What Oolong Are You Drinking

Semi-oxidized tea
jason19870313
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Tue Jul 09, 2019 9:42 pm

Shine Magical wrote:
Tue Jul 09, 2019 1:44 pm
I've drank 100g of Da Yu Ling in the past 2 weeks.

One from Tea Masters - DYL 98k, the other is Ethan Kurland's DYL. Both are very good and it just boils down to what kind of session you want to have.

Tea Masters' 98K DYL is light, airy, and has a basil flavor. It is rather easy drinking and its simple to enjoy all that it offers.
Ethan's DYL is more savory, I think the flavor is more like egg noodles, though it still has a basil flavor note but it is in the background as a secondary flavor. Thus it is more complex and not as easy to drink since it requires more concentration to observe the flavors. I think it would be possible to enjoy 1 additional steep of it over the Tea Master's DYL because the complexity can offer more longevity.
Which year😂
jason19870313
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Tue Jul 09, 2019 9:44 pm

Victoria wrote:
Tue Jul 09, 2019 2:07 pm
Those sound so delicious Shine Magical. Just a few days ago I opened a 2017 small DaYuLing vacu-pack from HY Chen. It has been a few years since I had any DYL, and I was really pleased that it was still so fresh, with buttery savory effervescent minerality. I’ll order some soon; all these DYL reviews are inspiring, plus I forgot how very special a good DaYuLing is. Wow.
Do he sell to overseas?
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Bok
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Tue Jul 09, 2019 9:48 pm

jason19870313 wrote:
Tue Jul 09, 2019 9:44 pm
Victoria wrote:
Tue Jul 09, 2019 2:07 pm
Those sound so delicious Shine Magical. Just a few days ago I opened a 2017 small DaYuLing vacu-pack from HY Chen. It has been a few years since I had any DYL, and I was really pleased that it was still so fresh, with buttery savory effervescent minerality. I’ll order some soon; all these DYL reviews are inspiring, plus I forgot how very special a good DaYuLing is. Wow.
Do he sell to overseas?
Yes, but if you speak Chinese, better contact him directly via facebook, website is poorly maintained, does not reflect the teas available or more details on them.
http://2088taiwan.com//index.php?route=common/home
https://www.facebook.com/%E8%96%AA%E8%A ... 2&fref=tag
jason19870313
Posts: 157
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Location: Singapore

Wed Jul 10, 2019 12:04 am

Bok wrote:
Tue Jul 09, 2019 9:48 pm
jason19870313 wrote:
Tue Jul 09, 2019 9:44 pm
Victoria wrote:
Tue Jul 09, 2019 2:07 pm
Those sound so delicious Shine Magical. Just a few days ago I opened a 2017 small DaYuLing vacu-pack from HY Chen. It has been a few years since I had any DYL, and I was really pleased that it was still so fresh, with buttery savory effervescent minerality. I’ll order some soon; all these DYL reviews are inspiring, plus I forgot how very special a good DaYuLing is. Wow.
Do he sell to overseas?
Yes, but if you speak Chinese, better contact him directly via facebook, website is poorly maintained, does not reflect the teas available or more details on them.
http://2088taiwan.com//index.php?route=common/home
https://www.facebook.com/%E8%96%AA%E8%A ... 2&fref=tag
Thanks for the help

Price?
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Bok
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Wed Jul 10, 2019 12:16 am

jason19870313 wrote:
Wed Jul 10, 2019 12:04 am
Thanks for the help

Price?
Ask him directly, different prices for different people...
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d.manuk
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Wed Jul 10, 2019 2:08 am

jason19870313 wrote:
Tue Jul 09, 2019 9:42 pm
Shine Magical wrote:
Tue Jul 09, 2019 1:44 pm
I've drank 100g of Da Yu Ling in the past 2 weeks.

One from Tea Masters - DYL 98k, the other is Ethan Kurland's DYL. Both are very good and it just boils down to what kind of session you want to have.

Tea Masters' 98K DYL is light, airy, and has a basil flavor. It is rather easy drinking and its simple to enjoy all that it offers.
Ethan's DYL is more savory, I think the flavor is more like egg noodles, though it still has a basil flavor note but it is in the background as a secondary flavor. Thus it is more complex and not as easy to drink since it requires more concentration to observe the flavors. I think it would be possible to enjoy 1 additional steep of it over the Tea Master's DYL because the complexity can offer more longevity.
Which year😂
Spring 2019
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d.manuk
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Thu Jul 11, 2019 8:38 pm

I’m having more sessions with Tea Masters 98k DYL and Ethan Kurkland’s DYL, but with different waters than I’m used to. I’m in LA right now and it seems like Poland Spring isn’t sold here. So I’m trying some Western brand waters that I normally don’t use. It can be hit or miss. Arrowhead wasn’t very good. Ice Canyon water was very good for the 98k since it brought out the oiliness in the tea which is a good aspect of it. It was just so-so for Ethan’s, I’m sure there’s a better water match for it. For now, I’m experimenting before I meet with others for more tea sessions while I’m here.
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Victoria
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Thu Jul 11, 2019 8:42 pm

Shine Magical wrote:
Thu Jul 11, 2019 8:38 pm
I’m having more sessions with Tea Masters 98k DYL and Ethan Kurkland’s DYL, but with different waters than I’m used to. I’m in LA right now and it seems like Poland Spring isn’t sold here. So I’m trying some Western brand waters that I normally don’t use. It can be hit or miss. Arrowhead wasn’t very good. Ice Canyon water was very good for the 98k since it brought out the oiliness in the tea which is a good aspect of it. It was just so-so for Ethan’s, I’m sure there’s a better water match for it. For now, I’m experimenting before I meet with others for more tea sessions while I’m here.
Try these easy to find spring waters;
Iceland Spring: Nice Iceland Pure Spring @Walgreens, V Iceland natural spring @theVitamin Shoppe, Iceland Natural Spring @WholeFoods, Glacier isle @RiteAid.
or
Crystal Geyser, Alpine Spring (by CG Roxane Olancha, CA)

How are are you heating water on your trip? Hopefully not hotel kettle :) .

P.S. Poland Spring, owned by Nestle, is very controversial, lots of lawsuits. It has low TDS but is also apparently just cheap water from landfills and waste areas :( https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/29/busi ... -ios-share
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d.manuk
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Thu Jul 11, 2019 8:56 pm

Victoria wrote:
Thu Jul 11, 2019 8:42 pm
How are are you heating water on your trip? Hopefully not hotel kettle :) .
Yes :D
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Victoria
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Thu Jul 11, 2019 9:05 pm

Shine Magical wrote:
Thu Jul 11, 2019 8:56 pm
Victoria wrote:
Thu Jul 11, 2019 8:42 pm
How are are you heating water on your trip? Hopefully not hotel kettle :) .
Yes :D
Yeah, a bad kettle will ruin even mediocre water :) . Here at my mother’s without realizing, I was using a copper bottom kettle that had oxidized and I couldn’t figure out why my teas tasted off, even when using very good spring water. After using an old Pyrex glass saucepan with spout, all of a sudden my teas tasted great!
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Victoria
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Thu Jul 11, 2019 9:39 pm

So now that I have water under control, I steeped @Tillerman’s Tian Chi High Mountain from winter ‘18 (the one he generously gave us a refund on). Well, it was really good, lots of fruity buttery sweet bread aromatics and very rich thick LiShan notes with background citrus spikes. Now I’m curious, if this is not up to snuff, well then what does ‘the real deal’ taste like. Must be stellar.
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d.manuk
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Thu Jul 11, 2019 9:40 pm

Victoria wrote:
Thu Jul 11, 2019 9:05 pm
Shine Magical wrote:
Thu Jul 11, 2019 8:56 pm
Victoria wrote:
Thu Jul 11, 2019 8:42 pm
How are are you heating water on your trip? Hopefully not hotel kettle :) .
Yes :D
Yeah, a bad kettle will ruin even mediocre water :) . Here at my mother’s without realizing, I was using a copper bottom kettle that had oxidized and I couldn’t figure out why my teas tasted off, even when using very good spring water. After using an old Pyrex glass saucepan with spout, all of a sudden my teas tasted great!
It's quite new and the inside looks barely used, I don't think its a big factor.
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Fri Jul 12, 2019 11:10 am

High Mountain (Lishan) Medium Oxidized/Medium Roasted Oolong SPRING 2019:

I wrote about being disappointed by this tea because I tasted the roasting too much. I wondered if it needed to breath. YES, that was the situation. Just the package having been opened was enough. I did not put the tea into a ceramic caddy. Just a bit of air can do so much in 2 weeks!

This is lovely. Very close to the WINTER '19. Slightly different but words fail me to say how so. = in quality.

(If this SPRING harvest was not good, I was sure that I would stock an aged, roasted, well oxidized oolong instead, hoping that my palate had developed & could better appreciate such a special tea. A couple of years ago, some sessions were wonderful & some seemed tasty but not extraordinary. Now I don't know what to order.)
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Victoria
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Fri Jul 12, 2019 11:45 am

Ethan Kurland wrote:
Fri Jul 12, 2019 11:10 am
High Mountain (Lishan) Medium Oxidized/Medium Roasted Oolong SPRING 2019:

I wrote about being disappointed by this tea because I tasted the roasting too much. I wondered if it needed to breath. YES, that was the situation. Just the package having been opened was enough. I did not put the tea into a ceramic caddy. Just a bit of air can do so much in 2 weeks!

This is lovely. Very close to the WINTER '19. Slightly different but words fail me to say how so. = in quality.

(If this SPRING harvest was not good, I was sure that I would stock an aged, roasted, well oxidized oolong instead, hoping that my palate had developed & could better appreciate such a special tea. A couple of years ago, some sessions were wonderful & some seemed tasty but not extraordinary. Now I don't know what to order.)
I think this is also what may have occurred with Tillerman’s Tian Chi High Mountain from winter ‘18 that I had yesterday - that it just needed to air for a while to open up a little. I’ve had HY Chen’s lightly roasted LiShan which was really good, so now I’m curious to try a medium roast/oxidized version. Did you clip your open bag, to close, or leave it completely open? Mine was closed with one of those bag clips for several months. Much better now.
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debunix
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Fri Jul 12, 2019 12:18 pm

Hehuan Shan from Floating Leaves tasting sampler, cool infused in my thermos for a treat at the office. I did my usual hot start, filling up the bottle with cool water from the tap after 10 minutes soak in boiling water, and several hours later I am enjoying spicy, sweet summer meadow, so pleasant, and apropos of a recent discussion about temperature, this lukewarm tea is giving excellent opportunity to savor the flavor and scent. Mmmmm!
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