7 Responses to Origin Tea’s Mr. Du’s High-Fired Alishan [Episode 86]

1. Peter says:

   December 30, 2014 at 4:28 pm

   Good review guys, with some good basic info on roasting. But at the end, Denny is over-selling (“awesome”) your non-existent newsletter .

   Reply
   • James says:

     December 31, 2014 at 4:14 pm

     Hi Peter,

     Thanks for the comment. The embarrassing part is we filmed this episode 1.5 months ago!

     I’ll make it my responsibility to get something up and going in January.

     Cheers!
     -James

     Reply
     • Peter says:

       December 31, 2014 at 5:52 pm

       Thanks for the reply, James. I look forward to the “awesome” newsletter come January!

       Reply
2. shah8 says:

   December 31, 2014 at 12:26 am

   Hung shui oolongs are something something comparable to Wuyi yancha style. Notably high fermentation before roasting. I would, however, hesitate to suggest that the tea is NOT a hung shui. Hung shui is simply an overarching style, and if it’s pretty dark in brew and fruity, while from Taiwan (and not a Dongding)

   I get the feeling that this is very likely a similar product:
   http://www.houdeasianart.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1322

   Perhaps people who likes this might like:
   http://www.tea-masters.com/en/hung-shui/41-2013-winter-hung-shui-oolong-strong-yong-lung.html

   In general, roasted DongDings (much more common!) may approximate some of the enjoyment.

   However, what with the nuke green trend (and how much it makes things easier and less risky) have made supply of quality roasted oolongs much rarer these days. Historically, Houde was the best provider of refined, roasted, oolong in the US. That OriginTea did as well with Yancha and yancha-like roasted Taiwanese oolongs is an aberration that hopefully was fully appreciated and enjoyed by all who visited. And still, there’s just one roasted oolong of this type at Houde today, and from 2011 (two, if you include the Foshou 2009)!

   Reply
   • James says:

     December 31, 2014 at 4:20 pm

     Hi shah8

     Thanks for the comment.

     Indeed. Hong Shui is a pretty broad and somewhat ambiguous categorization. In the case of this tea, I’m labeling it as it was sold to me. Mr. Du also had a Hong Shui, which I also got through Tony. Comparing the teas, the main difference with the Hong Shui is the increased oxidation. Both have a similar, high-fired style roast.

     Agree about DongDings. A functional, albeit usually unexciting alternative.

     Cheers!
     -James

     Reply
3. elliott says:

   January 4, 2015 at 12:35 am

   What is the story with origin tea? Their website says they have shut down? No oolong available?

   Reply
   • James says:

     January 6, 2015 at 12:20 am

     Hi Elliott,

     Unfortunately, Origin closed a while back.

     -James

     Reply

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