We go back to an old favorite, High-Mountain oolong. This tea is crisp, fresh, and very enjoyable. Thank you to the folks over at Tributary Teas for providing it!
Category: Oolong
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Sample Upwards! Why You Should Consider Trying Teas You Have No Intention in Buying
When I’m buying cakes of tea I tend to gravitate towards certain price ranges and have a mental ceiling of how much I’m willing to spend on tea. It’s not really based off of anything well reasoned or rationalized and I’ll occasionally break it, but more of an innate psychological barrier. This $/g line ends up being a pretty modest $0.25/g-$0.30/g. Occasionally I’ll spend up but if I look back at the purchases I’ve made in the past few years, the vast majority fall in this range or lower. This to me, seems like natural behavior and I think most folks will have impulses on what they’re willing to spend, especially once they’ve had a couple years of drinking and buying. People’s own price tendencies and intuitions undoubtedly vary person to person. Many have yet to convert to the $/g school so these decisions may manifest itself in $/cake numbers as well. For some, this could be $30 cakes or $100 cakes. For those who think in $/g, this may be $0.50/g or $0.10/g.
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2018 WuyiOrigin Boutique Rougui (Wuyuan Jian) [Episode 332]
This episode, Denny and I have what I think is one of the best teas I’ve tried from Wuyi Origin. The tea is their boutique Rougui and has a lot of what I enjoy from Wuyi oolongs. The Yanyun, rock taste is prominent, but there’s also a lot of complexity and dynamism that place it well above average. The 2018 version is unfortunately sold out, but keep your eyes out for the 2019 version. The tea was grown in Wuyuan Jian (悟源涧).
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Five Things I Like & Dislike. China as a Monolith, Tea Instagram, Small Vendors Selling Semi-Aged Pu’erh
Five more things I like & dislike.
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Mud & Leaves Golden Prize Technique Roasted Oolong [Episode 329]
This episode, Denny and I drink a Taiwanese oolong from a vendor, predominantly known for their pottery/teaware. This tea is grown in Nantou county in Taiwan and is made by the Hsieh Jiang Lin Tea Company.
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A Few Considerations in a Group Session
I’ve had the opportunity to participate and host a number of group sessions since I got into tea. The context varies.. Some have been with a couple people unfamiliar with tea, others are with regular tea friends. This article on a couple approaches to choosing what to brew sequentially in a group setting and a few more of my thoughts that I thought I’d share.
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2019 Everlasting Teas Baozhong Green Oolong [Episode 326]
This episode, Denny and I drink a green, very fresh, and friendly Baozhong from Everlasting Teas. Sammy over at Everlasting has kindly sent us tea for the past few years and the fresh Baozhong (one of their regular teas) is always a favorite.
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What I’ve Been Buying Recently (The Past Couple Years)
I get asked now and then what I’ve bought and where to buy from. Despite some past efforts of transparency and publicly shaming, I haven’t talked as directly about teas I’ve bought. If you read between the lines you can probably get some idea of what I go for. Over the last few years, I’ve slowed down an awful lot, first in terms of sampling and now in terms of buying. A few cakes I’ve bought in the last 8 or 9 months.
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WuyiOrigin Baijiguan Wuyi Oolong [Episode 323]
This episode, Denny and I drink one of the four famous bushes of Yancha from Wuyi Origin and is usually processed and made on the greener end. This tea is aromatic, well-balanced and very enjoyable.
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2016 WuyiOrigin Laocong Shuixian [Inbetweenisode 204]
This episode, James is joined by old friend “five kilo” Meet. We drink some of Meet’s favorite type of tea, Yancha, and talk about both the tea and where his five kilos have gone.