What Oolong Are You Drinking

[Bok]

Laoshi Winter medium roast DongDing from Tillerman was the star of the oolong show during our past two LA Tea Society tastings. Everyone is wowed by its complexity, skillful roasting and how it unfolds steep to steep -and these are sophisticated discerning members so that’s impressive. I have noticed this DongDing is curiously mutable, sensitive to changes in ambient humidity and air pressure, with different notes appearing on top depending on the elements. This morning aromatic evergreen sweet resinous notes came to the forefront.

I’m wondering how this Spring’s Laoshi batch is different from last Winters?

Doesn’t surprise me that this tea finds appreciation among those who have a developed palate, it is an excellent tea!

Would not expect much variation among the seasons though with more oxidised/roasted teas. I think those are more apparent in greener teas.

[Victoria]

Would not expect much variation among the seasons though with more oxidised/roasted teas. I think those are more apparent in greener teas.

So generalizing aside, it sounds like you haven’t tried his spring yet? While differences are less extreme, this past winter wasn’t typical either, which is why I asked.

[Bok]

So generalizing aside, it sounds like you haven’t tried his spring yet? While differences are less extreme, this past winter wasn’t typical either, which is why I asked.

Nope not yet, stock is still full.

What I meant is that the higher oxidation alongside the roasting pretty much covers up the subtle differences between different harvests. Maybe discernible for the ultra sensitive super-tasters, but to me it is almost irrelevant for this kind of teas, even less for Hongcha, where the season does not matter at all.

In all my years buying TW roasted teas, I have never encountered huge difference in taste in between harvests, quite reliable.

[Victoria]

Just saw Tillerman’s post regarding his spring Laoshi batch. A slightly different production seems sort of inevitable since the spring harvest was later and smaller than usual, due low rainfall and a warmer winter ....

Laoshi's Spring 2019 Dong Ding ..... The Spring version of this tea is slightly less robust - a little more delicate - than the Winter version.

[carogust]

carogust that tea is very heavily roasted, a muting/absorbing clay will definitely help. Also higher leaf concentration with flash brewing of a few seconds is maybe the way forward. This tea doesn’t do well if steeped too long in my experience due to its leaf shapes. The rolled TGY releases the flavours slower.

It might be the chaozhou pot (this one is one of those that does not mute at all) not muting the roast at all, thus not showing its other flavors. The pot pours ultra fast though, like 4-5 ish second range making it optimal for this kind of thing. I think I'll try it with higher leaf concentration on the hongni with flashes. If that doesn't work, maybe I'll leave it for a few weeks and come back later.

[carogust]

Alright I gave the three stamps another go today, and man, I have no idea what happened because it's an entire different beast!
I don't know if it's the difference in aproach. I still used like 50% (maybe just a little more?) so it's not the higher concentration. I can't explain it. But it just came out wonderful today.
It's still the same in the core profile but its more alive and open. Maybe it has to do with the bag being open for a little longer, giving the dry leaf a bit time to open up? Or maybe I was just in a better mood today.

Anyways, the taste with these kinds of teas, the best ones, seems to be kind of impossible to describe. Way too much going. And I appreciate that you find flavors/sensations you don't really find in other things.
Usually, these shifting, evolving and alive flavors seem to drop off after the first or second steeping, but here it goes till the end. Wouldn't say that there is too many of them, but its still complex in the way that the individual flavors are deep and alive.
The best thing about this tea is that its not that expensive either. A session only costs 1-3 euro.
Anyways just a reminder to not give up on teas too fast. Especially those that are different in their style compared to what you've had in the past.

[d.manuk]

It's officially my first (and second) spring 2019 gaoshan tasting! We're starting off the year right with 2 sessions with 6 grams of 98K DYL from Tea Masters. I smelled some basil for a second in the wet leaves both times... Very interesting and fresh smells coming from this DYL.

1st time was brewed in a Taiwanese clay pot and 2nd was brewed in a thin porcelain egg pot.

The tea is nice quality. I'm looking forward to comparing it to Ethan's, which I had enjoyed a lot last year.

[carogust]

Drunk tealifehk's Everyday High Fire Tieguanyin. Excellent value. Before this one, I've had one aged TGY that was repeatedly roasted during its aging. This one is actually pretty similar to it which was a really nice surprise as it was one of my favorites. I particularly enjoy the salivation this tea induces, and this drying charcoal note which is more pleasant than you'd think. Pleasant minty notes.
Nothing off with this tea. You generally want to go high with the parameters. I went for 45ml/6g (ofc it's hell of a buzz), and I've used more with good results. You can steep this for long and it won't become nasty or lose subtlety, just stronger.
I'll definitely pick up more of the higher grades (this was just a test to see if I cared for this type at all). Kinda wish this style of tea was more popular, options seem to be a little limited for westerners sadly.
Interestingly, this tea seems to be around a 50/50 blend of a properly high roast tea, and something that is either very lightly roasted or not at all, crappy picture to illustrate:

postimg1.jpg (236.62 KiB) Viewed 5863 times

Not complaining however, its nice in the cup.

[Bok]

Kinda wish this style of tea was more popular, options seem to be a little limited for westerners sadly.

You can try higher roast TGY from Taiwan or Dongding in medium to high roast. Pretty similar and lots of options out there. Personally I find the TW versions a lot more complex and rich in layers.

Once had a TGY from Anxi in its traditional form, which was close to the HK style TGY, yet still more complex. My guess is that that teas base leaf material was probably better. Yet one could see they are from the same family, as the TW are definitely a lot different.

[carogust]

Kinda wish this style of tea was more popular, options seem to be a little limited for westerners sadly.

You can try higher roast TGY from Taiwan or Dongding in medium to high roast. Pretty similar and lots of options out there. Personally I find the TW versions a lot more complex and rich in layers.

Once had a TGY from Anxi in its traditional form, which was close to the HK style TGY, yet still more complex. My guess is that that teas base leaf material was probably better. Yet one could see they are from the same family, as the TW are definitely a lot different.

Thanks for the suggestion. Not tried a single taiwanese tea yet and I probably ought to as many on this forum consume them in high amounts. I did not consider taiwan being a source for a high roast teas, because it feels to me that taiwanese teas are more associated with light, medium or no roast at all.

[Bok]

Thanks for the suggestion. Not tried a single taiwanese tea yet and I probably ought to as many on this forum consume them in high amounts. I did not consider taiwan being a source for a high roast teas, because it feels to me that taiwanese teas are more associated with light, medium or no roast at all.

Could not be further from the truth!!!

Light, medium no roast only concerns high mountain oolongs.

Taiwan is famous for TGY! All of them are at least medium roast, none of that green toxic stuff coming out of Anxi these days...
Dongding is another famous tea, mostly med-high roasted.
Oriental beauty is highly oxidised/roasted.

Nearly every high mountain variety also exists in a higher oxidised/roasted version, although not always easy to find.

If you go to a bubble tea shop in TW and order Oolong that means roasted oolong by default. Just to show you how normal this kind of tea is here.

[d.manuk]

Taiwan has a ton of roasted oolongs, much more than fresh. I feel inclined to say that there's also more aged and bug bitten oolong than fresh, at least from a Westerner's access standpoint.

[carogust]

Could not be further from the truth!!!
...

Alright that is pretty exciting to hear! My lack of knowledge is just probably that I have not investigated taiwanese teas enough, and that high mountain has a lot of hype surrounding it.

[Victoria]

Running low on HY Chen’s light and medium roast DongDing so am having his high roast this morning. Surprised that his winter ‘18 light roast was my favorite of the three, in the past years medium to high roast were my go to DongDing. The high roast though has now settled a little and is more complex than in January. The aroma combined with flavor profile is so perfect, like a dance.

[Noonie]

Could not be further from the truth!!!
...

Alright that is pretty exciting to hear! My lack of knowledge is just probably that I have not investigated taiwanese teas enough, and that high mountain has a lot of hype surrounding it.

I take joy in the fact that I know very little, in particular with some teas or regions. It means I have so much to explore and taste, which keeps my interest in tea “high mountain” high!