What Oolong Are You Drinking

[pantry]

I've been drinking those teas I ordered from @chofmann. The dong dings are very good--I'm enjoying them quite a bit! Might need to stock up on the dark roast
I find the Yan Yun a bit too sour for my taste, though that's probably just my brewing technique. The Rougui tastes nice and is quite aromatic--reminded me a bit of Milan Xiang Dan Cong. However, I couldn't quite push it to more than 3 brews in a gaiwan (maybe about 5 in a Yixing pot). Perhaps I should use more leaves? On a side note, the (aptly named) sugar white tea is incredible!

Other teas I've been bingeing on are Lao Cong shuixian and Tie Luo Han from Rui Quan studio. Still experimenting to get the most out of the teas (since they cost arms and legs), but my initial casual brews already yielded excellent result. Yanchas are expensive I don't wanna get too hooked

[tealifehk]

Glad to hear you're enjoying the everyday tieguanyin @vVictoria The family roast tieguanyin throughout the year, and I think the current batch is better than the last one! The HK High Roast tieguanyin doesn't hold up quite as well because of its higher roast level. I've actually never tried the everyday tieguanyin with some age on it, so now I know it can hold up just fine.

Jay, on your site it says about your current Everyday TGY ‘...was roasted in 2016‘ I guess that means the <2016 I have was roasted earlier like in 2013? Seems this high roast likes resting for a few years to mellow out. Sipping on your oolong we were discussing intentional resting versus aging of high fire oolong. To let high roasted oolong rest I just leave sealed packs alone for a year+. To age roasted oolong we went back and forth with which containers are best from leaving in sealed packet, to using unglazed or glazed ceramic, pewter or SS double lidded canisters (with some double lidded canisters being more air-tight than others). The big question with aging was if any air and humidity is beneficial with roasted oolong. Atlas mentioned lining metal canister with paper to buffer any moisture (resulting from changes in ambient temp) from tea. Then with aging re-roasting would be necessary, but not possible if high fired. What are your thoughts on methods of resting versus aging of roasted oolong? tealifehk

Hi Victoria,

Whoops, I need to edit that! I'm glad you caught that!

I didn't realize I'd specified a description in the year for that tea. The description hasn't been updated since 2016! I'll change it up now. This kind of high roast tea is sold relatively quickly after roasting (as soon as the tea has settled enough).

I am all for airtight storage. As long as air exchange and humidity are kept low, any method works. I have aged tea in glass, plastic, pewter and stainless steel. All methods work well for oolongs IMO! The paper does help if the container is too big, but it isn't necessary if the container is truly airtight and there isn't too much residual humidity and air in the container.

[tealifehk]

Then with aging re-roasting would be necessary, but not possible if high fired. What are your thoughts on methods of resting versus aging of roasted oolong?

In my experience the HK traditional roasted teas are over-roasted, which means re-roasting is probably not advisable, maybe a slow waking up as done for Yancha sometimes: Before the tea session the leaves are gentle warmed on a paper over a source of heat.

You can tell when teas are not oxidised sufficiently and then heavily roasted by looking at the brewed leaves. There should still be some green and red tones come out. Most HK stuff I had was deep brown, almost black. What could help with this kind of tea are clay jars, wax sealed, which might take of some of the edge, porcelain will probably accentuate it.

There's actually a wide range of roasting levels that are considered traditional here, but the very highly roasted ones get a lot of attention since they stand out so much from everything else out there right now. By far the largest market for those teas is Taiwan!

I would argue that overroasted tea is actually unpleasant. I've had stuff roasted very high that was done with bad material. Current Sea Dyke red DHP cans and yellow LCSX are an example. A very high roast, done right, is actually an improvement over the base material, and is enjoyable to drink. It's also familiar and comforting to a lot of Southeast Asian drinkers: my guess is high humidity meant dealers had to roast tea repeatedly back when airtight storage was a problem, and drinkers outside the main production areas got used to the high roast levels.

IMO porcelain is fine for storing high roasted teas, as is good, airtight pewter (traditional). I personally use Italian glass jars (Bormioli) and mylar bags for most of my oolongs. I prefer the roasty edge to be taken off by clay in the form of a teapot. I don't own any clay jars at all!

I am fortunate to have Factory 1 shuiping pots made specifically for very high roast HK tea (special order by HK vendors), but there are other options out there that really allow that kind of tea to shine. Duanni and good modern 'qingshuini' also work well. The right clay mutes the roast down, while allowing some very interesting flavors to come through!

[chofmann]

I've been drinking those teas I ordered from chofmann. The dong dings are very good--I'm enjoying them quite a bit! Might need to stock up on the dark roast
I find the Yan Yun a bit too sour for my taste, though that's probably just my brewing technique. The Rougui tastes nice and is quite aromatic--reminded me a bit of Milan Xiang Dan Cong. However, I couldn't quite push it to more than 3 brews in a gaiwan (maybe about 5 in a Yixing pot). Perhaps I should use more leaves? On a side note, the (aptly named) sugar white tea is incredible!

Other teas I've been bingeing on are Lao Cong shuixian and Tie Luo Han from Rui Quan studio. Still experimenting to get the most out of the teas (since they cost arms and legs), but my initial casual brews already yielded excellent result. Yanchas are expensive I don't wanna get too hooked

So glad you're enjoying them! How much Rou Gui are you using and what size is your gaiwan / yixing? It could be an issue of not enough leaf. Often with yancha you need a bit higher concentration, with shorter steeps.

[pantry]

So glad you're enjoying them! How much Rou Gui are you using and what size is your gaiwan / yixing? It could be an issue of not enough leaf. Often with yancha you need a bit higher concentration, with shorter steeps.

I was using a travel-size gaiwan that brews about 60ml of tea (broke 4 full sized gaiwain in a short two months ), so it doesn't keep heat very well. That session I used about 1.5g of tea. Using my 100ml yixing pot, I think I used about 2g leaves and brewed about 80 ml of tea. I used more or less the same ratio when brewing Yan Yun, which tasted much stronger and lasted longer. I stated in my previous post that I didn't enjoy it as much because of its sour note, but the next morning on my way to work I could still feel/remember its taste (in a pleasant way) in my mouth. (I did brush my teeth in between). Some powerful tea it is!

[Bok]

Opened a gifted tea. This one is definitely real, authentic Dayuling. The taste and appearance of the leaves and liquid is so obviously different!

This one has been processed very little, the liquid is leaning towards a greenish yellow. Rich, long lasting aftertaste and good endurance. Yet as with most high quality high mountain Oolong it doesn’t come out immediately.

Lovely. Such a difference to the FSS.

[Ethan Kurland]

Opened a gifted tea. This one is definitely real, authentic Dayuling. The taste and appearance of the leaves and liquid is so obviously different!

This one has been processed very little, the liquid is leaning towards a greenish yellow. Rich, long lasting aftertaste and good endurance. Yet as with most high quality high mountain Oolong it doesn’t come out immediately.

Lovely. Such a difference to the FSS.

When you say, "it doesn't come out immediately", do you mean the aftertaste and/or flavors build up by drinking many infusions or that later infusions carry more flavor?
(For myself, DYL and some other gaoshan give some or even most of their flavor after one swallows.)
Bok, I hope this real DYL doesn't ruin you for gaoshan that is excellent but not as special.

[Bok]

When you say, "it doesn't come out immediately", do you mean the aftertaste and/or flavors build up by drinking many infusions or that later infusions carry more flavor?

I guess it is kind of both, hard to be sure.

Bok, I hope this real DYL doesn't ruin you for gaoshan that is excellent but not as special.

To be honest, I find myself drinking less and less gaoshan for a couple of years already. It still has its place in my rotation, also being the tea that got me wandering into premium teas in the first place. But it lacks the complexity more oxidised, roasted, or aged teas have.

If you want, gaoshan becomes more of an everyday tea for me, not the special occasion/focus tea it once was. Maybe the result of having access to them too easily and often...

[Victoria]

Opened a gifted tea. This one is definitely real, authentic Dayuling. The taste and appearance of the leaves and liquid is so obviously different!

This one has been processed very little, the liquid is leaning towards a greenish yellow. Rich, long lasting aftertaste and good endurance. Yet as with most high quality high mountain Oolong it doesn’t come out immediately.

Lovely. Such a difference to the FSS.

Maybe your FuShouShan wasn’t real deal either? ...Just a thought. Mine has always been super rich, buttery, high minerality, coming through well into 10+ steeps over a few days, with longer and longer steeps. Although, my first introduction didn’t go well, it was too light and ephemeral. I wasn’t using enough leaf and my pot was to small, not letting leaves open up enough. Also, an initial luke warm wash helps open leaves up.

Looks like a tasty DaYuLing session. I also now only occasionally have high mountain, whereas it use to be my everyday staple. Now roasted DongDing for a few years is my go to. Guess tastes evolve.

[Bok]

@Victoria extremely unlikely it was fake.

I got it from a very close friend. She personally bought it at the farm itself as her family are in the agriculture business in the area. That is as close as it gets apart to go there myself... won’t get the tea there though even if I went in person without connection.

Of course packaging can and will be faked, yet this one has everything seemingly in order with seal sticker and the rest. Just reminds me seeing “FSS” for sale on a popular Western facing Taiwanese tea brand, sold without can, which no one will do, unless it’s not FSS!

[Tillerman]

To be honest, I find myself drinking less and less gaoshan for a couple of years already. It still has its place in my rotation, also being the tea that got me wandering into premium teas in the first place. But it lacks the complexity more oxidised, roasted, or aged teas have.

@Bok, I am with you on that one; after a foray with the greener gaoshan, I am ever increasingly moving to teas that have higher oxidation and some degree of roasting. With some searching, very fine examples of this style can be found among gaoshan tea as well.

I suppose that in the end one returns to what one was originally taught. Laoshi has no use for the greener style.

[Tillerman]

Of course packaging can and will be faked, yet this one has everything seemingly in order with seal sticker and the rest. Just reminds me seeing “FSS” for sale on a popular Western facing Taiwanese tea brand, sold without can, which no one will do, unless it’s not FSS!

From the photos @Bok published, this tea appears to be, in every respect, the real McCoy from the Fushoushan Farm. Sadly I must agree that this tea has been singularly unimpressive in recent years. It is not "bad" or "poor tea;" it simply doesn't deliver on expectations built up by the price and the reputation. For a lot less money, the Wuling Farm tea is much more rewarding.

[Ethan Kurland]

As a consumer of tea or food, I am happy to buy something that gives me what I want from a particular product (brand or whatever) that is better and/or cheaper than the "real thing".

For example, in South Africa (in 1988) I ate a hamburger that was fantastic. When the place was busy and people asked about the meat, the boss answered "100% beef". My third time there and when it was quiet, I asked the boss how he got his burger to be better. I expected to hear that there was some jungle meat in the burger. Instead I heard that it was 20% grain and more about why that..... which I did not understand. (That was before so many people decided that they are gluten-intolerant.)

I wonder if phrases such as "foushoushan style" or "dayuling quality" make sense? How does one quickly convey he offers quality and they type of product that is sought after without the provenance....?

Cheers

[Dresden]

Enjoying a lovely Summer 2016 Yǒujī dōngfāng měirén from @Tillerman. Fragrant with notes of honey, peach and perhaps a touch of citrus. Long lingering aftertaste with a sweetness that reminds me of cane sugar. Absolutely delicious!

[Ethan Kurland]

Enjoying a lovely Summer 2016 Yǒujī dōngfāng měirén from Tillerman. Fragrant with notes of honey, peach and perhaps a touch of citrus. Long lingering aftertaste with a sweetness that reminds me of cane sugar. Absolutely delicious!

I do not know how to put all those accents on top of vowels. I would have just said Oriental Beauty. Easier to spell. Anyway glad you reported back & memory of Victoria & I about O.B. from 2016 was correct.