This is a low-oxidized (15%) oolong tea from Taiwan. The dry tea leaves are a deep emerald green and give off a beautiful, slightly floral fragrance. The first steeping (as usual for an oolong, water just below boiling for a couple of minutes) has that unique jade oolong taste. I find it hard to describe and yet this is probably my favorite type of tea. It is neither sweet like a good Long-Jin (Dragon Well) tea, nor does it have any bitterness. The taste is slightly astringent but with absolutely no bitterness. I've read that this type of tea has a strong "amino acid" flavor. So maybe that is what the flavor is from although I'm not sure what an "amino acid" taste is. This tea has some complexity but I have had oolongs with greater complexity. The flavor of the liquor drops off notably after the first steeping and again after the second. The third steeping (steep for several minutes) is still very drinkable but has a very muted flavor relative to the first steeping. This is a very good dong-ding style oolong.
Cost: $36.50 for 4 oz.
Taste: 4.5/5
Value: 4.0/5
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Review #3 - 2007 Spring Formosa GABA (Jia Yeh) Oolong (Hou De)
Before I begin my first oolong review, I must first confess that I'm partial to oolong teas. I think that within the oolong classification there is a an incredible variety of teas and flavors. I think that the best oolongs also have the greatest complexity.
The first oolong that I'm reviewing is from Hou De Fine Asian Art and Fine Tea. While I've had many oolong teas over time, this is the first so called "GABA" tea. There are supposedly health benefits from drinking GABA tea and it is somewhat popular in Japan. For those interested : http://www.allgabatea.com/. I drink tea because I like it so I'll just review this tea for its drinking pleasure and will leave the issue of health benefits to others.
The color of the dry tea is a greenish brown. It appears to have a medium level of oxidation. I brewed the tea for a couple of minutes with water around 200F (just below boiling or let it boil and then sit for a minute or two.) The brewed tea is an amberish brown. The flavor is different from any oolong that I've had before. The base flavor was almost like a very light black tea. It also has a very dry flavor; in fact the finish almost makes your mouth water. In particular the dry flavor seems to be most pronounced in the back/side of the tongue. I thought this was a very fine tea although it didn't have great complexity. It holds up particularly well to repeated steepings. The dry aspect holds up especially well. The tea liquor had good flavor through at least the 4th steeping (about 2 mins for the the first couple of steepings and getting progressively longer) and could be used for 5 steepings or more.
Cost: $21.25 for 4 oz.
Taste: 3.5/5
Value: 4.0/5
The first oolong that I'm reviewing is from Hou De Fine Asian Art and Fine Tea. While I've had many oolong teas over time, this is the first so called "GABA" tea. There are supposedly health benefits from drinking GABA tea and it is somewhat popular in Japan. For those interested : http://www.allgabatea.com/. I drink tea because I like it so I'll just review this tea for its drinking pleasure and will leave the issue of health benefits to others.
The color of the dry tea is a greenish brown. It appears to have a medium level of oxidation. I brewed the tea for a couple of minutes with water around 200F (just below boiling or let it boil and then sit for a minute or two.) The brewed tea is an amberish brown. The flavor is different from any oolong that I've had before. The base flavor was almost like a very light black tea. It also has a very dry flavor; in fact the finish almost makes your mouth water. In particular the dry flavor seems to be most pronounced in the back/side of the tongue. I thought this was a very fine tea although it didn't have great complexity. It holds up particularly well to repeated steepings. The dry aspect holds up especially well. The tea liquor had good flavor through at least the 4th steeping (about 2 mins for the the first couple of steepings and getting progressively longer) and could be used for 5 steepings or more.
Cost: $21.25 for 4 oz.
Taste: 3.5/5
Value: 4.0/5
Review #2 - Kagoshima Shin-Cha Premium 2007 (Ito En)
This is just a quick review of the Premium (which falls below "Superior") Kagoshima Shin-Cha. I found this tea to have less depth of flavor relative to the Kagoshima Shin-Cha Superior. In comparing it to sencha and gyokuro in general, it has a relatively light flavor. However it also has no hint of bitterness while the Superior version is slightly bitter. (Note that both teas were brewed using water with a temperature of about 160F which is well below the recommended 176F, which is 80C.) I prefer the Superior although I should note that a friend who tried both preferred the Premium. I liked the greater depth of flavor while my friend preferred the lack of bitterness.
Cost: $30 for 3 oz.
Taste rating: 3.0/5
Value rating: 2.0/5
Cost: $30 for 3 oz.
Taste rating: 3.0/5
Value rating: 2.0/5
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Lots of new teas - more reviews coming soon
Well I haven't been able to help myself. I've ordered lots of new teas recently - Chinese greens, oolongs, pu-erhs and more. (Sample sizes are great! I wish everyone offered them. ) I'm always in search of great Chinese green teas and oolongs. Pu-erh is still very new to me. It seems like a very broad area so I have a lot to learn. The other night, at a restaurant, I did have a 1978 pu-erh. Unfortunately I don't know anything else about that pu-erh other than its age. It was very mellow - little in the way of tannins, and I really enjoyed it as an after dinner tea. Anyway, in the next couple of weeks I hope to have a few more reviews out.
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