A good start?

[danibob]

I'm all settled with my Japanese Greens but now I am eager to try some oolong. Ideally I want to purchase a sampler set and brewing vessel from the same place so I can save on shipping costs. So I was thinking about the oolong sampler and a yixing pot at Rishi teas.

Yay or nay?

I've been searching through the boards (and other sites) all weekend on what I should do to start out but there's so many options and color me confused.

Is it alright to use 1 yixing for different oolongs? I am not interested in the fancy added-flavor oolongs, just the regulars.

My budget is very small by the way. Thats why I chose to stick with one retailer.

Help?


Edited to add: Either that or perhaps a gaiwan and a few oolongs from teaspring.com. Are they of good quality? What would you recommend?

[Herb_Master]

I have no experience of Rishi teas or teaware, and have not seen many mentions in the Oolong part of the forum.

My initial purchases online of both oolong and Yixing were from TeaCuppa and SevenCups both of which served me admirably. SevenCups is not cheap but has a reputation for quality, whereas TeaCuppa is cheaper but still has many fans on the Oolong pages here.

SevenCups has quite a large selection of Oolong including http://www.sevencups.com/tea_shop/produ ... ctid=16685 this samplerof Wuyi Teas

Their Yixings are not cheap http://www.sevencups.com/tea_shop/home. ... catexp=285

TeaCuppa also have a large selection of Oolong http://www.teacuppa.com/oolong-tea.asp I did not notice an Oolong sampler

Their Yixing teapots can be half the price of those from SevenCups http://www.teacuppa.com/Yixing-Clay-Teapot-I.asp

[murrius]

I have bought teaware from Rishi and found them to be high quality and dependable. I haven't bought a yixing pot from them yet though. You might want to also check out Yunnan Sourcing on ebay to compare prices. I bought my yixing teapot from them and have been very happy with it.

As I'm sure you noticed, a gaiwan is much easier on the budget. I haven't used a gaiwan yet for oolong but many on this forum have with satisfactory results.

[Ron Gilmour]

I have an yixing pot from Rishi with which I am very happy. I would, however, second murrius's note about gaiwans. If I were on a tight budget, I'd buy a gaiwan rather than an yixing. Yixing pots are very pretty, but I find gaiwans just as effective for brewing oolongs. Also, with a gaiwan you won't have to worry about dedicating it to a particular type of oolong.

Tao of Tea has gaiwans for $15 and a nice selection of oolongs. Their Deluxe Tieguanyin is especially good, as is their Li Shan, although they seem to be out of the latter.

[danibob]

Thanks for the replies

I think I'm leaning toward yixing more because of effect it has on the teas over time. Even though my budget is tight, I don't mind spending $30-50 for a pot. As long as I use it a lot right?

My only concern is using one yixing for several types of oolong. Keep in mind I'm just starting out and if I like oolong enough I may invest in more yixings to devote to one particular type. But for the time being, say maybe a couple of months, would one yixing be acceptable?

That being said, it looks like I may order from teacuppa.com. The yixing pot Herb Master posted looks nice and they offer cheap 15 gram samples of some oolongs I could try before investing in larger amounts.

Any particular oolongs from teacuppa that someone would like to recommend?

[PolyhymnianMuse]

My only concern is using one yixing for several types of oolong. Keep in mind I'm just starting out and if I like oolong enough I may invest in more yixings to devote to one particular type. But for the time being, say maybe a couple of months, would one yixing be acceptable?

That being said, it looks like I may order from teacuppa.com. The yixing pot Herb Master posted looks nice and they offer cheap 15 gram samples of some oolongs I could try before investing in larger amounts.

Any particular oolongs from teacuppa that someone would like to recommend?

There are plenty of places to get decent yixing pots, so I won't even really get into that...

Teacuppa is a great place to get oolong, especially the yancha. I think that one pot for right now will be fine, on a very general guideline I would dedicate a pot to either yancha or rolled oolong, and really from there you can go more specific as to what you want to brew in it. I would just submit that you do not brew both yancha and rolled oolongs in the same pot at all.

[brlarson]

Thanks for the replies
...
My only concern is using one yixing for several types of oolong. Keep in mind I'm just starting out and if I like oolong enough I may invest in more yixings to devote to one particular type. But for the time being, say maybe a couple of months, would one yixing be acceptable?
...

Hi Danibob.

You might want to reconsider getting a Yixing pot as your only cooking vessel.

My first gaiwan was an Yixing gaiwan from Imperial Tea Court (and I love it), but I made the mistake of brewing a heavily roasted shui xian in it and every tea brewed in it since then tastes of charcoal.

You might be better off with a porcelain gaiwan or a procelain or celadon teapot as your first vessel. The nice things about these materials are that
(1) you can wash them, and
(2) they won't affect the way that your tea tastes.
If you're just learning about tea then you probably want to get the truest flavors possible from them. After you have favorites you will probably want to dedicate nice Yixing pots to particular teas.

Just my 2cents.

Best of luck with the Oolongs!

[Herb_Master]

There are 4 main areas of production for Oolong - Taiwan and 3 in Mainland China namely North Fujian which includes Wuyi, South Fujian which includes Anxi and Chinese Tie Guan Yin, and FengHuang in GuangDong which includes the famous Phoenix or DanCong fragrant Oolongs.

If you are going for a general intro to the whole of Oolong then a couple of 15gm bags from each of the 4 would be a good starter.

If you follow Poly's advice about retricting your first pot to either Long Leaf or rolled pellets. Then you want to choose Wuyi and Guangdong for leaf, OR Anxi and taiwan for pellets.

If I was starting out now and going for samples - I would choose
for leaf 15gm
Bai Ji Guan Oolong Tea 6$ wuyi
Ban Tian Yao Oolong Tea 6$ wuyi
Honey Orchid Dan Cong Oolong Tea 3$ Phoenix DanCong Mi Lan Xiang
Phoenix Dan Cong Oolong Tea 3$ Phoenix DanCong Huang Zhi Xiang

for the 2nd way of using the pot
Huang Jin Gui Oolong Tea 3$ [Yellow Gold, Osmanthus fragrance] Anxi Tea
Tie Guan Yin Oolong Tea 3$ Anxi Tea
Dong Ding Oolong Tea 4$ Taiwan
Formosa Cui Yu Oolong Tea 4$ Taiwan

This should give you a broad spectrum intro to Oolong there is much more to discover once you get involved.

The 2 famous names in oolong are Da Hong Pao (Wuyi) and Tie Guan Yin (Anxi and Taiwan).
But so famous that the best are very expensive and that very much is made of so many varying quality standards. Notwithstanding that the TieGuanYin here is fairly cheap, it should be good enough to introduce you to the style and cultivar, and may tempt you in future to spend more on it infuture. I have not included a da Hong Pao because of that - but you may like to add a $5 DHP or substitute it for another wuyi. Or add to/swap the TGY above for the
Guan Yin Wang Oolong Tea $4


I am sure there will be additional advice given, Good Luck

[danibob]

I guess I was a little too enthusiastic about jumping into yixing ware. So here's what I'll do: I'll order some of the samples from teacuppa and purchase a gaiwan (and maybe a proper teacup) from another place. I'm eyeing the dragon celadon one from imperial tea court. Then I can see which oolongs I like best and then buy a yixing(s) for them.

Thanks everyone for the guidance!

[Tea Noob]

I guess I was a little too enthusiastic about jumping into yixing ware. So here's what I'll do: I'll order some of the samples from teacuppa and purchase a gaiwan (and maybe a proper teacup) from another place. I'm eyeing the dragon celadon one from imperial tea court. Then I can see which oolongs I like best and then buy a yixing(s) for them.

Thanks everyone for the guidance!

I am doing the same thing. I just ordered a gaiwan and ordered several oolong samples from a few places. Every so often I try and read up on the Yixing and then bring myself back to earth and remind myself to take it easy. Remember, you can spend $70 on a pot, or $10-20 on a gaiwan and $50 on tea. From one rookie to another, I wish you luck in your endeavor.

[skywalker]

It depends on what kind of tea you drink.
If you only drink TKY, high mountain oolong tea, at least, you have to prepare 2 pots.
After you have many experieces about it, you have more options, at least 2 pots for each kind of tea. one is for light fried, the other is for medium fried. Why not prepare the 3rd? In fact, high quality tea won't be used for heavy fried.
How to choose a good Yixing teapots?
Clay is the key point, but not easy to explain. No matter how beautiful it is, a good teapot most be easy to use. When you pour your tea, water is running smoothly from the pot's mouth without any splitting.
If the budget is limited, choose a standard type for all at the beginning.

[Bubba_tea]

I guess I was a little too enthusiastic about jumping into yixing ware. So here's what I'll do: I'll order some of the samples from teacuppa and purchase a gaiwan (and maybe a proper teacup) from another place.

+1 !!

Good idea there. It's taken me a while to get decent cups of tea from oolong, and I first ordered from teacuppa, so this might mar my opinion (I wasn't very good at brewing when I bought their tea) - but I don't think too highly of the teacuppa tea, and you might be much better off with another vendor. YSLLC, Dragon Tea House (both on ebay), Jing teashop (very good and good prices) - most have sample sizes and you might be much better off starting with a higher quality tea. Just keep in mind I was terrible at the beginning with brewing though. I still mostly use a gaiwan, but am starting to use the yi xing a little more here and there, but that's only after becoming proficient with the gaiwan, YMMV.

[Beidao]

I also recommend a gaiwan, they are great! I have used a gaiwan for a long time but haven't gotten a yixing yet and I do not really miss it. As for the oolongs, I would recommend:

Green oolong
1) A good Tie Guan Yin / Ti Kuan Yin
2) A Dong Ding / Dung Ti / Dung Ting / Tung Ti / Tung Ting
3) A Pouchong / Bao Zhong

Darker oolong
1) A Tie Luohan, Rou Gui or other Wuyi
2) Some Fenghuang Dancong, for exempel a Mi Lan Xian (Honey Orchid)
3) An Oriental Beauty

I'd say, stay away from the really cheap ones and also from the really expensive until you know lots about brewing. Good luck!

[danibob]

Thanks again to everyone for their input!

I placed an order with teacuppa for some 15 gram samples. I think I mainly stuck to the long leaf oolongs like the dan congs and wuyi. I definitely got the first four Herb Master recommended. They seemed the most appealing to my tastes.

And then I ordered a lovely gaiwan (5 oz) and 4 oz tea cup from another place.

I can't wait to try them!

[Bubba_tea]

Sounds good - keep us posted to how it turns out!