New to oolongs, any suggestions?
As the subject says, I am new to oolongs but would like to give some a try to see what I think. I’d like to do something like get 4-6 samplers of different types to see what I might or might not like.
Does anyone have any suggestions for a newbie? I tend to lean towards black teas personally, but I’d like to get a range of different kinds to see what I might like. You never know if you don’t try. :)
Also, I’d welcome suggestions of vendors who might carry a variety of oolongs in sample sizes. I don’t want to buy a lot of any one type until I get a better idea of what I might like. I’d also rather not bust the bank this close to the holidays on teas I might not like.
Thanks for any help.
Teavivre has an oolong sampler with a few of the different styles. http://www.teavivre.com/featured-oolong-tea-sampler-gift/
I second Teavivre as well. They have a wide selection of oolongs and inexpensive sampler packs are available of each kind.
Other vendors that offer oolong samplers are Beautiful Taiwan Tea company, Verdant Tea, and Taiwan Tea Crafts.
I can’t really say much about vendors since I don’t live in the US now, or buy teas there, but I could go on about oolongs. There are a few unrelated concerns, about trying different types, and about how different versions and quality levels can vary a lot.
Lighter oolongs seem a great place to start on teas in general, it seems to me, but maybe that just relates to those being a sort of gateway into tea for me. But then those are kind of far along the scale related to preferring black teas instead. Within that range Tie Kuan Yin is perhaps most common, the name of a plant type that’s most associated with Anxi, China but that grows in different countries. That includes Thailand, where I live, but I’ve not had good luck with it here, Jin Xuan or Bai Lu might work better, sold as #12 or #17 based on cultivar numbering from Taiwan.
Others could see it differently but to me light oolongs work well across a range of quality levels, so even if you don’t run across a great version they still get some of the point across, and are pleasant. But opinions about that kind of thing vary. A vendor I talked to just said he only likes better versions of Longjing / Dragonwell (a Chinese green tea, of course). He said that the versions that don’t have the same freshness and characteristic profile are awful, to him, but to me other grades are just different, but not typically awful.
More oxidized or roasted oolongs would seem a natural range to explore. Wuyi Yancha are a personal favorite of mine (Da Hong Pao and such). The roast effect changes the taste from that of lighter oolongs as much as the oxidation level, but there is no need to research theory and processing a lot to try some teas. Those vary in character even more across a range of quality levels, and within different examples.
As far as covering the basics for oolongs trying examples of teas from Taiwan and Dan Cong would make sense. The latter can tend to be more expensive, but then supply and demand influences and cost per quality level for types of tea is a funny thing, not simple. Preference muddies the waters even more; it’s normal enough for people to prefer certain aspects or not relate well at all to others, so although higher quality teas will come across better, in general, it’s not always about that.
Its a big world of oolongs, but you have to start somewhere. I always take a long term approach to tea, and focus on education first. I suggest drinking 2-3 teas at a time to compare and contrast and train your palate.
For example, pick up the following 6 teas and conduct your own tastings: one from Lishan and one from Alishan region of Taiwan (make sure they’re same cultivar). Then get one each of different cultivars like Qingxin vs Jinxuan, and compare cultivars (make sure they’re same region, same season). Then get one from spring and one of autumn (same region and cultivar) to compare seasons. Its worth spending the time learning these differences up front, and you’ll quickly figure out what you prefer, without wasting tons of money on random oolongs. I discovered I highly prefer Jinxuan over Qingxin and while I’ll periodically get a Qingxin just to see if my palate has changed, I still go back to Jinxuan.
Tea Masters Boutique is a favorite of mine for Taiwan oolongs
http://www.tea-masters.com/en/31-high-mountain
Or if you just want some good oolong to just enjoy, pick up competition grade Tie Guan Yin from Yunnan Sourcing.
http://yunnansourcing.com/en/anxi-oolongs/4249-competition-grade-tie-guan-yin-oolong-tea-of-gande-village-autumn-2016.html
Welcome to the wonderful world of Oolong, its beautiful in here :)
I personally like golden lily (jin xuan) & Tie Guan Yin from whispering pines. The GL is out of stock but the TGY is in, they are having a black friday 20% off sale. I like the fruity of the GL & the high aromatics of the Whispering pines TGY.
Other green oolongs like Da Yu Ling & Li Shan are gorgeous as well.
Also Dan Cong (Ba xian, Xing ren, Mi Lan, Yu Le, Da Wu Ye, Song Zhong) are amazing, but pricey. You do kinda get what you pay for. I like Jing Tea Shop & Yunnan Sourcing is good. Cheap Dan Cong is awful from my experience (ebay & the like)
Wu Yi Yancha (Rock Oolong, often hi roast) like Da Hong Pao & Tie Luo Han Iron Arhat, Shui Xian are all nice. Yunnan Sourcing have quite nice ones of these.
Taiwan Tea Crafts & eco cha have nice oolong as well, but I have limited experience with them, but Ive heard good stuff. I’m waiting for the winter harvests to all come in to stock up more.
Tea Urchin have some lovely oolong too. Others I want to try (but pricey) are essence of tea & tea habitat.
Oooh, I didn’t know about the Whispering Pines upcoming sale. I’ve been wanting to make another order anyway. Pity he seems to be out of the Imperial Gold Bud Dian Hong. I’ve been obsessing about it since I got a sampler in my last order. :)
There are lots of good oolongs out there. I have found that Tealyra has several that are worthwhile. As a matter of fact, I have enjoyed just about every one of their unflavored oolongs that I have tried. I would recommend something like Jin Xuan, Jade Oolong, Ali Shan, Dong Ding, or Tieguanyin for a beginner. Other vendors that tend to stock some nice oolongs would be Verdant Tea (I think their Laoshan Green Oolong and Laoshan Roasted Oolong are both fantastic), Whispering Pines Tea Company, Beautiful Taiwan Tea Company, and What-Cha. Those are a few of my go-to oolong vendors. Another that is worth checking out would be Rishi Tea’s Iron Goddess of Mercy (Tieguanyin). That was a gateway oolong for me. I have recommended that tea to several people as a gateway oolong and all of them have liked it.
This is a good place to start learning about oolong:
https://teadb.org/taiwanese-oolong-compendium/
https://teadb.org/wuyi-oolong-compendium/
As a bit of a less experienced oolong drinker, I’d like to add that I really like milk oolongs. I think they are tasty and also worth checking out. Tons of vendors have them – both flavored and unflavored. Davidstea carries one – it’s not the cheapest, but if they are easy to get to it might be worth trying before you buy. A few of the already mentioned vendors carry them too.
I am interested in trying a milk oolong. I don’t understand the flavored and unflavored part however. We’re not talking like flavored teas you commonly see are we? If not, what does it mean exactly?
Don’t have a David’s Tea anywhere in my general area. Apparently Teavana has showed up in the last few years but I never see anything in their catalog that grabs my interest.
Random, some milk oolongs are flavored. Higher grade Jin Xuan naturally has a milky, buttery aroma and flavor as well as a creamy, smooth texture in the mouth. Some vendors, however, offer milk oolongs that approximate the aroma and flavor of Jin Xuan. Often, these oolongs are either lower grade Jin Xuan or another oolong entirely that are steamed in a combination of milk and water or sprayed with a milk or cream flavoring.
Most oolong drinkers talking about milk oolong are referring to the jinxuan varietal (worth committing to memory). There are lots of vendors who put additives and flavorings into lower quality oolong to imitate a milky effect. Its not “pure” tea, but at the end of the day it really comes down to what you prefer to drink.
Here is an old thread, Gingko Seto (owner of Life in Teacup) says it well:
“…“milk oolong” is a very vague term. People could and might use this name for an unscented tea. But I agree with Marcus that “The largest problem is the term ‘Milk Oolong’ is a marketing term that does not trace back to a specific varietal.” But then, in fact, this is the problem for a lot of tea names in market. Sometimes these names are easy and convenient (and probably attractive), but more often than not, these names are very confusing.
In my own understanding, the real, unscented “milk oolong” is Taiwan high mountain oolong made of Jin Xuan cultivar (which is grown in Taiwan, but spread to Fujian and other places later). But in Taiwan, nobody would call it “milk oolong” and it’s simply called by its own name, Jin Xuan. The packages or advertising materials would indicate this tea bears a natural milk aroma. That’s why some people even call this tea cultivar “milk oolong”, which is not a name I like, but of course it’s not forbidden to call it so if people would like to.
If a “milk oolong” is scented (by, I don’t know what, milk, milk powder, fragrant oil?), then I can’t imagine how it could possibly be a high quality tea." http://steepster.com/discuss/1403-milk-oolong
I’ve been really into this dessert oolong tea lately.
http://www.tealish.com/Dulce-De-Leche-Oolong-Tea-p/ddlecht.htm
It’s been the perfect after dinner tea, especially with this cold weather thats been coming up.
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