This episode, Denny and I drink an excellent Dancong from WuyiOrigin. While it is relatively green, the tea has a lively texture and is vibrant. Very enjoyable tea from a genre of oolong we don’t have often on the show.
Category: Oolong
-
2018 Tea & TeaDB Reflections
2018 has been a year where I’ve continued to settle into regular habits of drinking my own tea rather than a year of exploration. I still very much enjoy drinking tea and have it at least once daily but the hobby is more restrained than a few years back. I haven’t bought teaware in several years and I drink from the few categories of tea I enjoy and not much else. Call me a grump, but I got a good idea what I like and what I’ll drink. (more…)
-
Old Tea: 1967 Baozhong
I picked up this tea from a vendor in Taiwan in 2017. Generally speaking, I lean skeptical of age and even moreso extreme claims of this extent. But I spent considerable time with this vendor and trust them more than most. Call me a chump, but I mainly believe it in this case. Finding tea this old is not common and I wanted to document the experience since I have not encountered many oolongs that I reliably consider this old and doubt I ever will.
About this Tea
This tea was picked in Pinglin which isn’t too far outside of Taipei and was one of the primary growing regions in Taiwan during that period. Like other teas, the processing of Baozhong has changed substantially over the years. I had the opportunity to try a (young) Baozhong produced in an older style when Origin Tea was still in business and it fit firmly into the category of a darker, roasted oolong. Today, the tea is typically processed very green and is usually considered one of the greenest oolongs on the market. (more…)
-
What’s a Bargain? Some Musings on Relative Price in Tea
What’s a real bargain? Below are some of my musings on how we think about price.
The restaurant I probably go to most often in Seattle is a local taco joint. Their menu is simple and they execute their food well. I’ve been going pretty much since they opened. It’s a little more expensive than taco trucks but in a city that’s becoming increasingly expensive, paying around $8 or $9 for a meal is pretty good. When I leave I feel satisfied and feel as if I earned some well-earned frugality points. My wife and I also eat a good deal of seafood. Sometimes we will indulge in something nice like Black Cod, which our local Asian market had on sale for $18/lb. Typically around .5-.6 lbs is enough to feed us for a meal (with rice and veggie sides). This puts our the cost for two people around $9-11, quite a lot for a home meal. These meals feel like a splurge and sometimes induce a tinge of guilt. But the cost of the fancy-feeling Black Cod meal per person is actually less than the cost of my tacos. So why do I feel like Mr. Fancy Pants for the Black Cod and frugal for the other? (more…)
-
2017 WuyiOrigin Bantianyao [Episode 288]
Thank you to Cindy for sending this tea. This is another very solid Yancha from Wuyi Origin. The tea is dynamic and well-balanced, with good depth of flavor. Recommended!
-
Garrett Post-Taiwan Travel Recap [Inbetweenisode 180]
In this episode, Garrett and I discuss his recent trip to Taipei and some of his tea-related adventures. We talk about teas he was interested in and ended up buying, meeting up with tea friends, and communicating with teashops abroad (+a creative solution).
You can see the pre-Taiwan episode here.
-
1987 Everlasting Teas Aged Baozhong Oolong [Episode 285]
This episode Denny and I drink an old Baozhong grown in Taiwan. The tea is cherry sweet, earthy, and very clean. Thank you to Sammy for providing the tea!
-
WuyiOrigin’s Fruity Rougui w/Meet [Inbetweenisode 179]
This episode, back from a long absence James drinks tea with Meet! That means it’s time for oolong! James and Meet drink an aromatic, high-quality Rougui from WuyiOrigin.
-
Everlasting Tea’s Baozhong Oolong [Episode 283]
This episode Denny and I drink an old favorite, Taiwanese Baozhong, from the reliable Everlasting Teas. The tea is rich, green, grassy and full bodied. Thank you to Sammy for providing the tea!
-
2015 Chen Bug Bitten Taiwanese Oolong [Episode 280]
This episode we drink another solid oolong from Farmer Chen. This tea is his bug bitten oolong from 2015.