, and remaining there.

I wish things do actually work the way you think. Origin would still be open if they did. No two teas even made by the same producer in the same region in the same harvest are the same. Not top shelf teas. And that's just for freshly produced in season teas.

As for aged teas, they obviously don't get ''made''. And no two batch of aged teas the same, even if from the same original maker, and stored in the same warehouse. That's why aged teas are so precious. A batch drunk is a batch gone. No repeats.

These points don't hold for heavily blended teas like japanese greens of course, which are heavily blended in part to achieve consistency.

Thanks for the response SilentChaos!

No two teas even made by the same producer in the same region in the same harvest are the same. Not top shelf teas. And that's just for freshly produced in season teas.

But wouldn't those people still be producing good tea? Unless the only good tea they ever produced was the tea that you sold through Origin. I know they turn out differently every time, but my point is that the producers would still be producing tea that is a similar quality to that which you sold through Origin.

And I know about the aged teas of course, that they can't be replaced. I was referring to the recently harvested teas.

I am actually genuinely interested, and not just trying to be a pest I mean if they produced good tea when Origin was open, why wouldn't they still be producing good tea, regardless of the fact that each harvest/production is different? Shouldn't they still be at least a similar quality to before?

Thanks in advance for the insight!

[the_economist]

In my limited experience, the same farmer can produce teas of varying quality from year to year. Even the farmers know it.

So it really is up to the vendor (a service of the vendor, depending on the business model) to curate each batch of tea.

Some vendors don't do much curating because it is understandably expensive and annoying. They may do curating once every few years, if at all, after the initial search for tea sources.

[Frisbeehead]

In my limited experience, the same farmer can produce teas of varying quality from year to year. Even the farmers know it.

So it really is up to the vendor (a service of the vendor, depending on the business model) to curate each batch of tea.

Some vendors don't do much curating because it is understandably expensive and annoying. They may do curating once every few years, if at all, after the initial search for tea sources.

Ah I see, interesting. Thanks!

I was sort of suspecting that answer, but I wanted to hear it from someone else. So the harvest/product quality varies significantly enough so that the source may not consistently have high quality product. And so the vendor wouldn't want to stick with one producer all the time.

I wonder how many vendors out there, then, actually regularly are curating teas. There is a ton of emphasis with some vendors on the farmer's name or what have you, but it really doesn't mean that it will always be great quality. This of course doesn't apply to factory pu'erh and most Japanese green tea, since they are blended for consistency (as Silent Chaos mentioned). However it does apply to oolongs and other single origin teas.

Curating definitely seems like quite a task to have along with running a business. It takes a lot of time and effort I'm sure, as well as money. I am genuinely interested to see if anyone else has anything to add or say about this.

[MarcusReed]

Having some Zhengyan RouGui.
Love the energy from this tea. The chaqi makes the price completely worth it.

[Tead Off]

Curating definitely seems like quite a task to have along with running a business. It takes a lot of time and effort I'm sure, as well as money. I am genuinely interested to see if anyone else has anything to add or say about this.

If you're serious about your tea business, curating is part and parcel of the business model. This would virtually insure that the serious vendors will not have inventory as long as your arm and leg. They have to establish relationships with sources that are making tea that they think are superior. This takes time and I'm sure that those makers are often sold out of their product because of the commitments to other sellers. In a sense, you also have to be lucky to find a good producer. Plus, the product may vary from season to season and year to year. This years may not measure up to last years. If you drop that producer, you may never get them back. I would think the tea business would be walking a fine line between quality and availability.

[Tead Off]

2013 Jun Chiyabari Himalayan Bouqet Oolong. Himalayan oolong from eastern Nepal. Floral, flavorful, and very aromatic. Nice leaves. Smooth and many brews. Different from other Himalayan oolong. There is a complexity that is experienced all over the mouth with delicious notes of fruit. A bit astringent and very long lasting. Well worth spending some time with this tea and a nice change from Chinese style oolongs.