Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

[jayinhk]

Interesting, I felt the higher grade was good enough that I entirely ignored the lower grade!

[Rui]

Sipping an excellent Lao Cong Shui Xian.

[jayinhk]

I am craving shui xian. It's been too long!

[Midwinter_Sun]

Interesting, I felt the higher grade was good enough that I entirely ignored the lower grade!

If you want to talk low...
I actually tried Ti Kuan Yin from Sea Dyke today and was impressed for the price. Strong taste through 5 seeps.

One interesting thing I am finding with Oolongs is that I get a very pleasant afterbuzz and a pleasant craving for more that rides smoothly for several hours and then wears off with no ill effects.

Not sure how that works, with coffee and some puerhs and rough gunpowder greens I get a buzz, craving and a slight hangover afterwards, with Oolongs it's a buzz without a hangover, which probably means it's hitting pleasure centers through the placebo effect or otherwise is a miracle

[jayinhk]

Sea Dyke produce some higher grade stuff too. I bought a can of Sea Dyke oolong in Singapore that was surprisingly good! Oolongs are very calming, but too much and you'll feel the caffeine!

[ethan]

I am usually asleep by 11 pm lately but was awake 3 hours later because of a prolonged oolong session. I wanted to drink the expensive Oriental Beauty w/ my friends at Tea-Village w/ use of their teaware.
I brought what I planned to be enough for a good tea session & some for them to have for themselves. I was not watching & all of it was put into a yixing teapot for a very long gongfu session: > 10 rounds.
This is delicious & dynamic tea similar in many ways to excellent black & white teas from Nepal, responding noticeably differently to variations in teaware, time of steeping, etc.
Fascinated, I continued experimenting today to find my favorite teaware for this is a porcelain teapot. Who knows why it does what it does, thinner walls than the celadon or the rounder shape?
I'll back away from my earlier claim that I like the lower-priced tea as much, but still I would want to have both & would drink both. Value-for-$wise unless rich, one should drink both or the cheaper tea mostly.
Value for $ concerns have taken me away from oolong often. I wish the best oolong was easier to obtain & did not cost so much.
Fortunately, I now know some of these expensive teas will give so many sessions that w/ tiny teaware I can get cost per cup down & prolonged pleasure. cheers

[Bok]

Fortunately, I now know some of these expensive teas will give so many sessions that w/ tiny teaware I can get cost per cup down & prolonged pleasure. cheers

Better have less, but excellent tea, than daily and mediocre, isn’t it?


I alwalys like to quote “life is too short for bad tea.”
Actually to short to have bad of anything…

[Bok]

Fortunately, I now know some of these expensive teas will give so many sessions that w/ tiny teaware I can get cost per cup down & prolonged pleasure. cheers

Better have less, but excellent tea, than daily and mediocre, isn’t it?


I alwalys like to quote “life is too short for bad tea.”
Actually, too short to have bad of anything…

[debunix]

If you want to talk low...
I actually tried Ti Kuan Yin from Sea Dyke today and was impressed for the price. Strong taste through 5 seeps.

Really, not so low: it's a very reliably pleasing tea for me, stable from tin to tin and year to year, rarely brilliant, but if handled well, capable of yielding considerable pleasure even when bulk-brewed in advance for an afternoon away from the tea kettle and pot.

But today an appliance repair appointment kept me working from home midday on, so I've been enjoying first Da Yu Ling from Taiwan Sourcing, a really lovely tea that works so well in my Tokoname kyusu; and now I'm working on a session with some Red Alishan from Norbu brewed in my large Yixing dragon pot. Though not very thick walled, it brews a large enough volume (~600mL) to keep hot for a good while, and this is a tea that, like the Sea Dyke TKY, is very forgiving of extended steeps. A happy oolong day!

[Midwinter_Sun]

This is delicious & dynamic tea similar in many ways to excellent black & white teas from Nepal, responding noticeably differently to variations in teaware, time of steeping, etc.

Not familiar with Nepal teas, any suggestions?

I agree wholeheartedly with the enjoy quality argument.

[Midwinter_Sun]

Sea Dyke produce some higher grade stuff too. I bought a can of Sea Dyke oolong in Singapore that was surprisingly good! Oolongs are very calming, but too much and you'll feel the caffeine!

Aah, Singapore. I need to visit again.

Hard to find quality teas where I am at, with the EU taxes and costs what they are, it is cheaper to buy quality direct and wait a month for delivery.

I miss Hong Kong and New York, what can I say! Reasonable Oolongs for USD 2 per pound, could keep my 20 cups a day habit and enjoy quality teas when I felt like it.

Any recommendations on high energy Oolongs?

[ethan]

Midwinter_Sun,

I'll PM Nepal recommendations in a couple of weeks after I get back to Boston & my notes & also see if vendor who is a bit flakey is operating properly. (I had referred a friend to him who got no reply to his ?s & attempt to order).

The "reasonable" oolong that you mention for US$2 a pound may not taste so good to you by the time you get back to New York. When I first drank a variety of cheap loose teas bought in Chinatown I enjoyed some of those a bit, but shortly thereafter as I found much better teas I felt that those teas were what in this thread would be referred to as a waste to drink in our "short" lives.

Besides finding new teas, a big event was learning not to always use boiling water etc. However, about once a month a cup of the worst tea available w/ milk +/or sugar still is enjoyable for the taste & linking to the past.

[Frisbeehead]

ethan, I tried the Oriental Beauty you sent me yesterday. It was actually my first time trying OB. It was a very enjoyable tea! Prominent muscatel flavor, sweet, peachy, and very full bodied. The body reminded me very much of many Yunnan hongcha I've tried. I have read that OB is very similar to first flush Darjeeling tea, and this is how I have imagined FF Darjeeling would taste (still haven't tried it yet).

I was thinking about opening the roasted TGY today, but I've been debating with myself over how to store it once I open it, considering the amount of tea. I have a nice Longquan celadon caddy that I could use for some of it, then I would consider keeping the rest of the tea inside the plastic vacuum-seal bag it came in, folding the bag over and clipping it down, and putting the whole bag inside a tin container to keep preserved as best as possible.

[jayinhk]

Clipped bag in a tin will work fine. Roasted teas last longer than greener ones so it should be good for years!

[Frisbeehead]

Clipped bag in a tin will work fine. Roasted teas last longer than greener ones so it should be good for years!

I figured so, that is my usual method and I have found that it works fine so far. Thanks jay.

This makes me think, how many teas do you all have open at any one time? I have a bunch of teas in different tins/jars, and of course one of my primary concerns is any one of them degrading to the point where they are not as enjoyable anymore. At the same time, I like to consistently be trying new teas and adding new things to my tea sessions. I suppose as long as I continue to still chip away at all of my other teas (indeed, I do) then it is fine. I am afraid of opening some very good teas, lest the teas degrade if I don't drink them enough to finish them before they lose any flavor.

Or I am just overthinking it as usual, and I should just open the tea, put it in its container, and not worry about it