James & Denny finish their 4-episode series on Origin Tea. In episode 37 they drink a slightly more oxidized and roasted oolong than the popular nuclear-green style with Origin Tea’s Lishan Cui Luan. This and the DYL 102K really help to showcase some of the more interesting Origin Tea offerings.
4 responses to “Lishan Cui Luan Origin Tea Taiwanese High-Mountain Oolong [Episode 37]”
This gaoshan may be more oxidised and roasted than the previous one, guys, but the liquor and wet leaves are still pretty darn green. How does even a light roasting change the flavour over a non-roasted tea?
Hey Peter,
Make no mistake, this gaoshan is still definitely green. The roast is very light and that + the oxidation (increased sweetness) have subtle but significant impacts on the tea. For more reading on the flavors of these teas specifically, there’s some pretty detailed tasting notes on some of these teas over at TeaChat: http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f=74&t=18819&start=120
Teas like this (& DYL 102K) with higher than normal oxidation/roast are perfect examples of teas that are harder to find with the nuclear green trend (i.e. http://teadb.org/downward-trend-dark-taiwanese-oolong/) .
It seems to me that most of the Taiwanese Oolong you guys have shown are very green.
I think it might be interesting to try the teas from the same grower at the same mountain such as Li Shan that are roasted to different degrees, and make the comparison. However, it might take a lot of effort simply trying to find those tea.
Have you guys thought about doing Ramen Db?
Like always, i appreciate the information that you guys share.
Thanks for the comment Mengchiu. Indeed this tea is green, but there is a notable difference between green (this tea/DYL 102K) and nuclear green (i.e. DYL 105K/104K)! The vast majority of Taiwanese high-mountain tea is grown as green oolongs, so finding darker teas is fairly rare. That being said, Origin Tea is easily the best place to find these darker and high-mountain teas as well.
Cheers!
-James