What Oolong Are You Drinking

[Bok]

Dancong night… small pot, one cup, fade out into the weekend

[Andrew S]

A small pot of Daxue Jiadao's niu rou for lunch...

A very nice tea: bright and refreshing mouthfeel, lots of complex flavours, cooling sensations and a nice long aftertaste. There's an interesting rockmelon (cantaloupe) flavour as well. It seems to enjoy being treated more gently than how I often brew yancha. And using a little pot certainly helps to 'offset' the cost, at least in my mind...

@Bok: I'm guessing that you had to crush up those dancong leaves quite a bit to fit them into that little pot of yours (either that, or you're much more patient that I am, and much better at fitting them in than I am).

Andrew

[Bok]

Bok: I'm guessing that you had to crush up those dancong leaves quite a bit to fit them into that little pot of yours (either that, or you're much more patient that I am, and much better at fitting them in than I am).

Oh noooo! No leaves were harmed in the process at all. It's like stacking firewood logs for minions.

[LeoFox]

Found a small pack of 2006 roasted oolong from Taiwan tea crafts (lot 916)

https://www.taiwanteacrafts.com/product ... 16fd43adaa

Vendor description:

This tea was not baked or fired prior, nor during the ageing process. What you will experience in the cup is the pure result of a slow transformation in time. The dried fruit notes with delicate winey complexities and supple, leathery aromas are quite alluring. It is very accessible to the palate and would make a good introductory tea if this is your first step with aged oolongs. This Lot has aged properly and doesn’t present any of the unpleasant sourness found in many badly aged teas but a slight tanginess that suggests that this tea can still continue to improve if allowed to rest a little longer. 

Also this is four seasons cultivar- and "lightly roasted."

The tea does not taste aged or lightly roasted. Very heavy roasting is evident as I can only taste roast over multiple infusions. There is no hint of dried fruit until much later. The leaves are roasted so deeply, they don't seem to rebabsob the water much at all. There is zero Tanginess.

This is not to say the tea is awful. In fact it seems better than a lot of heavy roasted teas that cost quite a bit more- and can last many infusions. Just seems to be okay conventional heavy roasted tea

[Andrew S]

The tea does not taste aged or lightly roasted. Very heavy roasting is evident as I can only taste roast over multiple infusions. There is no hint of dried fruit until much later. The leaves are roasted so deeply, they don't seem to rebabsob the water much at all. There is zero Tanginess.

It seems rather odd how different your wet leaves look compared to the ones on their website; yours look like many heavily-roasted rolled teas, which may or may not be aged, whereas theirs don't look all that roasted (or all that rolled). The dry leaves look a little bit different too, but it's far too hard to tell through photos online; often it's just different lighting or processing. I wonder if it's the same tea, or if they rolled the leaves out manually to take their photo. It just seems a bit odd.

(I'm sorry, but as an aside, from a non-American, I just couldn't help but find some humour in how "Tanginess" got capitalised... apologies again)

My new year down here has started with some Winter 2020 Qing Xin high mountain tea, very pleasant and refreshing, and perhaps reflecting the increasing temperatures and high humidity. I was expecting / hoping to greet the new year with some old puer or such, but it didn't really work out as planned. However, I've been learning that it's better to drink what feels appropriate on any given day, rather than what you've saved up, or what you'd like to want to drink.

Andrew

[LeoFox]

The tea does not taste aged or lightly roasted. Very heavy roasting is evident as I can only taste roast over multiple infusions. There is no hint of dried fruit until much later. The leaves are roasted so deeply, they don't seem to rebabsob the water much at all. There is zero Tanginess.

It seems rather odd how different your wet leaves look compared to the ones on their website; yours look like many heavily-roasted rolled teas, which may or may not be aged, whereas theirs don't look all that roasted (or all that rolled). The dry leaves look a little bit different too, but it's far too hard to tell through photos online; often it's just different lighting or processing. I wonder if it's the same tea, or if they rolled the leaves out manually to take their photo. It just seems a bit odd.

(I'm sorry, but as an aside, from a non-American, I just couldn't help but find some humour in how "Tanginess" got capitalised... apologies again)

My new year down here has started with some Winter 2020 Qing Xin high mountain tea, very pleasant and refreshing, and perhaps reflecting the increasing temperatures and high humidity. I was expecting / hoping to greet the new year with some old puer or such, but it didn't really work out as planned. However, I've been learning that it's better to drink what feels appropriate on any given day, rather than what you've saved up, or what you'd like to want to drink.

Andrew

Here it is under different light - this is 6th infusion- all roast taste with decent body. Tastes very similar to coffee. Leaves look like death roast yancha

[LeoFox]

Brewing @Ethan Kurland's father's love tonight. After several months of being opened- the tea seems - the same - complex and full. Drinking it tonight just makes me smile despite a hard day and a challenging week.

Hope you are doing well, Ethan!

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[Teafortea]

Tea masters Alishan,

I'm happy and healthy and back to my tea's.

Amazing floral Alishan. Very long-lasting after taste.

[LeoFox]

Having tried a sample pouch of 2020 gaochong shuixiang - now trying it from the tin. Interesting differences.

viewtopic.php?p=44958#p44958

[mbanu]

I did get some "Unknown Fragrance" from Pek Sin Choon, although I'm not sure what to think about it yet. The pre-wrapped packages seem like a bit too much tea for my 90s Yixing pot (from the 8 on the bottom, I assume it is an "8-cup" by Yixing standards, but I'm not very good at sussing out the meaning of random pot-bottom marks), although it might just be a case where the tea is still too fresh, and it will work its way down to the right amount as it starts to go flat. Very nice tin, at least, and it's helped solve the problem I've had lately where I run out of oolong and don't realize, then feel like drinking an oolong.

[Bok]

I did get some "Unknown Fragrance" from Pek Sin Choon, although I'm not sure what to think about it yet. The pre-wrapped packages seem like a bit too much tea for my 90s Yixing pot (from the 8 on the bottom, I assume it is an "8-cup" by Yixing standards, but I'm not very good at sussing out the meaning of random pot-bottom marks), although it might just be a case where the tea is still too fresh, and it will work its way down to the right amount as it starts to go flat. Very nice tin, at least, and it's helped solve the problem I've had lately where I run out of oolong and don't realize, then feel like drinking an oolong.

Pek Sin Choon is mid-low(mostly low) grade teas. Similar to the teas of Fukien Tea Company out of Hong Kong. Classic tea brands, although FTC is a tad better in terms of quality.

Mostly what is called "death-roast", high roast to cover up inferior and blended material. Mostly you get chocolate and other flavours from the roast. Easy way to tell is that the spent leaves have no hint of green whatsoever...

It's cheap Dimsum restaurant tea and as that it works well – combined with greasy food it's passable, but I wouldn't waste a dedicated tea session on it. Hearsay has it FTC is exporting huge amounts to Taiwanese restaurants. PSC is the tea pair of choice for Bakkuttee, the Singapore pork rib soup specialty.

From the lot of these, I used to prefer the three-stamp Shuixian of Fukien Tea Co. Decent enough, but needs a lot of attention brewing, as most more mediocre teas need.

For those interested: http://hkfukientea.com/f_tealeaves.htm Not sure if they do oversees sales, I always got them directly from the shop when in HK.

[Andrew S]

Another session of 2019 medium-roasted Alishan from TheTea in a big pot, consumed without much attention.

A nice, calming tea.. There's a lovely deep fruitiness that comes through on the aftertaste. I think that a well-roasted tea doesn't really lose its fruitiness or freshness compared to an unroasted tea, but rather displays it in different ways. But I'm sure that a little resting period helps with that.

Andrew

[Bok]

Another session of 2019 medium-roasted Alishan from TheTea in a big pot, consumed without much attention.

A nice, calming tea.. There's a lovely deep fruitiness that comes through on the aftertaste. I think that a well-roasted tea doesn't really lose its fruitiness or freshness compared to an unroasted tea, but rather displays it in different ways. But I'm sure that a little resting period helps with that.

Andrew

Beautiful shot!

[matchayogi]

I'm new to Chinese tea so might not be the best evaluator, but a friend gave me this and I really loved it! Anyone familiar with this oolong from taiwan?

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[pedant]

i guess a blended dongding with tea from lugu and mingjian townships. i feel like i've seen "tea scholar" shops in taiwan, but it sounds like it could a common name, and maybe i'm fooling myself.

dongding is great.