What Oolong Are You Drinking

Semi-oxidized tea
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Victoria
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Fri Jan 31, 2020 11:12 am

Rickpatbrown wrote:
Fri Jan 31, 2020 4:55 am
My first trip to Taiwan!
Jiufen tea house. First time having Gui-fen. What a delicious tea! It has the backbone of good gaoshan, strong buttery aroma, with the sweetness and complexity of eastern beauty.
A bit pricey, but the tea house is truly spectacular, especially in the setting of Jiufen.
Sounds like the beginning of a very promising trip to Taiwan. Maybe you can share under travel some highlights along the way. Gui-fen sounds very tasty have not tried that yet. Looks like a very low roast, oxidized mostly while on leaf.
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Bok
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Fri Jan 31, 2020 6:45 pm

Victoria wrote:
Fri Jan 31, 2020 11:12 am
Rickpatbrown wrote:
Fri Jan 31, 2020 4:55 am
My first trip to Taiwan!
Jiufen tea house. First time having Gui-fen. What a delicious tea! It has the backbone of good gaoshan, strong buttery aroma, with the sweetness and complexity of eastern beauty.
A bit pricey, but the tea house is truly spectacular, especially in the setting of Jiufen.
Sounds like the beginning of a very promising trip to Taiwan. Maybe you can share under travel some highlights along the way. Gui-fen sounds very tasty have not tried that yet. Looks like a very low roast, oxidized mostly while on leaf.
I am sure you have tried something similar, sounds like a made up name hinting it is some sort of bug bitten oolong... gui fei is concubine(oriental beauty), fen seems to me an allusion to the place of the teahouse, which is in Jiu-fen ;)

By the way a very nice one in this otherwise very touristy place. Prices are fair for what it is and where it is located.
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Rickpatbrown
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Sat Feb 01, 2020 8:11 am

Bok wrote:
Fri Jan 31, 2020 6:45 pm

I am sure you have tried something similar, sounds like a made up name hinting it is some sort of bug bitten oolong... gui fei is concubine(oriental beauty), fen seems to me an allusion to the place of the teahouse, which is in Jiu-fen ;)

By the way a very nice one in this otherwise very touristy place. Prices are fair for what it is and where it is located.
Ha. My bad. I meant Gui-fei. Sorry. My Chinese is non existent.

Maybe, I've never had good oriental beauty. This was similar, but the buttery aroma and after taste was something I never had in OB. There was also a really strong stone fruit, lychee note.

Isnt OB usually an open, twisted form and not ball rolled? This tea was very tightly rolled.

Also, the charcoal pit in each table for the kettle was something I've never seen. I was in love. I need a table like this!
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Bok
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Sat Feb 01, 2020 8:56 am

@Rickpatbrown Guifei is not exactly the same as OB, similar, but not quite. Real OB is excruciatingly expensive, also because it’s en vogue at the moment among the high brow tea people in Taiwan. I had the luck accompanying someone sampling OB, tasting an OB that retails in Taiwan at 40000NT, roughly 1000$ per jin (600g). I can tell you those teas had not the slightest in common with what you will normally find in the shops...

Would I buy it if had the money? Probably not, but I am still glad to know what it’s supposed to taste like when it’s premium :)

Just can’t get over the bug bitten flavour, still hate it.
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Sat Feb 01, 2020 10:34 am

Bok wrote:
Sat Feb 01, 2020 8:56 am

Just can’t get over the bug bitten flavour, still hate it.
I have never thought of how the bug-bites specifically flavor the tea or should I say how specifically it gives one flavor. I usually think of Oriental Beauty being sweet in a fairly unique way. Some organic black tea has a good bit of that flavor for me.
The OB that I have bought over the last few years is not the most expensive that that vendor sells. His most expensive (but not close to 40000 NT per jin) is just sweet black tea to me, not really OB.

Bok, you are lucky to not really like tea that is so expensive.
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Sat Feb 01, 2020 11:13 am

Ethan Kurland wrote:
Sat Feb 01, 2020 10:34 am
Bok wrote:
Sat Feb 01, 2020 8:56 am
Just can’t get over the bug bitten flavour, still hate it.
I have never thought of how the bug-bites specifically flavor the tea or should I say how specifically it gives one flavor.
Although I am not even remotely knowledgeable in either type, the (decent) Oriental Beauty and Darjeeling teas I have tasted share an aromatic aspect I do not like much either which I have understood to be the bug-bitten flavor. To me, it cannot be mistaken for anything else. It was entirely missing from inexpensive OB I have tasted.
Ethan Kurland wrote:
Sat Feb 01, 2020 10:34 am
Bok, you are lucky to not really like tea that is so expensive.
I am quite sure, unlucky as he is, that @Bok likes other very expensive teas to give him occasions to either spend a lot, or long for the unattainable...

Sometimes, it might be better not knowing what you are missing.
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debunix
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Sat Feb 01, 2020 11:49 am

Rickpatbrown wrote:
Fri Jan 31, 2020 4:55 am
Jiufen tea house.
A bit pricey, but the tea house is truly spectacular, especially in the setting of Jiufen.
Any photos of the tea house and setting? The tea and table setting are lovely!
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Rickpatbrown
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Sat Feb 01, 2020 6:26 pm

debunix wrote:
Sat Feb 01, 2020 11:49 am
Rickpatbrown wrote:
Fri Jan 31, 2020 4:55 am
Jiufen tea house.
A bit pricey, but the tea house is truly spectacular, especially in the setting of Jiufen.
Any photos of the tea house and setting? The tea and table setting are lovely!
It was hard to capture. But. ..

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Rickpatbrown
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Sat Feb 01, 2020 6:32 pm

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This is Cha Hu Shan (teapot mountain) surrounding the old street of Jiufen
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Bok
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Sat Feb 01, 2020 9:12 pm

faj wrote:
Sat Feb 01, 2020 11:13 am

Although I am not even remotely knowledgeable in either type, the (decent) Oriental Beauty and Darjeeling teas I have tasted share an aromatic aspect I do not like much either which I have understood to be the bug-bitten flavor. To me, it cannot be mistaken for anything else. It was entirely missing from inexpensive OB I have tasted.

I am quite sure, unlucky as he is, that @Bok likes other very expensive teas to give him occasions to either spend a lot, or long for the unattainable...

Sometimes, it might be better not knowing what you are missing.
Bingo! That is exactly the bug part! If it’s absent it’s not Oriental beauty. It can, as Ethan noted be also present on other teas, mostly summer teas when there are more insects and the tea is at least partially organic or wild. However I’ve been recently told by a farmer that it can even occur on Winter teas, so there’s that.

And yes @Faj I do indeed have other in attainable teas that I love and crave for... good Yancha comes to mind.
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Bok
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Sat Feb 01, 2020 9:15 pm

debunix wrote:
Sat Feb 01, 2020 11:49 am
Rickpatbrown wrote:
Fri Jan 31, 2020 4:55 am
Jiufen tea house.
A bit pricey, but the tea house is truly spectacular, especially in the setting of Jiufen.
Any photos of the tea house and setting? The tea and table setting are lovely!
If you type jiufen teahouse you should find a lot of images on IG or else. It’s the only decent tea house up there. And their teas are better in my opinion than other famous teahouses...
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Sat Feb 01, 2020 10:14 pm

I don't know how many of us will get there; however:

Jiufen charges a flat rate for the tea, kettle, teaware (or at least that is what I understood what was done). I did not drink there because I was alone & torrential rain made the great view on the ocean less alluring. I think a long Pu-erh seesion with friends would be really special.
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debunix
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Sun Feb 02, 2020 12:38 am

The tea house looks wonderful, thanks for sharing
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Bok
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Sun Feb 02, 2020 4:51 am

debunix wrote:
Sun Feb 02, 2020 12:38 am
The tea house looks wonderful, thanks for sharing
I send everyone who’s in Taipei and doesn’t have much time to see the rest of the country there, it’s well worth the trip! Their aged tea is not bad I remember, Gaoshan as well. Of course you pay more than having tea at home, but that’s the price of having tea outside... the amount of leaves is enough for two pots with at least a good 7 brews each, so it’s al lot of tea in the end.
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lUKAV28
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Sun Feb 09, 2020 1:32 pm

I found the perfect match for my tiny Hokujo pot. Mr. Chen summer dong ding that I received with my last thetea.pl club did the magic. Tea was so pleasant and flavorful. I don’t have much experience with oolongs but man, every time I try something like this I am hooked. This tea was processed by Mr. Chen but roasted by one of Wojciech friends. It came in two versions. This session was with electric roasted and ahead of me is charcoal roasted dong ding. Can’t wait!
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