OOTD- oolong of the day

**arghblech** · 07-12-2009, 01:52 PM

Originally Posted by Salsero

I haven't had anything from TeafromTaiwan for a couple years so I just ordered a couple sampler packs. No shipping! wOOt!

I ordered for similar reasons. You just can't go wrong for the price. A cheap way to try a bunch of oolongs.

Originally Posted by Salsero

Also, Camellia Sinensis in Quebec seems to be all the rage among the TeaChat oolongians, so I am going to order some of their 2009 Shan Lin Xi (Shi) and their 2009 Mayuan Shan Mrs. Nian. For some of these teas they actually name the farmer and describe the location it comes from. It looks like they source tea from some out of the way places.

I'm interested to hear what you have to say about them. I'm still a bit too new at this to know what I like so I seem to do lots of samplers and random ordering. I find it hard to pick from a list of teas without reviews and descriptions.

Originally Posted by Salsero

With my mind set on Taiwan oolong and darn little in the house, I guess I am forced now to brew some of my year-old Bao Zhong from TeaMasters.

I wish I had that problem

**TacoBell** · 07-12-2009, 07:12 PM

Who are your best sources for Chinese Oolongs? I have been getting mine from Dragon Tea Shop and Ten Ren, though Ten Ren is Taiwanese. I like shopping there when I am in NYC as I can taste the teas

**Salsero** · 07-12-2009, 07:56 PM

I don't really know a dynamite source for the good stuff from China.

I think the best Anxi oolongs I have had have come from Jing (the one in China). I would guess The Tea Gallery, Seven Cups, TeaCuppa, and TeaSpring all have pretty good stuff. Just4Tea, a boutique sideline shop of one woman, has a very good traditional, roasted TGY.

For Wuyi, TeaCuppa is generally good. Yunnan Sourcing currently has a good, inexpensive "Big Red Robe," though I wouldn't normally think of Scott as a great source for Wuyi tea.

Imen is the Dan Cong queen in the US, but apparently Dragon Tea has some good selections at more modest prices. I have also has fine luck with Jing for Dan Cong.

So, after thinking through all that, I guess I have to say, Jing probably comes out as the winner in the overall quality and broad selection category.

**arghblech** · 07-12-2009, 10:15 PM

I've had some tasty treats from http://houdeasianart.com.

**Yossarian** · 07-14-2009, 03:56 AM

I got both of their samplers a few months ago and have tried several but not all of them. So far, I haven't found anything that has "wowed" me. It could be my uneducated palate or brewing parameters, I suppose. I truly disliked the Aged Oolong. My notes remind me that it tasted more like cheese than the "Roasted Chestnuts" in their description.
I have not tried Jing or the others as yet but got some killer Wenshan Da Pa Baozhong (Winter '08) and Hsin Chu county Oriental Beauty from Tea Masters

**arghblech** · 07-16-2009, 04:10 PM

08 Wuyi Qi Lan oolong from the pass-around box (thanks PK!)

I really enjoyed this session. Sweet and toasty with woods and tannins. Muscular and large.

On top of that I was watching a documentary about Miles Davis gig at Isle of Wight in 1970 in front of 600k rock and folk fans... a big big show for a jazz act. Hence choosing a big big DHP for my session. A match made in heaven.

The doc was called Miles Electric: A Different Kind of Blue and it included the entire 38 minute IoW set. Check it out.

**arghblech** · 07-19-2009, 09:38 PM

2008 Bao Zhong oolong from the pass around.

Very nice and light with a pleasant vegetal sweetness. A+++ would drink again.

//I saved my one thousandth post for the Cafe

**thanks** · 07-19-2009, 10:41 PM

Originally Posted by arghblech

2008 Bao Zhong oolong from the pass around.

Very nice and light with a pleasant vegetal sweetness. A+++ would drink again.

//I saved my one thousandth post for the Cafe

Congrats and nice choice! I love a good baozhong.

**arghblech** · 08-08-2009, 10:26 AM

Taiwan Jade of unknown origin

Very sweet for two infusions. Bitter vegetation for the next few. Rounded out nicely and keep going for quite a while.

**arghblech** · 08-09-2009, 07:12 PM

This morning's tea was the otherwise unnamed "Organic Oolong" from a local tea house.

This a more heavily roasted oolong. Long leaves with a bit of yellow-green in the center but mostly brown. It is not a DHP. Nice berry aroma to the dry leaves but none of that makes it into the soup. The soup is woody but not complex. No sweetness.

I always have trouble with heavy roast oolongs so I'm not throwing in the towel yet. This one was unremarkable.

**arghblech** · 08-13-2009, 06:41 AM

More Organic Taiwan Jade.

Very nice for the first 2 infusions. Very poor for the next two. Pretty decent for the rest. I don't know what to think about this stuff.

**arghblech** · 08-17-2009, 06:06 AM

Houde's 09 Nan Tou Dong Ding

I put a bunch of this in the pass around box. I hope plenty of you get to try it.

**thanks** · 08-17-2009, 01:06 PM

Finishing up the last of my sample of the 08 Floating Leaves Tea Taiwan Wuyi. I love this tea so much, that I ordered a pound yesterday! Cheap, roasty, silky, sweet, and spicy- it's everything I love in an oolong. If you have the spare cash, I highly recommend picking up at least an ounce to sample here.

**thanks** · 08-22-2009, 02:56 PM

Today I'm having the 2009 Shui Xian and the 2009 Taiwan Wuyi from Floating Leaves Tea. Both teas are named simply for their plant varietal, as they are processed like a baozhong style tea. Normally baozhong is made with the chin hsin varietal, so this is a rare chance to learn about the difference the starting leaf makes.

The 2009 Taiwan Wuyi seems like a slightly darker roast than the 2008 batch I'm familiar with. Nevertheless, it has a nicer mouthfeel, and the huigan is improved over last years as well. The flavor seems to be a tad darker, but at the cost of losing a little complexity. I can't really tell if I like this better, or if they're both equal teas that offer something different. Definitely doesn't taste like a baozhong, or smell like one. The only similarities I really see between this and a chin hsin baozhong is mouthfeel and huigan. Very good tea.

The 2009 Shui Xian I was more interested in as I've only had the shui xian varietal prepared in the usual heavy handed wuyi yancha style. Usually a cheaper tea, shui xian wuyi yancha in my opinion is a cheap staple of my collection. A decent and serviceable everyday cold season tea, but nothing extraordinary. This 09 Shui Xian is a much lighter tea, and looks more like a regular chin hsin baozhong as well. Excellent and strong floral aroma, but not one normally found in lighter oolongs. This isn't as sharp, it seems more rounded and it's definitely a welcome change of pace. Superb mouthfeel, silky smooth and buttery. Excellent sweet taste that downplays the normal vegetal notes I'd expect in such a light oolong with a great huigan. This tea is incredibly unique, and probably teaches the biggest lesson in varietal characteristics and how important the source material is for the particular style of tea.

Both excellent teas, both on sale at excellent prices, and Floating Leaves Tea is quickly becoming my favorite tea shop on the internet.

**Hobbesoxon** · 08-23-2009, 01:32 AM

Originally Posted by thanks

Floating Leaves Tea is quickly becoming my favorite tea shop on the internet.

Is this the outfit that sells their teas in really beautiful, large, black zip-loc bags, with images of traditional Chinese paintings on the front? I had a friend send me two a few years ago, and I was very impressed, if so.

Edit: nm, that turned out to be "The Whole Leaf".

Toodlepip,

Hobbes

P.s. "Floating Leaves Tea" certainly seems to make people happy!

(from their home-page)

**arghblech** · 08-25-2009, 06:19 AM

2008 Oriental Beauty from the box pass via PK.

I've been saving this for a special session and that was today. I was dreading getting up and needed some extra motivation.

Sweet. Honey and spices. Long lasting for oolong. I'm 6 infusions in and still getting tasty soup. I'm enjoying this so much I just bought some :)

**arghblech** · 08-27-2009, 07:14 AM

2 oolongs today because I'm nuts. N.V.T.S. nuts.

2008 Premium TGY of Anxi
Floral, sweet and shiny. I love this stuff. It's like drinking caffeinated, tea flavored angels. *cough* I'm assuming angels are decaf.

Crappy "Organic Wulong" from mediocre local tea shop of doom
This was consumed simply for a fast jolt of C8H10N4O2 (sorry no subscript from me). It's the Folger's crystals of Wuyi oolongs. That said, it did the trick and I'm so wired I could chew through rock.

**arghblech** · 08-27-2009, 07:19 AM

Originally Posted by thanks

Both excellent teas, both on sale at excellent prices, and Floating Leaves Tea is quickly becoming my favorite tea shop on the internet.

I purchased nine teas from them based on your recommendation! I can't wait for the mailman.

Imelda Marcos : shoes :: Argh : tea

**Salsero** · 08-27-2009, 08:02 AM

Floating Leaves Da Yu Ling today at work and her He Huan Shan yesterday, both Spring 2009. The Winter 2008 Dong Ding a few days ago. After drinking through a set of Tea From Taiwan Spring samples, this is a big improvement. Count on Shiuwen to deliver consistent, high quality.

**P_K** · 08-27-2009, 03:03 PM

09 Early Spring Fragrance oolong from ebay vendor zen8tea -

Fruity with some floral touches and few vegetal notes. I have steeped this as many as seven times and still got nice color and flavor. This is a good value for the 150g amount.