Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

[William]

Government-grade Dongfang Meiren from 2015 (purchased in 2016).

Hi Jay, what do you mean exactly with Government-grade?

[jayinhk]

Government-grade Dongfang Meiren from 2015 (purchased in 2016).

Hi Jay, what do you mean exactly with Government-grade?

William, packaged in a very fancy box, complete with New Taipei City Government seals all over. The tin inside was lovely and is the only thing I kept as the box would've taken up 1/4 of my suitcase! This is the only tea I've ever come across in Taiwan packaged in this manner with official seals. I thought that was pretty cool.

Then after talking to Bok and realizing the really good stuff is reserved for government officials, I've wondered if this stuff was meant to be gifted to government folks and I just got very lucky. This is also the only tea the vendor had packed in this manner.

[William]

Government-grade Dongfang Meiren from 2015 (purchased in 2016).

Hi Jay, what do you mean exactly with Government-grade?

William, packaged in a very fancy box, complete with New Taipei City Government seals all over. The tin inside was lovely and is the only thing I kept as the box would've taken up 1/4 of my suitcase! This is the only tea I've ever come across in Taiwan packaged in this manner with official seals. I thought that was pretty cool.

Then after talking to Bok and realizing the really good stuff is reserved for government officials, I've wondered if this stuff was meant to be gifted to government folks and I just got very lucky. This is also the only tea the vendor had packed in this manner.

Interesting. It could very well be one of the many tins assigned to officials that somehow ended up in the open market. If the tea is good, and from your words looks like it is, then you have been incredibly lucky.
Tea reserved specifically for officials must be good (of course!), but I personally think the highest quality of each kind (e.g. BaiHao, or Gaoshan from LiShan, SLX, etc.), is reserved exclusively for those who can afford its price, independently from the buyer's position.

[jayinhk]

Government-grade Dongfang Meiren from 2015 (purchased in 2016).

Hi Jay, what do you mean exactly with Government-grade?

William, packaged in a very fancy box, complete with New Taipei City Government seals all over. The tin inside was lovely and is the only thing I kept as the box would've taken up 1/4 of my suitcase! This is the only tea I've ever come across in Taiwan packaged in this manner with official seals. I thought that was pretty cool.

Then after talking to Bok and realizing the really good stuff is reserved for government officials, I've wondered if this stuff was meant to be gifted to government folks and I just got very lucky. This is also the only tea the vendor had packed in this manner.

Interesting. It could very well be one of the many tins assigned to officials that somehow ended up in the open market. If the tea is good, and from your words looks like it is, then you have been incredibly lucky.
Tea reserved specifically for officials must be good (of course!), but I personally think the highest quality of each kind (e.g. BaiHao, or Gaoshan from LiShan, SLX, etc.), is reserved exclusively for those who can afford its price, independently from the buyer's position.

I'd think the farmers would keep the very best, if they were into tea! Also the Taiwanese government is so powerful and officials so well paid, I think they'd skim the best off the top before anyone else got their hands on it.

[ethan]

Most oolongs are only arvested in Spring and summer..

Bok, is that what you meant to say?

[ethan]

Having a nice Rou Gui from Cindy Chen Wuyi Origin and a Dong Ding from Floating leaves

John B in Bangkok gave me Rou Gui from Cindy Chen (from China). I don't remember the name of her company. I e-mailed her inquiring about purchasing tea and was given ways of buying online with which I am unfamiliar.
JB-ONE, how are buying from her? I had some other tea from her which I liked quite a lot also.

Cheers

[ethan]

Government-grade Dongfang Meiren from 2015 (purchased in 2016). This tea is incredible. It's mellowed and matured some, but still has lovely notes of osmanthus, apples, lychees and perhaps a little oak, too. Brewing in a Shudei kyusu for a change. Damn nice tea. Brewing longer at 1 min, 1 min 30, and the next will be 2 mins. Really lovely tea and by far the best Oriental Beauty I've ever gotten my hands on. We really lucked out finding this stuff and I've had it squirreled away for a year, only dipping into it twice in all of that time. Glad I dipped into the can tonight!

Your description makes me feel stupid for not buying more. Shop where we got that is closed and attempts at buying that elsewhere failed. Wang Tea Co. in Taipei has one OB about as good but definitely not the same characteristics. Also, Wang's is very expensive.

[JB-ONE]

Having a nice Rou Gui from Cindy Chen Wuyi Origin and a Dong Ding from Floating leaves

John B in Bangkok gave me Rou Gui from Cindy Chen (from China). I don't remember the name of her company. I e-mailed her inquiring about purchasing tea and was given ways of buying online with which I am unfamiliar.
JB-ONE, how are buying from her? I had some other tea from her which I liked quite a lot also.

Cheers

Can order through her website

https://www.wuyiorigin.com/

[victoria3]

Having a nice Rou Gui from Cindy Chen Wuyi Origin and a Dong Ding from Floating leaves

John B in Bangkok gave me Rou Gui from Cindy Chen (from China). I don't remember the name of her company. I e-mailed her inquiring about purchasing tea and was given ways of buying online with which I am unfamiliar.
JB-ONE, how are buying from her? I had some other tea from her which I liked quite a lot also.

Cheers

Can order through her website

https://www.wuyiorigin.com/

I will soon be finishing my 2004 Wuyi Hui Yuan Nei GuiDong (FengFeKeng) Tie LuoHan from Origin and will be in search of good quality Wuyi with aspects meantioned by Chrl42 in another thread "Good Yancha should focus on balance and 'Yan Yun (rock feel)'..sort of mineralized flavor that leaves with elegance, dignity." Would you recommend this vendor or another to begin my exploration?

[JB-ONE]

Having a nice Rou Gui from Cindy Chen Wuyi Origin and a Dong Ding from Floating leaves

John B in Bangkok gave me Rou Gui from Cindy Chen (from China). I don't remember the name of her company. I e-mailed her inquiring about purchasing tea and was given ways of buying online with which I am unfamiliar.
JB-ONE, how are buying from her? I had some other tea from her which I liked quite a lot also.

Cheers

Can order through her website

https://www.wuyiorigin.com/

I will soon be finishing my 2004 Wuyi Hui Yuan Nei GuiDong (FengFeKeng) Tie LuoHan from Origin and will be in search of good quality Wuyi with aspects meantioned by Chrl42 in another thread "Good Yancha should focus on balance and 'Yan Yun (rock feel)'..sort of mineralized flavor that leaves with elegance, dignity." Would you recommend this vendor or another to begin my exploration?

I would recommend trying it and see if you like it. She does offer samples for purchase on her site. Taste is subjective. I really like her tea though and it's where I get my wuyi tea now. I also like the idea of buying from the tea maker directly. To me, the Shuixian seems almost similar to eot's style which I like. "Leaves with elegance and dignity", well I never even thought about tea like that , so I don't know lol.

[victoria3]

Having a nice Rou Gui from Cindy Chen Wuyi Origin and a Dong Ding from Floating leaves

John B in Bangkok gave me Rou Gui from Cindy Chen (from China). I don't remember the name of her company. I e-mailed her inquiring about purchasing tea and was given ways of buying online with which I am unfamiliar.
JB-ONE, how are buying from her? I had some other tea from her which I liked quite a lot also.

Cheers

Can order through her website

https://www.wuyiorigin.com/

I will soon be finishing my 2004 Wuyi Hui Yuan Nei GuiDong (FengFeKeng) Tie LuoHan from Origin and will be in search of good quality Wuyi with aspects meantioned by Chrl42 in another thread "Good Yancha should focus on balance and 'Yan Yun (rock feel)'..sort of mineralized flavor that leaves with elegance, dignity." Would you recommend this vendor or another to begin my exploration?

I would recommend trying it and see if you like it. She does offer samples for purchase on her site. Taste is subjective. I really like her tea though and it's where I get my wuyi tea now. I also like the idea of buying from the tea maker directly. To me, the Shuixian seems almost similar to eot's style which I like. "Leaves with elegance and dignity", well I never even thought about tea like that , so I don't know lol.

OK, great will check it out. Thanks

[victoria3]

Beautiful trio jrs22.
Has anyone else on this forum purchased several different HY Chen's Medium Roasted DongDing's from 2016? I'm curious because the profiles seem to vary quite a bit. I think Spring and Fall were more beautiful roast with hints of maroon in the leaves and more fragrant aroma. Or is it me?

Charcoal Medium Roast DongDing Winter 2016
Mid Roasted Dongding- Fall 2016
Charcoal Medium Roast DongDing JuneWhite 2016

& from kyarazen share
Traditional Dongding 2016 Spring

Usually, there are huge differences between Spring, Summer and Winter teas. Summer being usually the worst. Most oolongs are only arvested in Spring and summer, with the exception of black teas. The full oxidation can make up for certain shortcomings of the leaves.

That June white is totally different kind of tea in my oppinion, not a classic DD. I still like it though, something different for a change.

I mostly skip the spring harvest and buy more of the Winter harvest as I prefer that taste profile. Which seems to be common among Taiwanese tea drinkers.

I though the Spring and Winter harvest were considered the best, with black in early fall. Have you tried both June White & Winter? I decided to do a side by side comparison. the June White is a darker roast and is smoother sweet overall. The Winter had some bitterness come out but that might be how I steeped it... I miss the Spring roast.
Left is June White - Right is Winter

Chen M Roast June W & Winter_sm.jpg (60.56 KiB) Viewed 761 times

[Bok]

Most oolongs are only arvested in Spring and summer..

Bok, is that what you meant to say?

Spring and winter of course, my bad!

[Bok]

Beautiful trio jrs22.
Has anyone else on this forum purchased several different HY Chen's Medium Roasted DongDing's from 2016? I'm curious because the profiles seem to vary quite a bit. I think Spring and Fall were more beautiful roast with hints of maroon in the leaves and more fragrant aroma. Or is it me?

Charcoal Medium Roast DongDing Winter 2016
Mid Roasted Dongding- Fall 2016
Charcoal Medium Roast DongDing JuneWhite 2016

& from kyarazen share
Traditional Dongding 2016 Spring

Usually, there are huge differences between Spring, Summer and Winter teas. Summer being usually the worst. Most oolongs are only arvested in Spring and summer, with the exception of black teas. The full oxidation can make up for certain shortcomings of the leaves.

That June white is totally different kind of tea in my oppinion, not a classic DD. I still like it though, something different for a change.

I mostly skip the spring harvest and buy more of the Winter harvest as I prefer that taste profile. Which seems to be common among Taiwanese tea drinkers.

I though the Spring and Winter harvest were considered the best, with black in early fall. Have you tried both June White & Winter? I decided to do a side by side comparison. the June White is a darker roast and is smoother sweet overall. The Winter had some bitterness come out but that might be how I steeped it... I miss the Spring roast.
Left is June White - Right is Winter
Chen M Roast June W & Winter_sm.jpg

The way he describes the tea in Chinese is only June white, so I am not sure it is a Dong ding at all, my impression from tasting it was that it is more of an hybrid, almost hints of Oriental Beauty qualities.

[kyarazen]

The way he describes the tea in Chinese is only June white, so I am not sure it is a Dong ding at all, my impression from tasting it was that it is more of an hybrid, almost hints of Oriental Beauty qualities.

dongding too! and also charcoal roasted. june white is in the middle of the summer season and the tea leaves do get bug bitten.


june white is a special "season", so is the real "dong pian/winter slice".
these are in mid season where for no reason the tea bushes decide to sprout tender buds, allowing the tea farmers to pick and process, sometimes almost entirely hand processed due to the low yields unlike the major seasons