Green Tea Forum

jasonian · Posted: Apr 21, 2007 10:28 pm Post subject: oolong

i was wondering if anyone had suggestions for the best oolong teas available online. i've found a lot of sites selling oolong but i'm not sure about their quality or value. if i could find a site for oolong that is as good as o-cha is for green tea, i'd be very happy.

Chip · Posted: Apr 22, 2007 1:15 am Post subject:

Jasonian,

For Taiwan oolong it is very simple, the higher in elevation you go, the more expensive the oolong. If you like the greener oolongs which tends to be more sweet or floral, this is a good place to look. I have 2 direct sources for Taiwan oolong...that is direct from Taiwan. If you are interested, PM me.

Chinese oolong, well, that is a lifetime of discovery. They are extremely diverse. I like oolong very much. But I have come to the realization that I really enjoy my focus on green tea right now. A session of oolong can take a whole day if done in the gongfu style. So, that kind of messes up my focus. But I am always looking, because oolong truly fascinate me.

There are several basic types of Chinese oolong: Tie Guan Yin, Dan Cong. Wuyi, Anxi to name a few. The problem is, even within a basic type there is still much variety. Like I said, take a lifetime...and discover oolong. Oxidation levels are very diverse as are firing levels.

Yes, there are a lot of sites offering oolong. And so many oolong to choose from.

Kevangogh · Forum God Joined: 19 Jul 2005 Posts: 916 Location: Japan

I bought some the other day from www.teafromtaiwan.com, it was really good as was the service.

Chip · Posted: Apr 22, 2007 2:51 am Post subject:

Yes..that is the one...I have heard good reports about them. They are a little pricey compared to the other site I have.

I am thinking of trying them. Kevin, did you get a spring 2007 oolong?

Ryan · Sensei Joined: 19 Jul 2005 Posts: 475

I have heard good things about www.teafromtaiwan.com I bought their sample set a long while back.. I haven't been drinking any oolong lately.

Quite often, buying tea from the country of origin is superior than buying it from your place of residence.

O-cha is an ideal example of this. Getting some of the finest and perhaps even more significantly most difficult to find teas out on the Japanese market is made possible via o-cha.com

Chip · Posted: Apr 22, 2007 10:15 am Post subject:

streetspirit · Posted: Apr 23, 2007 9:40 pm Post subject: Re: oolong

houdeasianart.com is a nice place for oolongs and puerh tea. They are based in Texas so you dont have to wait long to get your tea. Also, they have a selection of aged oolongs, although I've never tried them personally.

spacesamurai · 2nd Degree Black Belt Joined: 02 Feb 2007 Posts: 204

I have just recently started drinking oolong, but here is my two cents worth.

My first batch I purchased from the Red Blossom Tea Co our of San Francisco. Based on my limited experience, the dong ding was excellent, very fragrant, floral, and held up to at least four steepings (gong fu style) without a noticeable drop in flavor. It would of lasted longer, but it was late.

The ali shan was heaven the first time, very buttery, but it seemed to have lost some of its flavor in the few days between. I've heard that greener oolongs can do this.

The Wuyi Rougui was good, but I didn't notice any cinnamon, perhaps it was too subtle.

I tried three of the TKYs, and I wasn't wild about any of them. This could very easily be because I just don't care for that style, they were definitely fresh teas. I am going to experiment with TKYs from other sources before I make up my mind.

My second batch of samples was from Rishi Tea. Their dong ding was great, a tad less aromatic, but just as flavorful. Their Jade Oolong is also good, but is nod dong ding, so I don't bother. They had a plumb oolong that was good if you like flavored teas. I don't, so I passed. I am going to try their TKY next and see what its like.

Hope some of this helps.

jasonian · Posted: Apr 26, 2007 4:18 am Post subject:

Thank you very much for all your replies. I just ordered three olongs from the teas from Taiwan website. I liked the fact that they stated the vintage and season in which all the teas were picked as well as a little description of the farms were they were grown. I'll let you know how I make out.

Chip · Posted: Apr 26, 2007 6:46 am Post subject:

Photiou · Posted: Apr 26, 2007 7:57 am Post subject: Re: oolong

syntheticpanda · 2nd Degree Black Belt Joined: 07 Nov 2006 Posts: 198

To be fair, Upton does offer harvest info occasionally, and you can contact them about it and they'll give you the year if its not on the site. However, I agree it is a royal pain when it's not listed, and I would much rather buy from a company that does. Upton's non-Indian selections are pretty lackluster anyway, so I don't even bother with them unless I'm looking for Darjeelings.

Chip · Posted: Apr 26, 2007 9:54 am Post subject:

Upton does Darjeeling very well. That is one tea that they fairly readily offer harvest info. I would not hesitate getting current harvest Darjeeling from them, but I am not drinking black tea these days.

But offering harvest info on only perhaps 20% of their teas...and of course only new release teas on mainly Indian black teas...is not really offering reliable harvest info. I can post their replies to my emails offering bogus excuses for NOT posting harvest info on their site.

For me, this is a very black and white issue. I guess you could say I feel very strongly about it. So, I wrote them several times about this. Personally, I think all tea vendors should provide this info. Well, the USDA I think only requires expiration info on food products, a pretty subjective parameter for tea.

Yes, it is too much of a pain to contact them and ask about each tea you are interested in especially when they have so many different teas. But then their is a credibility issue in my mind. If it is on the site, the info cannot be denied later.

They were a vendor I used for 6 years before moving on...but also to be fair, there are many other vendors who refuse to do this. So, it comes down to personal choice. I choose to give my money to vendors who do offer this info on their sites.

jasonian · Posted: May 06, 2007 4:26 am Post subject:

Well, my oolongs from teafromtaiwan.com arrived yesterday and I've had a chance to sample two of them and they are both superb. I purchased their dong ding and it has a beautiful honey flavor and a nice thick feel going down. I learned that the honey flavor comes from secretions left on the leaves from cicadas. That's kind of disturbing and interesting at the same time. They also go on to say that the tea must be organic for the cicadas to leave their "droppings" which is always a plus. The other tea I tried was a zhong shu hu from the alishan mountain region. It was more delicate and a little more floral but also delicious. They're having a sale now if anyone is interested. I bought their best tea, wu ling, but I'm going to wait until I have time to try it gong fu style. I'm sure it will be great. I'm still waiting for my shinchas to arrive from O-Cha so this has been a nice diversion in the mean time. If anyone has any other suggestions for oolong I would love to hear them.

Chip · Posted: May 06, 2007 5:06 am Post subject: