Four Seasons vs. Four Seasons Spring
I'm curious, I've been seeing a lot of places this year offering an oolong called "Four Seasons Spring" or "Four Springs," or something like that. Now, I've been familiar with "Four Seasons" or si ji chun for a while now, but it seems like people are marketing this particular one differently. Does anyone know if this "spring" version is the same as normal si ji chun, or is it different?
Four Seasons vs. Four Seasons Spring
Well if it says "Four Seasons Spring" then it means it is the spring harvest. If it just says "Four Seasons" it just isn't specifying the harvest, but most vendors would indicate in the description what harvest it is. Taiwanese oolongs tend to have spring and winter harvests! 
Re: Four Seasons vs. Four Seasons Spring
'chūn' (春) refers to 'spring'. I don't believe the 'spring' in the translated name refers to the season of the tea, but to the name of the varietal.
Four Seasons vs. Four Seasons Spring
Oh really? My bad!wyardley wrote:'chūn' (春) refers to 'spring'. I don't believe the 'spring' in the translated name refers to the season of the tea, but to the name of the varietal.
Re: Four Seasons vs. Four Seasons Spring
Siji and sijichun are the same thing.
Saying four seasons tea in Chinese doesn't have any poetic or cultural feeling to it, and because spring is associated with fertility, Siji Chun takes on a feeling of perpetual freshness, no matter which season it is grown.
Siji Chun and Jinxuan together are the two "best bang for your buck," oolong teas available on the Taiwanese market. Western Taiwan also has one simply named "oolong," but siji chun and jinxuan are typically way more up front tasty. The best Siji Chun tea usually sells in Taiwan for about USD $25/150 g, and the average quality stuff sells for about $5 for the same amount.
Siji Chun is grown in virtually every tea economy area of Taiwan, as it is very good for growing at low altitudes and flat land.
If I am not incorrect, the new Taiwan GABA tea is a combination of Siji and jinxuan cultivars, and might be worth checking out as a new hybrid kid on the market.
Have fun with it!!!
Saying four seasons tea in Chinese doesn't have any poetic or cultural feeling to it, and because spring is associated with fertility, Siji Chun takes on a feeling of perpetual freshness, no matter which season it is grown.
Siji Chun and Jinxuan together are the two "best bang for your buck," oolong teas available on the Taiwanese market. Western Taiwan also has one simply named "oolong," but siji chun and jinxuan are typically way more up front tasty. The best Siji Chun tea usually sells in Taiwan for about USD $25/150 g, and the average quality stuff sells for about $5 for the same amount.
Siji Chun is grown in virtually every tea economy area of Taiwan, as it is very good for growing at low altitudes and flat land.
If I am not incorrect, the new Taiwan GABA tea is a combination of Siji and jinxuan cultivars, and might be worth checking out as a new hybrid kid on the market.
Have fun with it!!!
Re: Four Seasons vs. Four Seasons Spring
saxon75 wrote:I'm curious, I've been seeing a lot of places this year offering an oolong called "Four Seasons Spring" or "Four Springs," or something like that. Now, I've been familiar with "Four Seasons" or si ji chun for a while now, but it seems like people are marketing this particular one differently. Does anyone know if this "spring" version is the same as normal si ji chun, or is it different?
si ji chun and si ji cha is the same thing. sijichun is the name of the cultivar, smaller leaves, thinner, but if processed well is quite aromatic, unfortunately due to thin leaf base, the body and after taste pales in comparison as compared to the thicker/juicier cultivars.
nevertheless sijichun is highly popular with many plantation owners because this tea is fast growing, tolerant to large temperature changes, and is a cultivar that can almost give the highest number of pickings per year, i.e. up to 7 harvests per year.
jinxuan also faces the same popularity, with up to 6 harvests possible annually. both cultivars are processed into "dong-ding oolong", some even into "lishan/gaoshan" etc due to their low cost of farming, and significantly higher profit margin