I rarely drink green Taiwan oolong. I get dizzy often enough from drinking this stuff that I tend to avoid them. I don’t know why that’s the case, or why I am more sensitive to this stuff than young puerh, which should be equally hard on the body. But sometimes there’s just no explanation for this sort of thing. I used to drink a fair amount of this stuff, as well as green tieguanyin, but nowadays I almost never drink either. Part of it is because I got bored of them, but part of it is because my body doesn’t like them very much anymore.
The tea today is from Aaron Fisher, who gave me some of this when I left
I can’t really remember what part of Taiwan this is from. I think he got it in Lugu in Nantou, but I can very well be wrong.
The tea brews a typically neon yellow/green liquor
It is actually one of the better light oolongs I’ve had recently. It’s floral, but not too much to the point where I feel it’s artificial. There’s obvious qi. The tea has a nice aftertaste — at one point I felt like it was sort of apricot like. It goes for many infusions. I rarely like light Taiwan oolongs. This one isn’t bad. I told Aaron as much when we drank this at his place, and he generously gave me some to take home.
That said… I only need to drink this sort of thing a few times a year to get my fill. After a while, the grassiness (of which there’s still plenty) and the sort of one-dimensional quality to this sort of thing bores me. I know many enjoy the high floral qualities of such teas and find many nuances in them that are perfectly enjoyable. I think my tastes have changed and really no longer find these things attractive. Perhaps I drank too much of it during college and am now recovering.
The leaves are quite beautiful
Althogh — only the left one is this tea. The right hand side bud-leaf system is yesterday’s puerh. You can see how the oolong is no smaller in size than the puerh leaf. The puerh leaves eventually grow to a larger size, of course….
By the way…. I hope all of you in SoCal are ok. The fires look really bad.
6 responses so far ↓
HobbesOxon // October 24, 2007 at 12:46 pm |
Are those tuocha wrappers in the background, perchance? They rather look like them!
Toodlepip,
Hobbes
MarshalN // October 24, 2007 at 12:58 pm |
Yes they are!
Yes, I know I owe you pictures 🙂
wyardley // October 24, 2007 at 2:09 pm |
I feel the same way about those teas (both TGY and TW oolongs)… I’ve had some really good ones that don’t have the really vegetal taste, but even so, not something I can drink all the time. And I think I’ve been scarred by some of the bad ones I’ve had.
The air is especially bad here, but to be honest, I barely noticed (about the fires) until someone mentioned it… especially after coming back from Shanghai. Even though the air is a bit orange if you really look, from where I am, it looks the same as a smoggy day. As far as I know, everyone’s Ok, though I guess I should check in with Imen… I think she’s the closest to the fires.
MarshalN // October 24, 2007 at 8:53 pm |
Yeah when they’re bad… they can be truly awful. While it is sometimes possible to tell from the dry leaves, it’s by no means a sure thing, I think.
I can totally imagine mistaking the smoke with smog, especially after China! If only you were in Beijing….it’s even worse.
behhl // October 25, 2007 at 3:14 am |
Trying to post again – see if successful!
Regards leave sizes, I simply wonder if oolong bushes were allowed to grow wild would they get as big as puerh?
MarshalN // October 25, 2007 at 8:00 am |
They can be quite tall, yes! From what I know anyway.
I think there are a few tea bushes outside of the library that I go to everyday — they look about right. They’re taller than me. I’m not 100% sure it’s tea, but the leaves sure look like it.