Back to reviewing, a week into being back in Bangkok. I might as well start with some familiar and pleasant teas, and then move on to less familiar and also pleasant ones.
I've had great experiences with winter harvest oolongs in the past, just not enough of them that I'll turn that into cross-references here. Of course Qingxin is the name of the older style of plant type, which comes in a range of different derived forms, with different evolved plant genetics.
I've had positive experiences with Guifei too, a bug-bitten material input variation of rolled oolong. This says the Gui Fei is from 2012, which almost looks like a typo. A 13 year old oolong, from a vendor that typically doesn't sell aged tea? It's probably not a typo; the owner, Peter, is pretty on top of things.
I'll add the product descriptions from a site listing later, after writing the notes.
Alishan Winter Qingxin ($25 USD for 50 grams)
Alishan Winter Qingxin is a lightly oxidized high mountain oolong tea, harvested at an elevation of 1500 meters. It originates from Taiwan’s renowned Alishan region, known for its ideal tea-growing conditions of frequent mist, fertile soils, and clean, fresh mountain air. These conditions, however, also present significant production challenges, requiring exceptional skill and careful selection by experienced tea masters.
The tea garden’s unique location on Alishan, with its frequent mist and significant temperature variations, imparts exceptional refinement and natural sweetness to this Qingxin oolong. The infusion presents itself in a warm, luminous yellow color, remaining free from bitterness or unpleasant flavors even with prolonged steeping. From the cup emerges a delicate and sophisticated fragrance of orchids, gentle yet distinctly present. The silky, smooth texture and refreshing sweetness create a harmonious taste experience, offering tranquility and inviting thoughtful appreciation.
Harvest date: winter 2022
Aroma: floral, with notes of orchid and acacia honey
Oxidation: approx. 30%
Roasting: light
Cultivar: Qingxin
Terroir: Alishan, Nantou, Taiwan
Guifei Oolong (2012; $37.72 for 50 grams)
This Guifei Oolong, also known as Concubine Oolong, originates from the renowned tea-growing region Dongding in Nantou and was harvested in the spring of 2012 and processed by a renowned tea master. Made from the popular Jinxuan cultivar, this tea is known for its exceptional quality and distinctive character.
The infusion presents itself in a golden amber hue and is accompanied by a rich, sweet fragrance with hints of honey, ripe fruit, and light floral notes. On the palate, the tea reveals a smooth, velvety texture with pronounced sweetness and a long-lasting aftertaste. Thanks to expert craftsmanship and ideal storage since its harvest, this Guifei Oolong has developed an even more complex and harmonious character over time, making it a true delight for tea enthusiasts.
Harvest date: spring 2012
Aroma: high aromatic, flowery and fruity, notes of honey
Oxidation: approx. 70%
Roasting: strong
Cultivar: Jinxuan
Terroir: Dongding, Nantou,Taiwan
There's more there about the bug-bitten theme, about the processing style, and the historical background of the style. These are interesting themes.
Review:
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Alishan oolong left, in all photos |
Alishan Winter Qingxin: it's nice. A little light yet, still opening up, but the flavors are warm and toasty. I suppose malt stands out, or something close enough to that. This should evolve to include a really pleasant and rich feel; that's already started. It's creamy as well, in terms of flavor as well as that feel. There's a lot to appreciate in this, and that list of aspects will keep going later. Mineral range really stands out. It's not really light or heavy mineral, but a complex form, more in the middle.
Guifei (from 2012): as far as the other being as good as this, or not matching up, it's really not a fair comparison. That's a great version of the style that is, but good Guifei is really nice, and this has probably picked up lots of depth from that aging.
There really could be a typical plum-like flavor component that has entered in due to the aging, but this includes so much for fruit and warm spice tones that it's hard to tell. Spice might be closest to nutmeg; warm, aromatic, and complex. Fruit could include plum, but there's more. It's warm and rich enough that it's more in dried fruit range, maybe combining prune, raisin, and dried apricot. Feel is also already rich. There's a bit more fullness in this related to it being warmer and heavier in tone, so where the other is full and creamy as lighter oolongs are (like cream) this feel has some structure to it. Not quite astringency, nothing like that, but some of the fullness that typically pairs with that.
It's amazing this is just the first round. I brewed these a bit long to get them to open up, maybe just over a minute, but the proportion isn't maxed out, my typical approach. This might be 6 grams or so of each.
Alishan 2: intensity picks up a lot, and it wasn't even moderate to begin with, already above average. The same flavor description works: lots of supporting mineral base, creaminess, and malt-like warmth. A bit of limited vegetal range enters in, not far off floral range, or maybe it's floral tones and some sort of vegetal input. That vegetal range is close enough to holy basil, so really where spice and vegetables overlap. Sweetness is good, and the full feel contributes well, along with notable aftertaste expression (long finish, put another way).
It's quite clean; nothing in this is remotely negative. Some would probably interpret it as a lot more floral than I've been mentioning. It's a subdued form of floral tone though, like chrysanthemum, or sunflower. Some of that rich malt-like tone might resemble sunflower seeds, now that I think of it.
Guifei 2: the pronounced spice note in this is really nice. It might resemble cinnamon more this round, but also relates to nutmeg. Depth is nice, and the range of supporting dried fruit. That last part didn't become more distinct. It's hard to identify how close it is to plum, or what the exact mix of other dried fruit tones are. It's also quite clean in effect, and also complex, also exhibiting good feel. Aftertaste expression is there, just not quite as pronounced as for the other version. Lighter oolongs tend to be noteworthy for that, and the Alishan version isn't really in a light style, but it's medium, in an unusual sense.
Alishan 3: this must be transitioning some, but it's hard to say how. The same aspects just shift a little in relative balance. This is really exactly what I've loved most about winter oolongs that I've tried in the past, that warmer tone, leaning towards spice range, settling in nicely on malt. This is a really good quality example of one.
This kind of effect is why Taiwanese oolongs tend to still hold an edge over Thai or Vietnamese versions. There's nothing stopping a producer in those areas from making a fantastic version of the same tea, but all the conditions and inputs tend to line up well for some versions from Taiwan.
The intensity is great; it's hard to pin down how that kind of input factors in. Of course you can just brew any version a little stronger, but this hits really positive notes well, even brewed fast (this was a very short infusion time, not much over 10 seconds). If you push other lower quality versions to get the same intensity the aspects won't be as positive. They won't balance in the same way, and the effect won't be this clean and positive.
Guifei 3: again it's not changing enough to revise that earlier flavor list, just settling into a slightly different balance.
I'll probably try one more round and leave off; I need to get on with bathing three cats, and one of them is crying out to be let outside, which isn't going to happen until later on. I should take pictures of them and add them here.
Myra is in more than a dozen photos here, probably, the oldest, but the two kitten siblings are adorable at about 3 or 4 times their former size, from 6 weeks ago. They must be about 4 months old now. One is a Siamese cat, with such a cute and prized appearance that my wife is nervous about ever letting her roam outside, out of fear that someone would steal her. Someone might. Myra won't venture beyond our gate and fences, but it's hard to know where a cat new to exploring the area might go. Nong On and Sai Thong would go explore roof areas, when they were with us, but we've lost both of them this year, in circumstances too disturbing to cover here.
As for a personal update, while I'm rambling on, I've had shingles for the past two weeks, a skin problem related to having chicken pox earlier on in life. It's adjoined by significant pain; that part wasn't so nice. I've not experience that much pain, since a burn and broken arm in early childhood. Now I get it, about people working through that ongoing experience. In my case it's like a leg cramp that doesn't go away, that sharp and deep pain, that doesn't persist from leg cramps. I'm mostly on the other side of it now; the pain is less, and I have meds around for when it might tend to peak.
I'm eager to go run again. The doctor didn't see that as a well-grounded plan, saying that it would impact my immune system function, but I'm not so sure. Early on in illnesses that seems right, but at the end exercise seems to help with recovery (per my experience, to be taken with a grain of salt).
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these are naturally so intense that brewing them a little light makes sense |
Alishan 4: it's all integrating more, but I kind of liked how distinct the parts were earlier on. Warmth is more general, not centered on a creamy, malty flavor as much. Mineral base still stands out, maybe just not quite as much. It's still really nice, I just liked that earlier form better.
Guifei: that same basic set of aspects still remains, the spice, dried fruit, and warmer background or base tones that are harder to appreciate. Probably what I'm not describing is a lot of what is giving this the effect of so much complexity, depth, and balance. It tastes like incense spice, or aromatic dark tropical wood, or aged furniture (or maybe the oils used to preserve those?). It has good depth and balance. It's not really fading, which it shouldn't be, only 4 rounds in, but flavors can transition to level off some within that timing.
These really did last for many more infusions, it's just that the notes leave off here.
Conclusions
These are both really good teas, in two completely different styles, and to me this is a really unique and positive experience. I could drink a kilogram of either, even though I tend not to drink much oolong these days, for focusing on pu'er. I love the intensity in pu'er (sheng, of course). These have good complexity and intensity, but lack that same kind of edge, the bitterness and astringency, the overall shock of it all being so strong, even when brewed light. I remember tasting with neighbors once, a very pleasant experience, telling one about how sheng can come across like a slap in the face. She was surprised, and said that it was more like a kick in the face, somehow in a good sense. If you are ok with the bitterness that intensity can balance well. It's odd that she liked it, on her first try.
Whether or not this Guifei is from 2012 this is the kind of experience that people really tend to value, and that you typically have to pay a good bit to have [later edit; it is a 2012 tea]. If this isn't priced at or over $1 a gram I'd be surprised, and it would be a steal at two thirds that price range. The winter oolong version is novel, since these are around, but finding a version this good would be tricky.
[more later edit]: it's 75 cents a gram, so still quite fair, for what the tea is. There might not be another quite similar version of tea anywhere on the internet. Or the next place you check could carry the same tea, but the odds are much better that nothing like it is out there. Aged oolong was quite trendy and in high demand about a decade ago, and there was only so much to go around then. I wrote about this theme awhile back (5 years ago), about what tends to turn up. The plum-like input in aged rolled oolongs might stand out more at the 20 year mark, but this flavor is so complex that it might still come across as a mix of different fruit and spice then.
That's kind of the theme for this vendor. He sells versions of teas that are so good that they really represent their categories and styles well. Lots are "gushu" sheng pu'er, which is kind of an often-overused selling point theme, but for really nice versions of sheng you can set aside considering plant age and just appreciate the aspects, the experience.
I've complained of not being able to buy teas in a higher than average price range before (or just noted it, depending on interpretation of tone). Somehow, according to my wife, our budget is such a mess just now that the theme has progressed to me not being able to buy any tea, at any price range. Flying back and forth from Hawaii doesn't help, and a long series of health crises across our family was problematic, both to experience and related to budget impact. It's nice that some vendors have been helping me out; I really can't complain, when I have another 20 or so really novel and good teas to get to.
I'll even see tea friends, and an old friend, here over the next two weeks, so I'll have more to report on about that event theme. I'd trade it all to be a housekeeper and cook for my kids back in Hawaii, but we work with what we've got.
Back to this subject, these oolongs, and related to somewhat aged oolongs in general, these teas were exceptional enough that it wasn't easy to frame that part. The descriptions are positive, but both are a good bit better than just "positive." That is what it is; it makes no sense to me to fill a post with superlatives to drive home a point about general context. Within these style and type ranges these were great, and these are two of my favorite type ranges within the scope of rolled oolong.
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