What Oolong Are You Drinking

[LeoFox]

Maybe Bok can recommend a magic clay to increase this winter’s lack luster oolong‘s body and aroma . Increasing leaf to water ratio and time only goes so far .

Maybe kobiwako?

[Ethan Kurland]

.... both seem restrained in aromatics and body. Frustrating. This happened last winter as well. Using more leaf, again. Slightly cooled liquor has nice bolder flavor though. Thankfully I have quite a bit of quality yancha.

I am confident that I don't feel anything is lacking as far as "body" concerns go, for the 1 tea I like this season for gaoshan. I am not so confident saying it would satisfy everyone for "aromatics" because I have trouble comprehending aromatics. There is fresh green aroma, vibrant vegetal taste without bitterness (which often comes with green flavors) light floral notes (sometimes experienced as very mild sweetness) & sometimes I notice a hint of minerals.
Not directly to the issue, satisfaction from drinking tea has become a simpler matter for me. If I realize that I don't miss anything that a tea of a specific category might have, then I am happy. E.g., I would not say that the black tea that I drink has every characteristic of black teas that I like; yet, when I drink my favorite black, I never think, "if only it was malty, it would be better". (For food I wish I would have added a spice or whatever, I am never totally content with my cooking.)
Cheers

[Bok]

Maybe Bok can recommend a magic clay to increase this winter’s lack luster oolong‘s body and aroma . Increasing leaf to water ratio and time only goes so far .

Edit: referring to this winters roasted Taiwan oolong

Haha, I wish there were... but I guess we have to make do and hope for better harvests.

Had a Fushoushan as well which was also very light, still better to next doors government farm.

It goes across the bank, the whole middle and south of Taiwan had too little to no rain to make better tea this season. The lower lying teas fared slightly better.

Some farmers are harvesting too much as well, which decreases the overall quality of their plants.

[OCTO]

Starting off 2021 with a brew of Xin Ren Xiang DanCong... brewed strong with ChaoZhou ratios.

Cheers!!

[Bok]

Last bits of last winter’s harvest Lishan Dongpian. As far as I can tell/remember it hasn’t lost any of its goodness. Golden delicious.

[OCTO]

Last bits of last winter’s harvest Lishan Dongpian. As far as I can tell/remember it hasn’t lost any of its goodness. Golden delicious.

Yummy!!

[LeoFox]

Enjoyed a nice cup of shan lin xi harvested a day before my daughter was born in May. This is from teamasters. The tea presents a pleasant melange of alpine flowers, tropical fruits and brothiness.

Drinking same tea now with gaiwan. The difference is, as always, startling:

For porcelain, the aromatics take the fore: very flowery and green. It also tastes more citrusy. The main difference to me is the presence of a strong aftertaste reflecting the aromatics.

In contrast for kobiwako: almost no aftertaste. Aroma is "simplified" and concentrated to a few floral characterisrics. The striking difference is the predominance of umami and an almost oily thick texture. The porcelain almost had no umami! I had thought for a while teamasters tea were so umami forward. Now i see it was the kobiwako!

Which is better? Can't really say. Just different!

[Ethan Kurland]

Drinking same tea now with gaiwan. The difference is, as always, startling:

Leofox, you detect so much difference in the use of different types of vessels for steeping the same tea! It is fortunate that you enjoy the tea prepared in both vessels.

I notice that changing what teaware I use for preparation effects the brew; but, it never seems close to how much changes in the amount of leaves being used and/or changes to the length of time leaves are steeped, have on the brew.

I have often wondered about how we drinkers vary in our sensitivity to different clays, to glazed & unglazed clay, thickness of vessels, etc.; also how much individuals vary in picking out various flavors; & most recently I have wondered about how much we vary in our ability to find the words for what we taste. We may be experiencing the same response to what we drink, while our descriptions of what we taste vary greatly.

In my late 60s now, my mind loses abilities. Loss is conceptual sometimes. E.g., I cannot accurately imagine what adding some cardamom to a dish will do. Or, it is worse, loss being more concrete, I just don't know what cardamom smells or tastes like, essentially what it is. It is worse than not remembering the name of one of my neighbors; I guess it would be like not being sure she is a neighbor (has not happened to me yet).

I recognize major differences between lightly roasted oolongs that are = in quality yet not the same. E.g., excellent dayuling from Spring 2020 has more flavors that are easy to enjoy individually, than the longfengxia from the end of 2020. I might struggle to be very definite about the DYL & LFX in detail; so I hope I can do what is important, which is to appreciate both for their strengths. The DYL is complex & interesting; the LFX is rich & so satisfying.

[LeoFox]

@Ethan Kurland
I am, fortunately and unfortunately, very sensitive to tastes and smells. And the effect of aftertastes, either good or bad, can bless or curse me for hours after experiencing them...

[faj]

I notice that changing what teaware I use for preparation effects the brew; but, it never seems close to how much changes in the amount of leaves being used and/or changes to the length of time leaves are steeped, have on the brew.

No doubt, changing the amount of leaves and steeping time have a significant effect. But once I dial those to my liking for a given tea, I find the teapot has a residual impact that can be meaningful in terms of enjoyment. The difference might not be objectively huge, but it might carry me from "meh" to "looking forward to the next session". So, not the only thing that matters, but enough of a difference that it matters.

I have often wondered about how we drinkers vary in our sensitivity to different clays, to glazed & unglazed clay, thickness of vessels, etc.; also how much individuals vary in picking out various flavors

Seeing as how one person will have varying perceptions of the same tea prepared the same way due to time of day, mood, and a myriad other factors, I think it is safe to assume that our senses differ at least a bit from a physiological standpoint.

I know from experience that my life partner tends to have a lower threshold for detecting smells (she will smell "something" at lower concentration), but I tend to be better at making sense of an "olfactory landscape" (identifying ingredients, deciding how much spices and herbs to add, etc.). Who has the better sense of smell between us? There is no objective way to tell and no linear measuring scale. But we are different enough that we are repeatedly reminded of that.

[Ethan Kurland]

I know from experience that my life partner tends to have a lower threshold for detecting smells (she will smell "something" at lower concentration), but I tend to be better at making sense of an "olfactory landscape" (identifying ingredients, deciding how much spices and herbs to add, etc.). Who has the better sense of smell between us? There is no objective way to tell and no linear measuring scale. But we are different enough that we are repeatedly reminded of that.

faj, you write so well! "lower thresshold for detecting smells"; "olfactory landscape"; 7, "no linear measuring scale" make what you are saying clear & fun.

Cheers

[faj]

faj, you write so well! "lower thresshold for detecting smells"; "olfactory landscape"; 7, "no linear measuring scale" make what you are saying clear & fun.

As an engineer writing in a second language, I try to be clear, but that is the extent of my ambition : if my writing is fun in any way, it has to be purely accidental...

[LeoFox]

faj, you write so well! "lower thresshold for detecting smells"; "olfactory landscape"; 7, "no linear measuring scale" make what you are saying clear & fun.

As an engineer writing in a second language, I try to be clear, but that is the extent of my ambition : if my writing is fun in any way, it has to be purely accidental...

Hahaha in some ways faj is using layman terms for: limit of quantitation vs limit of detection vs range of linearity. Also in terms of variability, he expresses them similarly to concepts of repeatability and intermediate precision.

[Ethan Kurland]

.....in some ways faj is using layman terms for: limit of quantitation vs limit of detection vs range of linearity. Also in terms of variability, he expresses them similarly to concepts of repeatability and intermediate precision.

I did not realize that you technical & scientific people were being so considerate, giving us laymen a chance to comprehend! Thanks for that. This is a pleasure & educational.

[faj]

.....in some ways faj is using layman terms for: limit of quantitation vs limit of detection vs range of linearity. Also in terms of variability, he expresses them similarly to concepts of repeatability and intermediate precision.

I did not realize that you technical & scientific people were being so considerate, giving us laymen a chance to comprehend! Thanks for that. This is a pleasure & educational.

Whereas @Ethan Kurland was trying to make me sound more funny than I am, @LeoFox tries to make me sound more sophisticated than I am. If these terms are layman terms, then call me a layman, because they are the ones that came to my mind, and were not the simplified version of any deeper concepts I was contemplating...