Taiwanese oolongs 2011

[bagua7]

Has anyone tried any of the Spring 2011 harvest?

I can see that Tea from Taiwan offers the following:

1. Zhong Shu Hu

2. Tsuei Luan (the one I am after due to very high altitude growth)

3. Shan Ling Xi (option 2)

4. Shi Zuo

5. The inexpensive Four Season

Then they have listed others that are more roasted and which I am not really interested of.

Thanks.

[teaisme]

2. Tsuei Luan (the one I am after due to very high altitude growth)

Why? Is a few hundred meters really that significant? How it is grown/picked and processed would be much more meaningful to some. From tasting the winter one I can see why the price is lower then most of the other high mountain tea.

[Tead Off]

2. Tsuei Luan (the one I am after due to very high altitude growth)

Why? Is a few hundred meters really that significant? How it is grown/picked and processed would be much more meaningful to some. From tasting the winter one I can see why the price is lower then most of the other high mountain tea.

I have the Spring 2010 Tseui Luan. It's okay but it is not a match for the Wu Ling, Da Yu Ling, Long Feng Xia teas that they have. I would be interested in trying the Shang lin Xi as I haven't had it in a couple of years.

I would also suggest their Dong Ding, winter 2010.

[bagua7]

2. Tsuei Luan (the one I am after due to very high altitude growth)

Why? Is a few hundred meters really that significant?

To me it is because one of my hobbies is climbing high mountains and there is a noticeable difference between, say 1500m and 2400m, better air, better Qi.

I have the Spring 2010 Tseui Luan. It's okay but it is not a match for the Wu Ling, Da Yu Ling, Long Feng Xia teas that they have.

Thanks, I will try all of them slowly and report accordingly.

[jbenenson]

I love Tea From Taiwan's Dong Ding Ming Xiang. "The oolong tea gets its honey flavour from secretions left on it by cicadas. In order to encourage this special flavour, Dong Ding Ming Xiang wu long tea must be grown without the use of pesticides." It's a tea like no other IMHO. I haven't placed an order for it in 2011 , but that will be remedied today.

[Bubba_tea]

+1 on the TFT's Dong Ding - by far the one I liked the most on the sample packs I received. Nothing else really stood out at all for me. Very bland to my tastes and I couldn't really sort one out much from another. I thought the Dong Ding actually had a little dan congy flavor to it - in that minerally sort of way. Quite nice! I'm going to order a little more. I'm dissapointed in the Taiwans I've had this year overall.

[bagua7]

OK so far I have tried:

Da Yu Ling....impressive first three brews, citrus-like taste but after that it was all basically gone. I will try on a modern zhuni I am waiting to receive just in case the pot used was the main culprit for the last four brews being so poor.

Fushoushan Lishan...very nice, 8 brews as of yet and I might squeeze two more after that. Consistent sweet floral taste; the aroma is very peculiar, kind of cinnamon mixed with some sort of fruit but I couldn't really figure it out. Overall, a better tea than Da Yu Ling.

Edited: with some sort of fruit (it is citrus/lemon).

[Drax]

Hrm, well I guess I should read about MORE oolongs while enjoy an oolong... I just ordered some of the 2011 oolongs.

I will greatly look forward to trying them, but this is definitely a setback on my plan to work down my backlog of tea.

Must.
Drink.
Moar.

[whatsinaname]

I have too much 2010 gaoshan tea to justify purchasing 2011 tea. Is that a good problem, or a bad problem?!

[wh&yel-apprentice]

OK so far I have tried:

Fushoushan Lishan...very nice, 8 brews as of yet and I might squeeze two more after that. Consistent sweet floral taste; the aroma is very peculiar, kind of vanilla mixed with some sort of fruit but I couldn't really figure it out. Overall, a better tea than Da Yu Ling.

I don't see that on TFT list of oolong, from another vendor? Link please.

[bagua7]

.

[Tead Off]

I love Tea From Taiwan's Dong Ding Ming Xiang. "The oolong tea gets its honey flavour from secretions left on it by cicadas. In order to encourage this special flavour, Dong Ding Ming Xiang wu long tea must be grown without the use of pesticides." It's a tea like no other IMHO. I haven't placed an order for it in 2011 , but that will be remedied today.

Oooh, me too! I ordered Spring 2010 and loved it so will reorder when I'm out.

[wh&yel-apprentice]

Sure:

http://www.highendtea.eu/contents/en-us/d4.html#p4

thx.

So I'm wondering which is really best, winter (Nov/Dec) harvest, or spring??? Winter is supposed to be stronger, with greater concentration of flavor/nutrients due to slower metabolic rate from colder temps...true or not?

Interesting @€44 for 150g this is a relative bargain. Doesn't say it is from 2011 however .

Hojo lists that @13000 JPY which converts to €112 for just 100g!
Tian Chi Li Shan Cha
http://hojotea.com/item_e/o18e.htm
^

Cultivar and Plucking

Presently, only about 13.5 hectares of tea garden at Fu Shou Shan Farm cultivates this tea, with about ninety percent is Qing-Xin oolong cultivar (青心乌龙).
The tea garden is located at very high elevation (2500 – 2600m above sea level), with a temperature that is at around 12 degree C on average. The growing period of tea tree is from April until October. Thus, only two harvestings are possible throughout the year. The first plucking is carried out in May and one more time at the end of September. Therefore, its production is very limited as compare to the rest of teas produced in Taiwan. It is very difficult to secure the stock since the supply does not even meet the domestic demand.

from a recent email from Hojo:

To keep ultimate quality, Tian Chi Li Shan Cha is plucked only once a year in spring. It is not plucked in winter or autumn season.

but on the same line of logic where this is only harvested in the spring, Hojo contends the best of the best Li Shan is the winter harvest:

http://hojotea.com/item_e/o07e.htm

Plucking is carried out manually. 3 to 4 leaves including a bud is carefully plucked by hand. Plucking is carried out during spring, summer, autumn and winter. The best quality is produced either from spring or winter leaves. However the best of the best is produced in winter. In Taiwan, the winter tea is most popular and the trading price of winter tea is very high. HOJO selects tea which is harvested in Nov to Dec. These tea leaves are plucked just before the season changes into winter which will accumulate very rich nutrition and other substances, which gives a much stronger flavor than spring tea.

I just sent Arika Hogo a reply email to see what his response is to this 'discrepancy' "-)

[wh&yel-apprentice]

Another listing @Dragon Tea House, nearly same price as 'highendtea.eu' €43 for 150g:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Taiwan-Li-Shan-Soft ... 219wt_1098

But confusing info that is the same in *parts* of the descriptions for all of the Li Shan they sell:

The higher altitudes see winter snow and even during the spring oolong tea harvest there is a chill in the air. At an altitude of 2600 meters there are only two oolong tea harvests per year. The lower altitudes on Li Shan can produce 2 harvests of oolong tea per year, spring and winter. Compared with the spring crop, the winter one has a longer growth time. Besides, the low temperature and misty weather make it tastes mellow and pure. This year's winter tea is a particularly robust and sweet batch.

^and with this particular listing,

Origin

Fu Shou Shan Farm, Taizhong County, Taiwan Province, China

the image of the infused tea is much paler/lighter in color than the other Li Shan...interesting. Though the 2011 vintage date must be wrong, as it could not be a winter harvest, would have to be from winter 2010.

[lkj23]

Another listing @Dragon Tea House, nearly same price as 'highendtea.eu' €43 for 150g:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Taiwan-Li-Shan-Soft ... 219wt_1098

But confusing info that is the same in *parts* of the descriptions for all of the Li Shan they sell:

The higher altitudes see winter snow and even during the spring oolong tea harvest there is a chill in the air. At an altitude of 2600 meters there are only two oolong tea harvests per year. The lower altitudes on Li Shan can produce 2 harvests of oolong tea per year, spring and winter. Compared with the spring crop, the winter one has a longer growth time. Besides, the low temperature and misty weather make it tastes mellow and pure. This year's winter tea is a particularly robust and sweet batch.

^and with this particular listing,

Origin

Fu Shou Shan Farm, Taizhong County, Taiwan Province, China

the image of the infused tea is much paler/lighter in color than the other Li Shan...interesting. Though the 2011 vintage date must be wrong, as it could not be a winter harvest, would have to be from winter 2010.

Hello
As I said other times, DTH LIES about harvest´s dates of their teas.

They changed it automatically (of all teas) and doesn´t correspond with the real dates of every harvest. (I emailed him and he says is a mistake but he doesn´t change it..................)

BEWARE about this, especially for those who love the 2011 fresh crop of green teas