What Oolong Are You Drinking

[Ethan Kurland]

Nepal Bouquet Oolong Jun Chiyabari BIO - https://www.hotsoup.nl/nl/herkomst/nepa ... i-bio.html

I ordered this because I was amazed by Jun Chiyabari White tea. But this was okay.

Jun Chiyabari has some wonderful teas sometimes. Tea from Nepal has a lot more variance for quality than many places. I have had the most
luck w/ white tea but some years had found none. I rely on a source who lets me know when he found one he believes I will like. The latest one
I do indeed like (full of darjeeling/nepali flavor but still thin bodied) though it is different than previous white tea that I have liked from Nepal.

It's good to know one's absolute necessities. I don't want my mouth to get very dry form what I drink. I don't like assiduous or or acrid drinks.

[Andrew S]

Some morning dancong - YouHuaXiang from DaAn, brewed gently. It has a very nice elegant and delicate floral character to it overall, but it also has a gentle and relaxing feeling for me. I think gentle brewing is the way to go for me with dancong (unlike with yancha), but I'll keep experimenting as I try some more.

Some strongly-brewed yancha in a tiny pot may well follow this session, though.

Andrew

[debunix]

I think gentle brewing is the way to go for me with dancong (unlike with yancha)

I definitely prefer these teas with a very low leaf to water ratio to bring out the floral character and minimize the bitterness. Is that what you mean by "gentle" brewing?

[Andrew S]

I definitely prefer these teas with a very low leaf to water ratio to bring out the floral character and minimize the bitterness. Is that what you mean by "gentle" brewing?

Yes - I'm using only 4g per 120mL (whereas my yancha ratio is at least 1g per 10mL, and even my 'normal tea' ratio is 10g per 160mL).

Someone mentioned to me that I might want to treat dancong like young raw puer, which makes a lot of sense to me instinctively, since I've often noticed a young raw puer character with dancong.

That said, though, I have not yet tried any heavily-roasted dancong, which might be more my kind of tea. I think Hojo offers some in that style, but it'll take me a while to get through my current teas, let alone any more orders...

Andrew

[debunix]

I understand they need to work through what you have before ordering more… Now more than ever. Because I'm currently trying to be very cautious about evening caffeine, I'm not drinking a lot of tea, and I have a lot of it. Unfortunately, I recently discovered that Dancong does not hold up so well to a few years' storage, unlike other traditionally roasted Hong that generally do just fine. I will be ordering them more sparingly in the future and waiting until I really run out before I get more. so you were definitely correct to finish off what you have before you order more, even the traditionally roasted version.

[GaoShan]

Today I'm drinking a fruity Lishan Bilu Xi oolong from Wang Family Tea. The package doesn't have a date on it, but I believe it's from 2021 or 2022, and I'm amazed at how well it's held up! I get peach, orchid, sweet pea and other soft florals, cream, hints of red fruit, and some grassiness in later steeps. The flavours might be softer than they were when the tea was fresh, but I don't detect any staleness. I love peachy gaoshan!

[Vinski]

Da Yu Ling Oolong from Wang Family Tea Shop. Fine and balanced taste of high-quality gaoshan tea.

20241030_162505-Edit_1280.jpg (846.95 KiB) Viewed 2346 times

[Andrew S]

Some young bush rougui yancha to start today, now followed by a very nice, elegant GuanYinZhang yancha from old bushes.

A nice return to more 'normal' tea drinking for me, after a while of big pots and lazy / inattentive brewing.

Andrew

[Masterjeff]

A Japanese oolong, Haru-meguri, fall harvest (November 2023), from Honyama, processed like a baozhong, from an unnamed cultivar but seems like Qingxin based off the leaf characteristics and tea character. It is an inoffensive tea, but not particularly special, a nice balanced baozhong with a mix of floral and fruit, a smooth mouthfeel and good length. It just is not particularly a tea that stands out from a Taiwanese baozhong. I'm interested in trying the more unusual Japanese oolongs like Koju, but those will have to wait until next year when I buy more tea from Japan.

[GaoShan]

I got my 2nd shipment from tea-masters earlier this week (containing higher-altitude mountain oolongs). To GaoShan & anyone else interested: I wanted to write about my impressions, but, unfortunately, I got a weird, prolonged cold or possibly covid. I'm all right but can't really taste well and smell absolutely nothing, so won't unseal the packs anytime soon (I want to enjoy them!). Judging from other comments, it'll probably be wise to refrain from posting any tea reviews for a few months, at least. This means I won't be able to give any timely input for this season's tea, apart from the teas I've already tried, incl. these gaoshan from T-M:

• 2024 Spring QingXin Oolong Ali Shan - organic 1 (ChangShuHu)
• 2024 Spring QingXin Oolong Ali Shan - organic 2 (ChangShuHu)
• 2024 Spring Qingxin Oolong Shan Lin Xi Day1
• 2024 Spring Jinxuan Oolong from Ali Shan

I already wrote about AS-Organic 1 and SLX-Day 1. The Organic 2 is a more oxidized version of O1--not a bad tea but clearly outshined by O1 in all aspects (aroma, taste, longevity). The Jinxuan is OK but not great. Sometimes T-M's AS Jinxuan (possibly from the same source year after year but not sure) can be very nice, so that it seems like a steal at the price. Sometimes it's just not worth getting at any price, at least to my taste. This year it's somewhere in the middle, so not a hot recommendation even, if you are looking for that Jinxuan flavor.

So, from the lower-altitude (& lower price) range, my clear recommendation (based on my incomplete sample) is to get a bigger portion of Ali Shan Organic 1 and perhaps smaller amounts of other things to try. If getting the SLX, get Day 2, instead of Day 1, since it's less oxidized per vendor. If I was doing one more order only from the lower range, I'd go for: a big pack of Organic 1 (repeat), a big pack of 2024 Spring QingXin Oolong Ali Shan - ChangShuHu (the slightly cheaper non-organic version; excited about it since, per vendor site: "This tea was harvested around noon time, the most suitable time, because that's when the air is driest." which probably means lower oxidation as well, similar to Organic 1), a smaller pack of SLX Day2 to see if I like it better than SLX Day1. My personal ranking so far: O1>O2>SXL D1, not really competing this year: the Jinxuan (I enjoy it while I'm having a cold and don't feel like I'm wasting much).

I hope you're doing well and that you've long since recovered from your cold/COVID. Were you able to enjoy those higher elevation oolongs from Tea Masters? They've marked some products 20% off and I'm considering making an order. The Ali Shan Organic 1, Ali Shan Chang Shu Hu, and SLX Day 2 are on my list. Of the three DYL and FSS oolongs available, which do you think I should spring for? Not sure it's worth getting any BZ this late in the year...

Also, in case I didn't post about it before, the Bi Lu Xi Lishan oolong from Wang is a peachy orchid beauty, even with two years in storage. Their Alishan Jin Xuan is less exciting but still a very solid tea with milky, buttery, floral, and even some fruity notes. There's a tiny bit of bitterness near the end of the session, but that's due to me getting distracted and leaving it in the pot too long. I've only had one session with it but I'm enjoying it so far.

Let me know if you find any decent oolong sales from pricy vendors like Song, Red Blossom, Té Company, etc. It's hard to justify buying from these companies when the Canadian dollar is so low and shipping is so high.

[teatray]

Doing well, thanks! I had another order from T-M and also another directly from a producer, here are my thoughts:

from T-M

2024 Spring Qingxin Oolong Da Yu Ling 100K - weight : 75g $75,00 USD
2024 Spring Qingxin Oolong Fushou Shan - weight : 75g $73,75 USD

I was still somewhat sick when I got to the teas from this order, so I'll not comment on them except to say I finished them all and didn't notice problems. Next order (3 months later, senses working again) included:

2024 Spring Qingxin Oolong Da Yu Ling 104K - 75g $103,00 USD
2024 Spring QingXin Oolong Ali Shan - organic 1 - 150g $45,00 USD

104K was very nice, but not fantastic, which I really want it to be at that price, and it sometimes is, but not this year, at least not this particular pack. I got geranium notes after a few steeps.

Organic 1 was disappointing, unfortunately. It was a nice tea [best TW oolong I had at home after I finished the 104K], but nothing like the 25 gr sample that got me excited. I suspected as much the moment I opened the bag and sniffed it. I've had this several times in the past: wonderful sample but pretty meh big pack. I always wondered what factors could play into this. Is the tea changing due to age (it's usually quite a while before I reorder from the same vendor), is it just natural variation, some shady practices by producers/traders, or is it just me fooling myself due to different moods / caffeine effects / levels of tea thirst. In this case I had a few other T-M teas that helped my education along:

2023 Spring QingXin Oolong Ali Shan - ShiZhuo - 25g [free sample]
2023 Spring QingXin Oolong Ali Shan - RuiFeng - 25g [free sample]

Both of these were fantastic! I did not have a lot of experience drinking well over 1yr old unroasted gaoshan, but these taught me that it can be fresh & yummy (when unopened and presumably stored properly by the vendor). The RuiFeng almost completely lacked what I consider high notes (floral, sometimes fruity, piny or just tea-y), which are what usually grabs you in a gaoshan, but the base, nutty (kinda) notes were exactly what I desire, so it made my sessions really pleasant. Though I would completely understand if others didn't find enough in this tea to make them happy. The 2023 Spring ShiZhuo was even better than the 2024 Organic 1 sample I raved about a while ago: superb, tea-y high notes, lots of freshness. The big packs were already sold out. I almost bought all the remaining samples, put them in my cart, but decided against it since I was expecting other teas I had high hopes for. In any case, due to these teas, I knew that I am definitely in a mood for Ali Shan when I got my reorder of the Organic 1, and I knew that age alone wouldn't account for such a marked decrease in quality (unless taste/smell fluctuates wildly in the first 16 months, going up and down). So I guess the reason my second Organic 1 wasn't (nearly) as good is either worse storage, natural variation, or maybe lower-quality tea being put among the good. (I guess it could also be the large vs small vacuum packaging, but I've had some pretty good large bags, so I don't think it could make such a difference.)

Finally, all above teas were better than what I got from a tea farmer, https://just-tea.com.tw/:

from J-T

(Zu-Lu)Formosa Dongding Oolong Tea - 2 x 150g = NT$1,100
(Zu-Lu)<2024 Spring>Alishan Excellent Oolong Tea(Original) - 3 x 150g = NT$2,500

I found about them on reddit (r/tea) from a person who speaks Chinese and apparently went to TW tea-producing regions many times and talked and bought directly. This is only the second time I'm trying to get TW tea from a vendor who doesn't target westerners. [First try was Taiwan Tea Corporation (https://www.ttch.com.tw/). I wasn't expecting much from them, just curious to know what a standard, cheap Ali Shan sold by a large company tastes like (it was abysmal).] Just-tea's tea was better than that. I tried the DD first and the heavy roast was really nice, like the good DDs I got from Hojo and Sazen that made me appreciate the style (I'm still very inexperienced with it). However, after just 1-2 steeps, it was done and tasted flat, instead of developing into something complementing the roasted notes. My guess is that it was a good roast with not that great material. But hey, at that price, it was fine. The Alishan was more expensive and seemed like the top of their range (though still pretty cheap at USD $26 equiv. per 150g). It was a complete disappointment. No stale smells, no seaweed notes that I personally dislike (in gaoshan), nothing really wrong with it. It's drinkable but also dead inside with no highlight or character, just weak. I wish I had another story to tell -- of how I found a great tea for a great price, but I didn't this time. I would want to give them another chance next year, but probably wouldn't do it if the minimum is 3x150g (though it's completely understandable coming from a producer).

[GaoShan]

@teatray, thanks for your very detailed post, even though it complicates my interest in ordering from Tea Masters. The entire purpose of this exercise was to buy 150 g of the peachy Alishan Organic 1 you highly recommended, plus the chance to try a DYL or FSS. If these teas aren't as good as previous harvests and the big packs of Alishan aren't as enjoyable for whatever reason, I'm not sure it's worth placing an order right now. Of course, taste varies and I don't expect every tea from a vendor to be excellent (though I do expect a certain quality level at these prices). Maybe I should hold off until the 2025 spring harvest to try my luck. It's kind of embarrassing that as someone who enjoys Gaoshan, I haven't ordered from the obvious sources (e.g., T-M, Hojo, Té Company).

Sorry to hear about your experience with non-Western-facing Taiwanese tea vendors. I've heard good things about Teahome and Teasanity, but have never ordered from them. There's also the option of ordering through a forwarding service if you know the name of a reliable teahouse and can communicate what you want. Yoshan might also be a good option for Dong Ding, but again, I have no personal experience with them. I look forward to hearing more about your buying adventures!

[teatray]

thanks for your very detailed post, even though it complicates my interest in ordering from Tea Masters.

YW & yeah, sorry I did not have better news. Had a quick look at T-M's site and I have to say, at 20% off with the current BF deal, getting 150g Organic 1 ($36) + 150g normal ChangShuHu ($32) doesn't really sound bad. The O1 I got previously was just punching way above its price class, hence the bigger disappointment. As I assume it's just variation--who knows, maybe you'll have better luck with your 150g packs? Or you could also consider getting sample packs in addition to / instead of the big pack (same 20% discount applies). If you get both, we could compare notes. I would not get the 104K DYL this year, if you want bang for your buck, at least based on my 75g sample (it's also not discounted).

[GaoShan]

thanks for your very detailed post, even though it complicates my interest in ordering from Tea Masters.

YW & yeah, sorry I did not have better news. Had a quick look at T-M's site and I have to say, at 20% off with the current BF deal, getting 150g Organic 1 ($36) + 150g normal ChangShuHu ($32) doesn't really sound bad. The O1 I got previously was just punching way above its price class, hence the bigger disappointment. As I assume it's just variation--who knows, maybe you'll have better luck with your 150g packs? Or you could also consider getting sample packs in addition to / instead of the big pack (same 20% discount applies). If you get both, we could compare notes. I would not get the 104K DYL this year, if you want bang for your buck, at least based on my 75g sample (it's also not discounted).

Yeah, getting 300 g of decent Alishan for $68 seems like a good deal. Shipping under $100 is $11 and there's free shipping over $100, so it would be easy to add the Fushoushan.

However, Wang is also having a 20% off sale sitewide, and they have some peachy oolongs that I've enjoyed before. I could probably get 75 g of their DYL, their Lishan, their new Pomelo Shan Lin Xi, and their FSS if it's still in stock, plus some samples. (If they had any of their SLX Wild Garden or SLX Small Leaf Black, this decision would already have been made.) Free shipping starts over $125.

I already have maybe five months' worth of gaoshan, and a new harvest will be available in June or July 2025. It probably wouldn't be wise to make two orders, not to mention it would get expensive. The choice between avoiding risk by sticking with a known good vendor and branching out to try something new is among the conundrums I struggle with when buying tea. I could probably resolve this by contacting Wang and asking whether the SLX Wild Garden is coming back next year, though I'll end up paying substantially more for these teas when they're not on sale.

[GaoShan]

Well, I bought 150 g of Alishan Organic 1, 150 g of Alishan Chang Shu Hu, 25 g of Fushoushan, and 25 g of Alishan hongcha from Tea Masters for just over $100. Buying 25 g of each of the first three teas plus shipping would have cost me over $50. Now I just need to wait for the Canada Post strike to end to get my package!