What Oolong Are You Drinking
Lishan winter harvest from 2016. Freshly opened a pack and the tea is still excellent, even after a year. I only buy very little spring tea as I prefer the winter harvest and stock up on it.
Tea that good is best finished in a week before the goodness fades.
Tea that good is best finished in a week before the goodness fades.
I haven’t bought any new tea from Tea Masters since early last year. I’ve had several of their selections and have always enjoyed them. The last few weeks I’ve been doing a lot of sipping down of older teas and these from TM have been on the list to finish up. Still great after all this time which says a lot.
What difference have you noticed between Spring and Winter Lishan? I actually prefer Spring Lishan, so far finding it somewhat richer, thicker, butterier and more aromatic. Although, this may also have to do with the fact that I first fell in love with a Spring Lishan and was somewhat disappointed by the same companies Winter version.
Savoring a Muzha Tie Guan Yin, it has high notes expanding in the mouth, and is very sweet and spicy with full body. Included in 2016 shipment from HY Chen.
Funnily, those are partly the characteristics I would attribute to a Winter harvest: rich, thick, buttery and with a much stronger and longer lasting aftertaste.
The king of Winter for me is the Winterleaf, or Dongpian in Chinese 冬片. The last harvest, usually after a short sudden period of cold, or even snow. Not always good though, some years are better than others. I like the all-throat covering winter smoothness. Often very powerful cha-qi, bad for a good nights sleep though, makes me dream a lot.
Aromatics is Spring then, plus more flowery and light in general.
This years Spring Special LiShan and FuShoushan sourced through HY Chen were both very rich and buttery sweet smooth, mmmmm.Bok wrote: ↑Mon Oct 30, 2017 8:41 pmFunnily, those are partly the characteristics I would attribute to a Winter harvest: rich, thick, buttery and with a much stronger and longer lasting aftertaste.
The king of Winter for me is the Winterleaf, or Dongpian in Chinese 冬片. The last harvest, usually after a short sudden period of cold, or even snow. Not always good though, some years are better than others. I like the all-throat covering winter smoothness. Often very powerful cha-qi, bad for a good nights sleep though, makes me dream a lot.
Aromatics is Spring then, plus more flowery and light in general.
In my experience that is how those teas should be in the first place, no matter the season. Rich and buttery that should be the character of a true high mountain tea. After that it is a question of how pronounced those characteristics are, in general spring a bit heavier on the aromatics, winter on the aftertaste.
Thing is, a lot of supposedly high mountain is not really high mountain, however they call it. It is a bit like olive oil, you can roughly tell by the price tag on how high the probababilty of it being the real deal is. And there is a lot of fake Lishan around. Not necessarily bad though, Lishan as a name just commands a better price, even if neighbouring mountain areas can be as good.
Yes, unfortunately this happens in tea world. I trust my LiShan sources to be legit, so no hanky panky is going on; Floating Leaves, Te Company NYC , & HY Chen all very good buttery sweet LiShan.Bok wrote: ↑Mon Oct 30, 2017 10:16 pmIn my experience that is how those teas should be in the first place, no matter the season. Rich and buttery that should be the character of a true high mountain tea. After that it is a question of how pronounced those characteristics are, in general spring a bit heavier on the aromatics, winter on the aftertaste.
Thing is, a lot of supposedly high mountain is not really high mountain, however they call it. It is a bit like olive oil, you can roughly tell by the price tag on how high the probababilty of it being the real deal is. And there is a lot of fake Lishan around. Not necessarily bad though, Lishan as a name just commands a better price, even if neighbouring mountain areas can be as good.
Switched it up today with lower roasted oolongs. Started with ShanLiXi from last year via HY Chen. A refreshingly sweet buttery morning oolong, not too precious, but pretty elevating all the same.
Later in afternoon, LiShan Primitive Wild Forest. Wow every time I have this it’s a ride I enjoy, or a prowl through a primitive forest that is evergreen, buttery smooth, with a long lingering palate, and an effervescent minerality. Very special.
Later in afternoon, LiShan Primitive Wild Forest. Wow every time I have this it’s a ride I enjoy, or a prowl through a primitive forest that is evergreen, buttery smooth, with a long lingering palate, and an effervescent minerality. Very special.
More incredible leaf from Hau Ying Chen. Aromatics of fresh warm baked bread, cocoa, honey and slight mango moving into more honeysuckle florals as the roast begins to wane. Flavor notes also of baked bread and cocoa with a super creamy soup that leaves a silky coating in the mouth. Gorgeous leaf both wet and dry and beautiful liquor as well. Absolutely loving this Charcoal Roasted DYL Spring 2017.
Tried a high roast DHP from the family who produce the Three Stamp Shuixian here in HK. Wow, dramatic difference after resting for over a year. Much more depth and intensity of flavor. Not a 'textbook' blended DHP flavor, but something very different; I think this is all DHP varietal. I get dark fruit and floral, with almond and bitter orange on the finish, and a sweetness on the exhale that I can't identify. Really quite nice now! A few of the vendors who stuck to roasting a few types of oolong for decades are now experimenting with other types of Fujian teas and I think they are releasing these teas to market too soon. A few weeks ago, I bought several kinds of charcoal roast Wuyicha from a vendor that specializes in charcoal roasting TGY. I'll let those teas rest for a year and it'll be interesting to see how they turn out!