What Oolong Are You Drinking

[LeoFox]

Hahahaha, I took that ai generated review and asked chat gpt to do it In 3 sentences and adopt an informal tone without mentioning cost.

Doesn't seem to follow my instructions- Hahahaha. Imagine relying on this for something more serious

The Anxi Black Dragon Oolong is my go-to tea for everyday sipping. It's got this awesome mix of roasted nutty goodness and a hint of sweet caramel that just hits the spot. The flavor is like a black tea party with a sidekick of roasted almonds, and there's even a touch of floral vibes that adds to the whole experience. The texture is smooth and velvety, coating your mouth just right, and the aftertaste keeps the sweet and roasted dance going. It may not be mind-blowing, but it's a solid choice for folks who dig a light-roasted oolong that won't break the bank.

[Baisao]

Hahahaha, I took that ai generated review and asked chat gpt to do it In 3 sentences and adopt an informal tone without mentioning cost.

Doesn't seem to follow my instructions- Hahahaha. Imagine relying on this for something more serious

The Anxi Black Dragon Oolong is my go-to tea for everyday sipping. It's got this awesome mix of roasted nutty goodness and a hint of sweet caramel that just hits the spot. The flavor is like a black tea party with a sidekick of roasted almonds, and there's even a touch of floral vibes that adds to the whole experience. The texture is smooth and velvety, coating your mouth just right, and the aftertaste keeps the sweet and roasted dance going. It may not be mind-blowing, but it's a solid choice for folks who dig a light-roasted oolong that won't break the bank.

That’s pretty awful copy!

When I discover someone has released an AI product and not declared it first, then I find myself incapable of trusting anything from them again. If they’ll be dishonest once they’ll be dishonest again.

In regards to relying on AI for more serious things, I’ve seen its technical products and they are worse than this copy. But the promise of AI is good for the markets, yay!

[GaoShan]

Hahahaha, I took that ai generated review and asked chat gpt to do it In 3 sentences and adopt an informal tone without mentioning cost.

Doesn't seem to follow my instructions- Hahahaha. Imagine relying on this for something more serious

The Anxi Black Dragon Oolong is my go-to tea for everyday sipping. It's got this awesome mix of roasted nutty goodness and a hint of sweet caramel that just hits the spot. The flavor is like a black tea party with a sidekick of roasted almonds, and there's even a touch of floral vibes that adds to the whole experience. The texture is smooth and velvety, coating your mouth just right, and the aftertaste keeps the sweet and roasted dance going. It may not be mind-blowing, but it's a solid choice for folks who dig a light-roasted oolong that won't break the bank.

That’s pretty awful copy!

When I discover someone has released an AI product and not declared it first, then I find myself incapable of trusting anything from them again. If they’ll be dishonest once they’ll be dishonest again.

In regards to relying on AI for more serious things, I’ve seen its technical products and they are worse than this copy. But the promise of AI is good for the markets, yay!

Oof! ChatGPT won't be coming for my job anytime soon!

I'm drinking the second half of a spring 2022 DYL session that I started yesterday. I seem to get menthol and herbaceous notes if I steep this oolong for a few minutes, along with minerals and florals. There's some pineapple and occasionally peach in the first four or five steeps, but I'd say this is a quieter, less fruity tea than the Shan Lin Xi from the same vendor. I'm still trying to dial in the flavours I like, and keeping it for a year may have changed its profile.

[pepson]

Today's oolong: Phoenix Dan Cong Ba Xian Xiang prepared in inside glazed chamotte (fireclay) tea set made by Czech ceramist Ms. Lucie Hrbková.
Temperature 85 °C/ 15s, 10s, 15s, .....

[Baiyun]

Finishing up my December 21 roast Charcoal Dong Ding from FL.

I thought it had lost some of its splendour, but upping the ratio and infusion time brought it all back in force.

Like other teas from this vendor, this tea demands hot water and several long steeps in that it manages a distinct presence on the tongue whilst keeping mouth and throat lubricated at the same time. You'd almost expect it to end up dry as you taste it, but it just rounds off and leaves a pleasant lingering aftertaste, almost mouthwatering.

With rolling water and long steeps, I found that it cannot be over brewed, so tentative steeps are not getting the most out of this tea. The roast seems to be just so as there are no strong charcoal overtones but the effects are clearly there. The aroma lingers for a long time. Over time I noticed that this tea makes me hungry rather quickly, and I still sense subtle notes of the tea after eating something.

The leaves come out of the pot craggly but closer inspection reveals intact leaves and careful picking and processing. It's a clean tea. Pictured is infusion 6 or 7.

dd.jpg (192.14 KiB) Viewed 18183 times

[Bok]

The leaves come out of the pot craggly but closer inspection reveals intact leaves and careful picking and processing. It's a clean tea.

Caveat: intact leaves and absence of insect bites may hint to use of pesticides – which is perfectly standard routine, but not acceptable to what people would call clean tea.

[Baiyun]

The leaves come out of the pot craggly but closer inspection reveals intact leaves and careful picking and processing. It's a clean tea.

Caveat: intact leaves and absence of insect bites may hint to use of pesticides – which is perfectly standard routine, but not acceptable to what people would call clean tea.

Fair call, poor choice and sequence of wording on my part as I didn't mean to imply this, but it definitely may read that way. Intact not in the sense of no bites, that is natural. The tea is marketed as 'unsprayed' for what it's worth. While not a mark of certainty, it's always something I look for when buying a decent amount of any tea. I haven't had an outright scratchy dubious tea for a long time now to be fair, and it may not present that way either for all I know, so I cannot certify teas as 'clean of pesticides' by tasting them. What I meant is more akin to 'picked and processed with care, no signs of corner cutting', bright rinse and liquor, no off perceptions or feelings, just a tea that people along the way likely took a degree of pride in and that I consume without concern.

[LeoFox]

Revisiting lazy cat lion mount shuixian

[Andrew S]

A little sea of red - two (rather different) yanchas for breakfast earlier today. It's nice to be able to devote a bit of time to tea again, at least for a while.

Andrew

[Andrew S]

Last bits of lazy cat's 2018 shuiliandong rougui on a cool morning.

For some strange reason, this tea has only impressed me in this little CZ pot, and not in any other vessels, whether CZ or otherwise... I've never quite had that happen before.

This pot brings a lot of balance and harmony to the flavour and mouthfeel, with an overall fruity character, plus some refreshing citrusy bits.

Andrew

[.m.]

@Andrew S That is a beautiful pot! Nice that it works good as well.

[Andrew S]

A very enjoyable yancha session from earlier today, before the clouds rolled over and turned everything dark - a 2015 ZuiGuiFei (once again, a cultivar that I know nothing about), part of my slow but rewarding journey towards understanding more about yancha.

Andrew S That is a beautiful pot! Nice that it works good as well.

Thanks - I used to wonder about the 'best match' for any given tea or teapot, but now that I've broadened the range of teas that I drink, I've come to think that there's usually a tea out there that will suit any given pot, and vice versa (of course, it helps to be in the privileged position of having a few pots to play with).

Andrew

[Baiyun]

Floating Leaves stopped shipping internationally so I am spending some time with several Wang Family Tea oolongs to try a new Taiwan supplier. I don't think I added much or anything from 2023, need to check again. Mostly from the first part of last year.

From a learning perspective, it is nice to sometimes be able to choose the same pickings at two or three different roast levels to compare, although I expected their traditional charcoal heavy roasts to be darker. Maybe I had too much yancha recently. No, that can't be a thing.

I'll post some more thoughts on specific teas at some point.

Do you have experiences with Wang, and any other sources to try from Taiwan?

[LeoFox]

Floating Leaves stopped shipping internationally so I am spending some time with several Wang Family Tea oolongs to try a new Taiwan supplier. I don't think I added much or anything from 2023, need to check again. Mostly from the first part of last year.

From a learning perspective, it is nice to sometimes be able to choose the same pickings at two or three different roast levels to compare, although I expected their traditional charcoal heavy roasts to be darker. Maybe I had too much yancha recently. No, that can't be a thing.

I'll post some more thoughts on specific teas at some point.

Do you have experiences with Wang, and any other sources to try from Taiwan?

Teamasters and jadeleaf have good reputations among long standing drinkers. As well as hojo - even though Japanese- the teas he sources are very good.

[GaoShan]

Floating Leaves stopped shipping internationally so I am spending some time with several Wang Family Tea oolongs to try a new Taiwan supplier. I don't think I added much or anything from 2023, need to check again. Mostly from the first part of last year.

From a learning perspective, it is nice to sometimes be able to choose the same pickings at two or three different roast levels to compare, although I expected their traditional charcoal heavy roasts to be darker. Maybe I had too much yancha recently. No, that can't be a thing.

I'll post some more thoughts on specific teas at some point.

Do you have experiences with Wang, and any other sources to try from Taiwan?

I was also sad to see that Floating Leaves stopped shipping internationally. I've liked most of the teas I've had from Wang. Their Shanlin Xi Wild Garden, Dayuling, and Fushoushan are particular favourites, and I was recently impressed by their Alishan Osmanthus. I haven't had any of their teas from 2023, but have liked the spring harvests from 2021 and 2022.