Official Oolong thread!

FACT

you know the truth

I see no-one is stepping in to dispute this claim, therefore, fact

Ok. you’ve asked for it. It’s not superior. Even though I was bitten by oolong bug lately. I drink oolong everyday now and consumed more than my entire life. I do like oolong. But:
A) it’s expensive
B) finicky . God forbid wrong temp or time.
C) green oolong is nuclear death for me. And it’s current trend . Green blech .
So to sum up. It’s nice but not superior :D.

Nobody said anything cuz it’s oolong thread for oolong ppl. You are welcome to make such statement on other threads ;P

haha . you know i was tongue in cheek i hope

I wasn’t very serious either. If it sounds like that I have very valid excuse – ESL

oolong wins then. i was being serious :P

Ha! And I thought you are sincere. Another lesson for me ;P

Btw you never proved that my statements were wrong lol

you are actually talking truth ;)

but when it works. its the best imo

Ok I agree. When it works it’s delicious and so complex

tastes like nothing else on this planet.

interesting you dont like the nuclear TGY. I’ve asked scott to try and find some older style TGY because ive heard about it being better, whole leaf & twigs. a bit sweeter and less forced.

I think he said ‘red heart’ is a good one. or someone else did

Let’s just say I hate flowers to the point I get headaches and they make me nauseous. I like fruits and nuts, and spice. I don’t like very aged oolong either. Like 2005 or something. It has weird taste. My absolute favorite would be traditional roasted or baked. When the soup is warm yellow, orange or even red. But green is no no. I have to ask Scott. Thanks

I think its still very tgy, but not modern green bred and chopped for colour (which is why they hack the leaf, because the red spoils the colour, nuclear green wins profit-wise) twig also adds sweetness apparently. a different region make it like this, i dont think anxi-style. hmm I’m not sure but thats the general gist of it.

ive read blogs where people described it as much nicer.

i love it! how that comes about I do not know. plus I love oily/creamy dancong. so good

Well, way to pick the two most expensive teas of all!

There is no superior tea. To each their own. I love puerh both Sheng/shou and I like oolong( lately) . I drink Yancha, Taiwanese , TGY everyday. And I cannot say that any of those are the ones.

My favorite companies are
http://www.taotealeaf.com/oolong/
I love their DHP and Bei Dou

http://yunnansourcing.com/en/20201148-wu_yi_mountain_rock_oolongs
Currently sampling from Tea Yuan. Very impressed with their high roasted Yancha
http://www.tea-yuan.com/collections/frontpage

http://chaceremony.com
Joseph Wesley has limited edition of Shui Xian, very nice roasted
http://josephwesleytea.com/collections/tea/products/limited-edition-tea

Check out the reviews on here

Thank you soooo much!

I see you are new to Steepster. Welcome!

I am new here, thank you, b!

If you plan your next move how about I give few more links lol
Great Taiwanese oolongs
http://taiwanoolongs.com
http://www.taiwanteacrafts.com/?v=7516fd43adaa
And my new favorite
https://eco-cha.com
I signed up for their club

Welcome to Steepster Two4Tea.

All of the boychik vendor recommendations are solid.

I’d also like to add:
http://teafromvietnam.com/
(the web site is presently down for maintenance, something that happens fairly frequently)

Their Ta is floral and sweet with citrus notes and is quite nice, if that’s your thing.

And their Gui Fei is a leaf-hopper or “bug bitten” type and is very sweet and fruity with some florals as well.

Those are the only two I’ve tried from them so far.

I’m curious about Charcoal baked ;)

is it comparable to the what-cha offering me and daylon rate? that is the benchmark

Unfortunately I’ve never had the What-Cha offering (shipping is too expensive!) but the Sharing series one so far is super very much like a very floral high mountain oolong, with just daffodil flavor and scent. Little sweetness, but serious flower power. This one is pretty one-dimensional, but it’s good, so the higher grades must be great!

you know they do free shipping international now for $38+?

Awesome! Gonna add it to the ever-growing list of things I must order from!

Rasseru, from what I can tell, all online purveyors of zhangping shui xian are sourcing it from the same farm.

Equusfell, I had a feeling you’d enjoy this one too. Aside from being a flower bomb, it has excellent re-steeping power. Don’t remember which grade I had, but I was steeping a half-brick for 2 days and still getting a ton of flavor from it.

Yeah, I thought this too. zhangping is the village or farm right?

Yup, this cake-style oolong is unique to the village of Zhangping.

I like these a lot, and I get next day delivery from what-cha so bonus.

They do something right in zhangping, its really good tea

blimey. a 1963?

http://camellia-sinensis.com/en/toufen-1963

TTC is excellent and an underrated vendor IMO. Probably my favorite Taiwan-based vendor at the moment.

I’ve been wanting to order from Taiwan Sourcing to see how they stack up to TTC.

Is the other name of it Gaoshan?

It is! Wasn’t aware of that until I Googled… Turns out this is not an easy one to find.

Copied this from Tea Trekker (anyone order from them?)…

High mountain tea gardens produce semiball-rolled oolongs that are grown between 4,000-8,000 ft and are called gao shan. These tea gardens, located in Ali Shan, Shan Lin Xi and Li Shan, are famous for these teas. Green style semiball-rolled oolong is given 25%-40% oxidation, and minimal to no roasting.

Traditional semiball-rolled oolongs, another variation, are teas that are higher in oxidation and are often given a light, medium or full roasting. Teas that are given a higher oxidation or are roasted acquire a different set of fruity flavors and aromas that suggest honey, peaches, apricots and nuts.

In contract, gao shan oolongs are richly floral, highly aromatic, and possess fresh, clean lingering flavors. They are among the world’s finest and most expensive oolongs because there is only a small quantity of these teas produced in two short growing seasons. Gao shan tea gardens are located in high altitude areas where cool climates and thin air slow the maturation of the tea bushes and the fresh leaf. In this environment tea flavor and aroma becomes concentrated, and the percentage of amino acids in the fresh leaf (especially that of L-theanine) contributes additional sweetness to the teas. Gao shan teas are always plucked by hand and are comprised of 3, 4, or 5 leaves that are still attached to the their twig end. As gao shan steeps, the configuration of the pluck reveals itself as the leaf unfurls in the tea vessel.

I think this was a score! ???

go back and buy the entire stock it sounds like, how does it compare to other anxi oolongs? and is it fresh in foil?

It was a small shop that had what seemed like hundreds of tiny clay teapots, some cups and a few tasting sets. I never realized the teapots were that small (don’t own one yet)… I intended to buy a Gaiwan, of which she had about 5 up on a shelf, but I couldn’t even see them due to sensory teapot overload… She showed me one that she said was new and took it apart… It had a strainer that lifted out. Gaiwan with training wheels…just my speed. Asked how much… $40. Said I’d take it… She then asked if I wanted some tea… Figured I better pace myself. Tend to go overboard. Lots of tea at home…more on the way. Why did that stupid instinct decide to kick in now, I wonder in retrospect? Anyway…
Not sure yet how it compares, but My Feb TOTM arrived yesterday and should be in my mailbox, according to tracking, so I should be able to answer your question soon. Definitely floral, but not overly so to me… I don’t like drinking perfume and didn’t feel at all like I was. Just a beautiful aroma… Couldn’t stop smelling it. She originally pulled a large tin down and took the lid off for me to smell as I was asking her if I could just try one first to be sure I liked it. She said she would make me some and smiled and I said “oh no, you don’t have to do that, I am happy to buy it”. Dumb newbie mistake on my part. :). Anyway, she said “$10 minimum” and pulled a large tin off the shelf for me to smell. Smelled very good… And she pulled another one down that smelled good, too, but not as good as the first. I said I’d take the first one. Very nice lady, English not the best, but made a comment that she wanted me to come back… She did pull down some in foil, one larger and one smaller, one had 50 written on it and I knew I could be in trouble… Maybe she was just trying to show me it was fresh? In retrospect, it may have been the (50) price in Chinese… or not. Guess I’ll find out when I go back. That seems a definite.
It originally seemed a small amount for $10, but turns out it is very compact… Rolled into little balls, so when I put what I thought would be good for two in the strainer to my tea pot, once it got wet it totally filled it and was still not unfurled after the second steep. I used a little too much… Scooped some out and transferred to Gaiwan… spread the rest out on a plate… still curled up… then steeped the Gaiwan portion several more times. Still nice. Think it even had more life left when I stopped last night. It was 1 am… Sorry for the lack of tasting details, but I am not good with the descriptions yet. Imagine that will come in time. The big question is do I go back and get more today? Trouble, Will Robinson!!! Think I want one of those tiny teapots now, too… And to think my Perfectea steeper was so cool yesterday… The shine has definitely worn off a bit. Can I blame you Steepsterites? :) New profile pic is that session in the new Gaiwan.

ah ok, from this I am guessing you arent so familiar with anxi oolongs?, tie guan yin being the famous variety.

Amazing arent they! I can smell them for minutes at a time too. And yes, they unfurl a lot.

Sometimes a small pinch in the bottom of a cup is a nice way to drink them too, as they unfurl into big leaf that stays at the bottom of the cup and doesnt go in your mouth, but also cool you got a gaiwan.

also there is Tie Guan Yin (guan yin is the goddess of compassion and mercy) and jin xuan (milk oolong)

Prepare to be hooked by the oolong, have you tried wuyi (rock) and fenghuang (phoenix) oolong yet? :)

To answer your question: don’t go. Don’t buy anything until you do your homework. $40 Gaiwan with the strainer is very expensive. Gaoshan is expensive oolong and there is no miracles. Sorry if I sound harsh, I don’t want you to spend more money than it really costs. But you can disregard everything I said :P

ah yes, and also dont buy bulk until you know what you really like by sampling lots.

I think most people here have big bags of tea they dont like because they bought a big amount :)

Thanks, both of you, for the sage advice. Not harsh… I always appreciate honesty. :). I know the Gaiwan was pricey and I had seen a lot of them online, so I knew it was when I bought it, but was willing to pay a premium to get that baby in my hands right away. The next one will be part of an online order and will be more reasonably priced… won’t have a problem waiting for the slow boat from China. Being $40 in helped me exercise restraint with the tea. I actually have several tie guan yins… Finished a small Verdant sample last week… But def don’t have any experience to speak of, except that I enjoyed this one a lot more than that one. Thanks again for all the info.

ah nice youve already tried TGY – might have stumbled upon a good deal at $10 for 60g :)

How did you like the Lao Chong? I had it yesterday; haven’t tried the 3 stamp yet though (I was shui xian’d out)

It’s nice but I prefer 3 Stamp Shui Xian.

That cup is gorgeous! Mind sharing where you got it?

Blue one ? It’s from teaware.house
http://teaware.house/collections/teacups/products/baby-blue-drip-teacup