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Re: What Oolong Are You Drinking

Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2019 12:05 pm
by Victoria
iGo wrote:
Fri Sep 06, 2019 11:17 am
Tillerman’s Dong Ding (Laoshi) spring 2019. Superb from the first sip. I liked the winter 2018. This may be even better. Cheers!!
Good to hear this, I got some of his spring as well so I’ll compare them soon.

Re: What Oolong Are You Drinking

Posted: Tue Sep 10, 2019 12:00 pm
by d.manuk
Today, I was drinking DYL 98K from Tea Masters with Mountain Valley Spring water (I've been testing different waters with this tea over the past few weeks).
I burped in the middle of the session and the flavor of the tea tasted like what my mom would give me when I was sick as a child... camomile tea with honey and lemon. :lol:
A little gross :oops: but an interesting and unique experience.

Re: What Oolong Are You Drinking

Posted: Thu Sep 19, 2019 11:32 am
by debunix
Did get a shot of this morning's oolong....a sample of Ironbush honey oolong from Floating leaves included with my first order. Sweet, delicate, a little herb, a little earthy, and lovely red-edged leaves:

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Re: What Oolong Are You Drinking

Posted: Thu Sep 19, 2019 12:07 pm
by Victoria
debunix wrote:
Thu Sep 19, 2019 11:32 am
Did get a shot of this morning's oolong....a sample of Ironbush honey oolong from Floating leaves included with my first order. Sweet, delicate, a little herb, a little earthy, and lovely red-edged leaves:

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@debunix along with sweet notes did you notice savory as well? FL description intrigues me. Thanks for nice image capture :) .

This morning I’m also having oolong, since it’s a little cooler outside a warming tea seemed perfect. Don’t know much about it other than it’s a tasty LiShan left here by Jason after one of our tasting sessions last year. Has nice balanced viscous body, no buttery notes but warming just the same.

Re: What Oolong Are You Drinking

Posted: Fri Sep 20, 2019 8:21 pm
by debunix
Yes. But I’ll have to try it again before I can describe them well.

Re: What Oolong Are You Drinking

Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2019 9:52 am
by d.manuk
For those that drink a lot of roasted teas, are roasted oolongs your favorite?

Re: What Oolong Are You Drinking

Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2019 10:24 am
by Bok
Shine Magical wrote:
Sat Sep 21, 2019 9:52 am
For those that drink a lot of roasted teas, are roasted oolongs your favorite?
Yes!

Re: What Oolong Are You Drinking

Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2019 10:30 am
by d.manuk
Bok wrote:
Sat Sep 21, 2019 10:24 am
Shine Magical wrote:
Sat Sep 21, 2019 9:52 am
For those that drink a lot of roasted teas, are roasted oolongs your favorite?
Yes!
Is Dong Ding your favorite/any others you really enjoy?

Re: What Oolong Are You Drinking

Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2019 10:44 am
by Bok
Shine Magical wrote:
Sat Sep 21, 2019 10:30 am
Is Dong Ding your favorite/any others you really enjoy?
Difficult. I’d say Dongding/Yancha/Dancong. Apples and Bananas...

Re: What Oolong Are You Drinking

Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2019 1:40 pm
by Victoria
Shine Magical wrote:
Sat Sep 21, 2019 9:52 am
For those that drink a lot of roasted teas, are roasted oolongs your favorite?
Yes, roasted DongDing, high mountain, yancha for special moments. Although, I did have a roasted kabusecha sencha that was incredible, and I am trying to source it right now. It is made only occasionally by the company in Kagoshima. Roasted oolong is a favorite, although I enjoy other teas as well.

Thinking about your question brings up how many types of teas are roasted (beyond initial stage). I’ve had roasted oolong, roasted sencha, hojica, iribancha. Don’t think I’ve ever had a roasted black. Anyone else tried one?

Re: What Oolong Are You Drinking

Posted: Sun Sep 22, 2019 6:10 am
by carogust
While I've not tried roasted blacks, I've heard of their existence.

I'd imagine something like a lapsang souchong could be similar to yancha, if roasted, as they already do share some notes in my experience.
(If you think about it, yancha already is in some way a roasted black tea)

Re: What Oolong Are You Drinking

Posted: Sun Sep 22, 2019 8:48 am
by Tillerman
carogust wrote:
Sun Sep 22, 2019 6:10 am
While I've not tried roasted blacks, I've heard of their existence.

I'd imagine something like a lapsang souchong could be similar to yancha, if roasted, as they already do share some notes in my experience.
(If you think about it, yancha already is in some way a roasted black tea)
My 2¢ worth - given the very different manufacturing processes between black tea and yancha, I don't think one can usefully say that yancha is "in some way a roasted black tea." And, although they may share some notes, the overall taste profile of yancha is not the same as the flavor profile of lapsang souchong or ji jun mei.

Re: What Oolong Are You Drinking

Posted: Sun Sep 22, 2019 11:08 am
by carogust
Tillerman wrote:
Sun Sep 22, 2019 8:48 am
My 2¢ worth - given the very different manufacturing processes between black tea and yancha, I don't think one can usefully say that yancha is "in some way a roasted black tea." And, although they may share some notes, the overall taste profile of yancha is not the same as the flavor profile of lapsang souchong or ji jun mei.
If I remember my tea history correctly, black tea was accidentally invented in the wuyi mountains and later came oolong when they learnt how to control the oxidation process. Sure there are major differences in processing like black tea being rolled after oxidation and lacking the "leaf shaking" step (don't remember the fancy name...).
Both yancha and red tea is oxidized however. In my view they're more similar than different. One just achieves oxidation in a different manner.
And yes, most of the time they're easily distinguishable, but occasionally the similarity is striking.

Re: What Oolong Are You Drinking

Posted: Sun Sep 22, 2019 2:09 pm
by debunix
Favorite roasted tea?

Really hard to say. I'm not sure about how much roasting some of my teas get, and where to put the Korean Balhyochas in the spectrum of 'roast' and 'oolong'.

I'd say that my favorite traditional/roasted and not green/new style oolongs are
Red Alishan from Norbu
One of several Korean Balhyochas from Morning Crane
A taiwanese TGY from Norbu
Can't isolate just one yancha, because I've had many that blend together, and if they have a fine mix of earthy and roasty and mineraliciousness, I like it fine whether Tie Luo Han or Shui Xian or Da Hong Pao; it's more about a fine version than a particular cultivar.
Dan Cong, the 'single-bush' versions from Imen at Tea Habitat

And the amazing Hawaiian oolong from Hilo Coffee Mill is probably the loveliest I've ever had...but I've got some concerns about this one. After being gifted a sample from Victoria, when I first bought it , it came in a large tin with long, twisted leaves....but the larger bulk package I just got looks very different--much more tightly rolled leaf. It's not the same tea at all, even if it was picked from the same plants, although the price is similarly elevated.

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Open the tin on the left, and the scents are floral, fruity, delectable; open the bag on the right, and dusty earth alone comes through.

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1 gram of each tea in these cups by Yamane Seigan

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The original loosely curled pale leaves yield a pale and fantastic liquor that is worth the high price; the dark bits of leaf yield an ordinary tea with only a hint of the wonderful floral and fruity notes of the other in the aftertaste. It doesn't taste actively unpleasant, not nearly the same. And meh is not OK for such pricey tea. Perhaps the tinned version is their equivalent of a light-roast gaoshan?

This is a link to a thread on the old TeaChat that included excellent photos from Victoria and my review of the tea--the tinned version.

Re: What Oolong Are You Drinking

Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2019 1:16 am
by Victoria
Ha the other Victoria :) maybe the tin version was a special select production @debunix.

In heaven at the moment with LazyCat’s SpaceCat RouGui. Wow, even better than I remember it, maybe because it’s been open for a month now in its sealed canister, plus the humidity is 93% right now. It is over the top aromatic, rich, complex, and spicy with lots of heat.

Setting the mood again with Thundercat’s Them Changes again followed by Lone Wolf and Cub, the rift beginning at 2:00..2:44 and on ...is incredible.