Aged oolong

 First published by TChing here:  https://tching.com/2020/09/aged-oolongs/

I recently reviewed two aged Taiwanese rolled oolongs, a bit out of normal context for those being 6 years old (2014).  Aged oolong tends to typically relate to rolled oolong versions that are 15 years old or older.  It will be simpler to cover a few different paradigms here, since there is a notable exception related to that.

Ali Shan left, Dong Ding right (slightly more roasted)

slightly aged Wuyi Yancha:  heavily roasted Wuyi Yancha, Fujian "rock oolongs," are often sold after only a year or two of aging, to diminish the roast-flavor input.  Why not just roast them less?  One reason is because for some starting points going with an upper medium level roast and then resting the tea can be seen as an optimum preparation, getting the best results.  A second reason is less positive:  this category of oolongs is often over-roasted to cover up flaws (eg. off flavors resulting from incorrect processing).  

Usually these aren’t sold as decade+ aged teas, but further changes are seen as positive for in the range of 5 to 7 years, and older versions would be in demand related to novelty.  There is a parallel style of well-roasted Tie Guan Yin (Anxi, China rolled oolong), but I suspect that's also most often employed to cover flaws, for example to compensate for last year's tea flattening a bit in flavor profile.

  

medium level rolled oolong aging:  this isn't commonly encountered, but since I just reviewed teas in this range I can describe results.  Those teas lost their higher-end, "sharpest" flavor aspects, and picked up deeper, richer range, and a smoother character.  I'm not sure I wouldn't have like both better as new teas (Ali Shan and Dong Ding versions), because those are quite approachable to begin with.  It was interesting though.  I've tried seven year old Oriental Beauty before and it just seemed a little different than they tend to be initially, but preferences vary enough that maybe others would experience aspect difference that grounds a high level of appeal.

that Alishan and Dong Ding, with roast or oxidation both darkening leaves and brewed tea

well-aged rolled oolongs:  after 15 years or so of appropriate storage rolled oolongs pick up a plum-like flavor aspect, and again gain depth, with most pronounced "higher end" range having long since dropped out, for example light floral tones.  Such tea can be interesting to experience, related to just being different.  Some people claim to pick up a lot of "feel aspect" cha-qi effect from different teas, and maybe that would be a valid positive change for these teas.  I reviewed 21 and 30 year old versions in this post, and the mustiness in the older one--most likely due to storage condition problems--made it harder to appreciate.

I forgot about trying a 40 year old Tie Guan Yin awhile back, covered here

It's not only sheng pu'er and hei cha that are described as improving with age; black and white teas are also mentioned as changing and improving.  Even green tea could potentially change in a way regarded as positive.  

This post on other compressed tea forms might shed light on some of that, even though the shape and form isn't necessarily a closely connected input, changing form mostly helps with making storage more convenient.  This post on shai hong (sun-dried Yunnan black tea) covers one main factor related to aging potential for black teas.  This shai hong version was 2 or 3 years old when I first tried it, and is at least 5 now, and it was different and better when I last tried it a few months ago.  This review of four different white teas of different ages is a bit all over the map but it may shed a little light on how character might change.  Or maybe not; you need to pin down variables better to get to that result.

nine year old shou mei, at least supposedly.  it can darken faster than that.

It complicates things that many versions might go through phases where the changes are less positive, emerging to a different character range later on.  Also tea drinkers tend to like what they expect to like, so just lacking that paradigm could throw off appreciation.

2014 Ali Shan and Dong Ding oolongs

Getting to some samples that were included from back when I ordered teas from Tea Mania (provided by the vendor, Peter). To me their sheng pu'er are just amazing, and a great value.  That was covered in detail in this 2018 Jing Mai arbor review, and 2018 Yiwu "Lucky Bee," and many earlier posts, but this re-review of how the 2016 Lucky Bee Yiwu version is progressing really tells that story. 

I've come to expect that everything from them will be better than one would expect from even good sources. Then again there are levels to source types, and quality and pricing, so I just mean that the teas seem to be on the higher end for quality, while typically in the middle for pricing, a rare occurrence. 

Oolong being aged for 6 years is new to me. I've only tried a couple of examples of well-aged oolongs, over 20 years, and that aging effect wouldn't be the same over a shorter time period. I'll get around to guessing about expectations in comments about the experienced aspects, but without actual background experience to set up a baseline that's not worth much. 

Heavily roasted Wuyi Yancha are said to improve a lot over even a year or two, and would mellow and become more pleasant over this time-frame too, with the roast effect softening and diminishing. That's not how this will go; you can tell from appearance the Ali Shan was light to begin with, and the Dong Ding was never relatively fully oxidized or charred, as Taiwanese "red oolongs" and high-roast Anxi Tie Guan Yin can be, respectively. 

Vendor descriptions: 

Ali Shan Qing Xin 

This Qing Xin Oolong tea from Ali Shan is a classic Gao Shan Cha (highland tea). Ali Shan, along with Li Shan and Shan Lin Xi, is one of the three regions in Taiwan with highland tea plantations. 

The Ali Shan Qing Xin is warm, full-bodied and has a complex taste profile. The aroma is clearly floral but there are also notes of ripe fruits. The sweetness reminiscent of dark forest honey with a slight woody undertone. The tea is light and airy, but the sweet honey smell lingers in the empty cup for a long time. 

Harvest: Spring 2014 

Taste: Honey sweet with floral aroma and notes of ripe fruits. 

Oxidation: appx. 40% 

Roasting: light-medium Origin: Ali Shan, Nantou, Taiwan. 

Preparation: Per serving 5g, temperature 95°C, time 15s. Rinse leaves gently with hot water before infusing. 

That was selling for 20 CHF, or $20 US, for 50 grams. 

The next tea: Dong Ding  (selling for $25 /  50 grams instead)

Dong Ding is a classic and rightly famous Taiwanese Oolong tea. This Dong Ding is a good example of flavors that a highland tea (Gao Shan Cha) can develop. Delicate floral scents, honey notes and subtle roasted aromas delight the palate and linger in the mouth and cup long after the last sip. 

Like other famous teas, Dong Ding is often and often imitated. Dong Ding is a limited mountain area with limited tea production. Because of its special aroma, Dong Ding style tea is produced in many other tea growing areas. But, even if the cultivar, the style and sometimes even the tea master are the same as on the Dong Ding, its quality and aroma is never achieved. 

Harvest: Spring 2014 

Taste: Flowery, light toasted and delicate honey flavor. 

Oxidation: appx. 40% Roasting: medium Origin: Dong Ding, Lugu Xiang, Nantou, Taiwan. 

Preparation: Per serving 5g, temperature 95°C, time 15s. Rinse leaves gently with hot water before infusing. 

I should add a few thoughts about all that, without getting too far into covering review content, since I've already tried the teas and write this part during editing.  A lot of people would go with full boiling point water; that kind of goes without saying.  It's easier to recommend someone tries both and see what they think than running back through all that.  Given that these have smoothed out a lot with age and some of the more forward, "higher end" flavor has diminished it might be all the more true for them, that hotter water would work better.

It also goes without saying that the Qing Xin reference is to the main, older plant type used for oolongs in Taiwan.  Other posts have covered that; I'll skip going further with it here.

Qing Xin is a more updated transliteration of Chin Shin, table from here

It's not what I expected but not completely surprising that the Dong Ding is oxidized to the same level as the Ali Shan.  I'd have guessed that the Ali Shan wasn't oxidized that much, but this Dong Ding isn't pushing the envelop towards black / red tea range.  The roast input will change character in ways that isn't identical to more oxidation, but it can be tricky splitting back out the two inputs.

I think if I re-tried the Ali Shan I might be able to break down flavor range better, in relation to clarifying what fruit seems to be represented.  I agree that it's primarily floral, and that made it hard to get far with that secondary range, but I suspect that the flavors warming and deepening pull them more towards fruit than when this tea was on the young side.  That oolong version was complex enough that to some extent the broad range of flavor inputs seemed non-distinct, covering floral tone, some fruit, and a touch of supporting mineral, trailing into spice effect just a little.  The Dong Ding seemed to include more straight cinnamon, but it was complex too, with a lot going on in feel range.

I dropped out essentially all discussion of aftertaste range, probably mostly related to experiencing an unfamiliar tea type, and also due to rushing the tasting process.  My normal weekend morning routine is to wake up, eat something, mess around and become more fully awake, then to do a tea review with notes.  Yesterday I got a haircut instead after step 2, and went to a lunch, and then a play area with my kids at noon.  I am concerned about "doing the teas justice" when they are this good and this novel, but if I waited until I had a 3 or 4 hour block of free time I would stop review blogging.  This will be a bit quick and rough as reviews go, because I don't have that much time (so the standard process).

Review 

I let these brew for too long the first round, not because of some strategy of getting them to start faster, just due to looking at something on the internet for half a minute. Not an auspicious start.  This is a little later than I typically start the day for ingesting any caffeine, late morning instead of right away. 

If these had been sheng I'd be talking about how overbrewing teas lets you analyze flaws or limitations in different ways, but for these I'm not sure how it will work out. 

Alishan: very pleasant; floral and fragrant. I expected some of the high end to dissipate, with these evolving more depth to compensate, and it will be interesting to see how that goes. The most intense and forward high end is diminished, even though I let this soak a bit long (towards a minute). A warm spice-like character fills in other range; that's interesting. This is floral too, but it's a warm, muted floral range, shifted from brighter tones to a deeper, warmer floral type. There's no edge to this at all, even for being slightly over-brewed, but that's not really a surprise. 

Dong Ding: this is warmer yet, with cinnamon as the most intense flavor aspect. Again the sharpest, brightest high end flavors seem to have evolved out, with depth and smoothness filling in more character range. I must have mentioned it in the later intro but I have no experience with 6 year old Taiwanese oolong range, that I remember, so it's unfamiliar to me how these are "supposed to be." 

There's a perfume-like character to this that shows up in really good quality oolongs across a broad range. I've mentioned it so many times I don't want to go far with explanation, but it's a little like cognac, not just the floral tone a perfume brings across, but seemingly tied a little to the solvent range. 

This is full in feel in a really novel way too. It's creamy, but not in the same range of senses I would usually mean that. Real cream actually feels quite heavy in your mouth, related to the way it coats your tongue and the rest, and this matches some of that, almost a coating type feel. Lots of oolongs feel thick, and sheng pu'er exhibits a broad range of types of feel and structure, but this is different. 

Second infusion: 

Ali Shan: this picked up "higher end" floral intensity, or maybe that's just from the brewing time difference shifting balance (brewed for 20 seconds or so, drawn out a little to account for not maxing out the proportion). The feel has a pleasant thickness, just nothing like the other version. The warmer range depth isn't different, just less intense. There is some light mineral tone to this, characteristic of Taiwanese high mountain oolongs, but that seems to have softened with the aging process, along with the bright, intense floral range that always reminds me a little of new car smell. Right, like plastic, but more pleasant in effect, and somehow similar, in a way that I'm sure most people wouldn't see as associated. 

It works well; it's clearly very good tea. I personally probably would've liked this better when new; trading out that front-end intensity and brighter range for depth just doesn't improve things, to me. It is interesting experiencing a slightly different version though. This is amazingly clean and smooth; the character is just different. It's not "plummy," the flavor range that more aged oolongs tend to pick up (per limited exposure to those and hearsay input). 

Dong Ding: more of the same; very pleasant. Again warmer tones and cinnamon stand out in this. It was definitely roasted more, and while I'm guessing a well-balanced higher level of oxidation also led to this positive outcome. It is just a guess but I'd expect both contributed to this character, with anything remotely like a "char" edge having dropped out years ago. 

Again I'd probably rather try this as a slightly rougher-edged new version, trading out this smoothness and unusual depth for front-end intensity, even if a bit more astringency and some slightly rougher flavor comes with that. "Rough" is within relative standard range, of course; this had to start out very drinkable as sheng, green, and black teas go. I'll go back to giving these a longer soak for the third round to ramp up intensity (30 seconds), since there are absolutely no negative aspects to "brew around" in these. 

Third infusion: 

Ali Shan: floral range shifted in character. That will be hard to describe, since I've not even grappled with breaking down distinct floral tones so far. This seems closest to lotus flower in nature to me. Before it was complex enough that it probably covered a range, and two or three flower-type descriptions would've been required. That's still true, but that one lotus flower range aspect bumped up. It's not so different than orchid, and given how there are many types of orchid that's already a range, that must cover some scope, but lotus flower has a sweet, rich depth to it, and a unique character. 

It's interesting how this bridges over to spice range as well, with some warm, more neutral floral tones filling in the space between those. A hint of dry mineral gives it depth, but that's adjoining slightly warmer tones that drift into aromatic wood, towards cedar, just not exactly like that. It's odd how this comes across as somewhat simple and approachable but really there is a lot going on, when you focus in on noticing it.  Versus this being interpreted as covering a broad floral range with some mineral and spice I think that fruit tone interpretations would make sense too, related to ripe fresh peach or dried apricot, but it all integrates well enough and covers so much flavor scope that it's hard to break apart.

Dong Ding: straight cinnamon might have picked up a little. Again at first "glance" (in the taste-sensation range) this isn't so different than soaking a cinnamon stick for a minute or two, but really a lot more goes into underlying that experience. There is floral tone supporting that, and a creamy feel that teas almost never exhibit, never mind spices. Vanilla is an exception; real vanilla bean gives an infusion so much texture that it's almost too creamy, like a custard in mouthfeel, and this overlaps a little with that experience, except for the "going too far" part. That liquer / cognac / perfume like aspect isn't pronounced but it also rounds out the rest. 

I'll give these one more longer soak, up towards a minute, and leave off, because I'm due at a lunch today. 

Fourth infusion: 

Ali Shan: not so different than last round, so I'll just say that it's not transitioning much. 

Dong Ding: this also seems to have leveled off, and may even be fading a bit, with those longer infusion times taking a toll on it. These teas are far from finished but they may be declining from here on out. Transitioning aspect range through longer infusion time and more roasting seems to come at a cost for the number of infusions a tea can produce, so it wouldn't be that unusual if this was a round ahead of the other in terms of progression through a cycle. 

Conclusions: 

Excellent teas, interesting in style. Aging seemed to have brought on the changes I would've expected, with the teas picking up some depth at the cost of higher end intensity. They were interesting, novel, and pleasant, clearly very good quality teas, as I would have expected. For someone interested in owning truly aged oolongs, versions aged to older than a decade, buying some like this in a mid-range and hanging on to them might be a great option. Time passes quickly, and any 10+ year old oolong version is going to be really expensive. I didn't check yet what these are selling for but at a guess it's on the moderate side, for what they are.

(Back later) ok, they're $20 and $25 per 50 grams; how to place that?  I'd expect that's about what these would typically cost when new, based on an informed guess about quality level, and you just can't find aged versions like this easily.  When tea types relating to any factor are all but impossible to turn up supply and demand concerns become strange; if there is significant demand the price is whatever the vendor wants it to be, and the type could no longer be available at some point even given high pricing.  I reviewed a comparably aged Oriental Beauty version once and said roughly the same thing, but that was selling for an order of magnitude higher cost than this, several dollars per gram.

To me aged oolong is a strange thing to begin with.  Letting well-roasted Wuyi Yancha settle makes perfect sense but I don't completely "get" aged light rolled oolong.  That said, why not consider an opposing viewpoint from people who do get it.  James of TeaDB writes to advocate the general type here.  He never really gets far with describing that appeal, limited to this statement:

I enjoy drinking pu’erh and happen to own enough that I’ll be aging it for a very long time. But I I also really do enjoy aged oolong… And for partly inexplicable reasons have hardly even a pu’erh cake worth of oolong put away for the long haul.

Liking it is the thing, I guess.  He mentions his own criteria for what he considers as aged in that post:  15 to 20 year old versions.  Buying these particular teas, that I just reviewed, and waiting another 9 years would be a long term project.

Looking back through their earlier posts there isn't much describing what is commercially available for aged oolongs.  Those would tend to come and go, and be found in one-off examples that later disappear, many of which wouldn't necessarily be that exceptional anyway.  James reviews a lot of versions in this post, most contributed by friends, with this conclusion:

Sorry guys. I can’t really wholeheartedly recommend any of the available teas from this report. The western landscape is barren, even more so than matured pu’erh. It’s littered with re-roasted oolongs which can be OK and overly tart/mis-stored teas but aren’t really the same thing as un-reroasted oolongs. There are some OK options (Everlasting Teas, Floating Leaves, Chawangshop, and Tea Urchin) but you’re guaranteed to pay more and expect less.

With that advice being offered in 2016 all of the versions he mentioned as commercially available, and less interesting than the others he tried, would probably no longer be available.  Then again I just pulled up one of those vendor pages and found Tea Urchin still does carry a 1985 Dong Ding, selling for $1 per gram; a steal, if it's a good version.  It's a commonly encountered theme that storing an average quality tea for a long time never tends to convert it into an exceptional aged version, and anything short of relatively optimum storage conditions can turn out a lot worse than that, regardless of the starting point.  That Tea Urchin version description sounds great, and also addresses this point:

After first infusion, the gaiwan lid wafts with sweet notes of honey, toffee apples, salted fluffy white butter popcorn, mixed with heavier aromas of sandalwood, camphor, leather, musty herbal medicines. The tea liquor is a dark amber with the aroma of dried orange peel. The tea floats on the tongue - light bodied but viscous, with a smooth clean mouthfeel. There is very little sourness often found in teas of this age. 

Right, I like teas that are not so sour.  A comment on the first TeaDB post mentioned by Shah (one of those few real tea experts who turn up) covers all this in a short space:

Speaking as that proverbial hard-bitten veteran, who isn’t a huge fan of aged oolongs in the first place, a few comments:

1) Anything that can be said for oolong, can be said for hongcha and baicha. In my experience, hongcha is a better age-performer as a whole. Ie, my home aged hongcha is much tastier than my home aged oolong, for me.

2) Twenty years is not a realistic view of a hobbyist’ perspective of time. Not for puerh, not for wulong.

3) Initial quality matters. As a practical matter, given that aging rich and bitter/astringent puerh makes it more drinkable, you can start with somewhat lower quality and end up with better tea. Aging seems to erode an oolong’s harsh qualities much slower than it does for properly processed sheng. I have not enjoyed some 70’s yancha because of this. Which leads to the next point…

4) For me, age-worthy oolongs have only gotten in rough comparison to puerh within about the last four years. Cheaper yancha is much better processed than it used to be. And puerh is much more expensive than it used to be. I do not typically like aged oolongs much because they tend to be very one-dimensional, and if I want mellow, then I want high quality shu, usually. If one is going to age anything on purpose, it’s best to buy a kilo+ of the highest quality yancha/balled oolong you can afford...

Related to that last comment, then it's back to the same to waiting-game problem, that of setting something aside for 15 years.  I plan to still be alive in 15 years but I'm not setting aside anything but sheng to hang out for a long time and drink later.  Even for that type the quantity and range of what I have on hand is pathetic; I just don't have the tea budget to set aside some extra tongs.  I can buy a little more than I drink from year to year but that's about it.

Related to "setting aside a kilo+" it doesn't really make sense to buy a 100 grams of any tea to age it.  If you try it a few times to see how that's progressing only half would make it through the process, and then it would be gone soon once that extended time had passed.  Sinking $200 or $250 on an aging experiment to buy a kilo of these (or $225, to buy half of each) would be a reasonable expense to some, but for many it would make a lot more sense to set aside 4 or 5 $50 sheng cakes instead.  That would amount to a kilo and a half of tea that wouldn't just become a bit mellow and plummy, although depending on selection some versions might just fade over the long term.

Preference is a funny thing though, and I can definitely relate to the value of pursuing different experiences.  It was interesting trying these very moderately aged oolongs, and they were quite novel and pleasant.

that lunch; decent Thai food, great company

for some reason I don't remember seeing her in jeans.  she often wears dresses.

one part of that play area

I gave up the "second pandemic wave" look

Gopaldhara Summer Beauty Muscatel and China Muscatel

 

Summer Beauty left, China Muscatel right, in all photos

I'm trying two more samples from Gopaldhara, after initially reviewing what seemed to be relatively close to classic first and second flush versions in this post.  

I would expect these to be standard second flush range as well, but I'll not check that prior to doing review notes, and will add their descriptions here during editing.  My thinking is that they have been developing some really novel oolong type (or influenced) variations, and one more round of more familiar range will help me reset a baseline before starting on those (from a number of samples provided for review).  I've been more on sheng pu'er for a couple of years, although I never really stop drinking Dian Hong (Yunnan black tea), and I've tried more Thai black tea than I usually get to this year.

The "beauty" part should refer to a link with Oriental Beauty.  Per my understanding there is a natural link between that and second flush Darjeeling anyway, since both pick up additional muscatel and citrus range flavors related to a similar, or potentially identical, insect biting the leaves.

The leaves of this Summer Beauty version look a little different than any Darjeeling I ever remember seeing.  It looks like Oriental Beauty; more whole leaves, a good proportion of bud content, and especially the same color variations, the light tan part, dark brown, and reddish brown colors, all mixed.  The scent is really sweet and fruity as well.  The other looks nice not so broken, more uniformly brown, and also sweet with pronounced muscatel, but the Beauty version seems to lean more towards including both muscatel and a berry range.  This should be interesting.

I'll brew them Gongfu style, letting the times run a little long to account for my most standard tea range, sheng, requiring a lighter touch, but except for planning to let these brew for around 15 seconds instead of 10 it will be the same approach.

Vendor descriptions of the teas (added after review):

I would imagine this is the "China muscatel" version, although I can't be certain:

Gopaldhara Muscatel – Special Darjeeling Black Tea

Gopaldhara Muscatel – Special Darjeeling Black Tea is a pure Darjeeling black tea made by frosted leaves at the highest elevation of Darjeeling tea plantation. This is from more than 150 years old high-quality bushes planted by the British. It is grown at the 7000 ft. of Gopaldhara Tea Estate and processed by the experts... It brews into a rich orange cup that gives abundant sweet, fruity and muscatel flavor. This special Darjeeling black tea gives mouthful and rounded taste to the pallet. 

The cultivar listing "Chinese bushes" would refer to this being a variety Sinensis plant type, versus the often used AV2 cultivar (the background of which I've written about, but it's been awhile).  I would imagine the other tea is this:

Rohini Summer Beauty Muscatel 2020

This is a Second Flush or finest Summer Tea prepared from high quality AV2 bushes. Summer Beauty Muscatel consists of brownish black leaves and few silver tips. It brews into an aromatic bright amber cup with a very smooth flavor without any astringency. The tea has a mouthful sweet and fruity muscatel character with a finish of honey and mango flavor. It has no astringency and is a very compelling make. It is definitely one of the best teas produced by Rohini Tea Estate.

It's interesting how close that marketing description is to my own notes.  If I had read "mango" prior to tasting it I probably would have even been seconding that.  Mango covers a lot of scope; I've been exploring those this year, and although there is a narrow set of flavors that matches the most distinctive mango taste they cover lots of types and range.

Review:

Summer Beauty Muscatel:  that is on the incredible side, even for being a little light, as first infusions almost always are based on how I usually brew teas.  Pleasant citrus range including muscatel extends a lot further than that.  The citrus is also light, to me tasting most like tangerine, but covering some range.  Berry notes do stand out, again a complex range of those, like very fresh blueberry, also towards raspberry.  

This is the probably the closest thing I've tasted to raspberry since I've lived in Thailand, for well over a decade.  Growing up my grandparents (on one side) had a giant raspberry bush; this takes me back.  The other set had a giant blueberry bush, which was more like a patch, as both were; visiting both worked out for eating fruit.  The first also had a pear tree and some unusually rich tasting grapes (a section of vines), and the second a golden apple tree, with strawberries and mint growing in their garden.  I miss that area.

 

China Muscatel:  much warmer; a lot of cinnamon joins the citrus in this.  It includes astringency as well; I almost forgot to notice that the first did not, at all.  The "Beauty" feel and range is exactly like an Oriental Beauty oolong, given the smoothness, depth, and flavor range, and lightness in tone.  The astringency in this is in a nice balance, definitely not harsh, or out of proportion.  Cinnamon stands out more than the muscatel (which is also a soft and complex citrus tone, but not bright like the other).  I wouldn't be surprised if that's just how it works out brewing this tea Gongfu style, the aspect that gets "stripped out" the fasted, but then I also wouldn't be surprised if it hung in there as a main flavor aspect.

Since both of these are brewed a little light there will be more to add in the next round.  Flavor intensity is really good in these infusions, in spite of them being brewed light, but feel and the rest will pick up as it brews while more saturated.  I don't get the sense that moderating astringency would be a factor for either but dialing in an optimum for experiencing them will still apply.

Second infusion:  

I didn't get the amounts exactly identical in these, I think related to not accounting for how long and twisted the Beauty version leaves were, and some of the China version being more broken.  The proportions are so close that it won't change much, and I can guess about what it did change in the notes, how that factors in.  Using two different infusion times would account for that, but that gets tricky.  I'll just pour out the second tea first to adjust process timing by those extra seconds.

Beauty:  earthiness picks up, an underlying light malt range black tea tone.  Fruit still stands out the most, by a lot.  The brightest citrus and berry notes have tapered off just a little, towards warmer, richer tones and other range.  That warm maltiness also leans a little towards cinnamon spice; this is pretty close to Oriental Beauty for character.  There's a faint edge of astringency now that pairs with a light flavor like biting a tree bud (or flower stem, if that's easier to imagine, but it's really tree bud).  Altogether it makes this a complex and pleasant experience.  It covers a lot of range; I suppose it's conceivable that someone could see that as negative, but if so I couldn't relate to that opinion.

That astringency seems to show more towards then end, pairing with a trace of bitterness and mouthfeel tightening as you swallow it and just after.  It's still really soft and rich, as black teas go, still balanced towards being not very astringent at all, but the bit that is there does relate to a standard Darjeeling range, it's just the proportion that's unusual, being that light.

China:  astringency is stronger in this; I think that could also partly relate to being brewed slightly stronger, being based on a higher proportion.  The first Beauty version is at a more ideal infusion strength for these teas.  I'll try a fast infusion next time, more like what I would use for a lot of Chinese teas, and see how that goes.  

I do tend to stretch out timing a bit for Dian Hong, which I do usually also brew Gongfu style.  I last had one of those about two days ago; it's interesting having that close a baseline for another character.  This tea has slightly more of an edge, but that's not the case for the Beauty version, which is full and rich but very soft.  Dian Hong also tend to be really soft in character.  I think that's because they use the trees to make sheng in the spring harvest, then pick more for a much milder summer second harvest version that they use for black tea, then back to sheng in autumn.  Or maybe that's completely wrong; to be clear I'm passing on hearsay here, not well-developed knowledge.  And any given tea producer could do whatever they want.

The cinnamon is still pronounced in this.  I think scaling back time will drop out some astringency, without giving up much for flavor intensity, and this tea will work out better.  That's the nice part about brewing Gongfu style; you tend to get 10 or more chances to dial in the infusion time that works best for the tea at that stage, along with experiencing more transition that way.

Third infusion:

Beauty:  this works really well brewed on the moderate strength side; I'm not sure why I was thinking the teas would need longer at this proportion (more than 10 seconds).  All the flavor aspects tend to integrate more at this stage; it's still covering that laundry-list of flavor range, but it combines into a complex, unified experience.  Complex fruit tone stands out, which could be interpreted in different ways.  Mineral undertone changes, adding a touch of copper taste, but that integrates really well too.  There's a rich, round feel to it.  For astringency dropping back to being a faint balancing input this is just great.  

It's well-synchronized, all completely integrated.  It's very clean in effect, with sweetness level high but balanced.  It goes without saying after all that but this is one of the best Darjeeling versions I've ever tried.  That seems to almost extend past personal preference as a factor; the quality level and balance is undeniable.  I guess someone could miss more astringency edge?  The feel isn't thin, it just doesn't have a bite, and none of that near-bitter flavor that seems to tie to that edge.

China:  this is the best it has been too; this moderate infusion strength works perfectly.  To be clear I'm not "brewing these light;" when you use a very high proportion of tea to water using a very short infusion time is just standard process.  These wouldn't be so different in infusion strength if I had brewed 2 grams of tea for 4 minutes, or probably for rounds of 3 and 4 minutes, "cashed out" after those two rounds.  To some extent that just combines the experience of many transitions into two.

This has that touch of astringency I said that someone might miss in the last sample notes, but it's very moderate, very balanced.  Again it shows up more after you drink it, as an aftertaste effect, than you notice during the time the tea is in your mouth.  It if was stronger it would seem like a slight dryness, and it still is close to that, but that light it seems odd referring to it as that.  Cinnamon is hanging in there; this flavor range covers mostly that and non-distinct or mixed citrus range, muscatel and perhaps more like orange peel zest.  

It's interesting trying this then the other, seeing how bright that comes across in comparison.  That flavor is towards berry, really, but a flash of a first impression is almost towards banana instead.  I don't want to overextend this point since it's a tangent, but people in the US don't really know what a flavorful banana tastes like.  You're not missing that much but if you travel in South East Asia sometime you should try some other types of bananas (or in India, I'd imagine).

Referring back to the vendor description (in the editing part, after making tasting notes), mango would also work.   The banana note I was talking about is not the normal light, mild, somewhat neutral flavor common to those sold in the US, more of a sweet, rich, almost bubble-gum flavor, towards a warmer range, not unlike some mango.  It's hard to describe which mango since the names here don't mean a lot to me, and I keep trying different versions.

closest to an aspect in the sangkhya type, I think, in the upper middle

versions from home, growing in the yard, picked before the squirrel got them

Fourth infusion:  

the Beauty version is less oxidized, probably more in a normal oolong range

I'll make a few fast notes since I'm off to a yoga class, appropriate enough to be drinking Indian teas prior to that.

Beauty:  a verbal description does nothing to convey how this tea really is.  It's almost absurd even making these notes.  Sure, I can try to isolate the parts of what I experience as a flavor list, or draw a comparison, or say things like "balanced, integrated, refined," but it wouldn't help.  It's too integrated to be broken apart, too complex and refined to be captured in words.  Good Taiwanese Oriental Beauty is like that too.  In a limited sense it's on the basic side, refined in general character, rich in feel, and very complex in flavor, so in one sense a flavor list does it justice and in another not at all.

At some level Wuyi Yancha oolongs have an odd, very pleasant quality that I refer to as liquor like, or perfume like, meaning that those can be complex, across floral and other flavor range, similar to part of the experience of a cognac or perfume.  This is a little like that, but more fruity instead of floral.  I guess that's the way to describe it, to get all poetic.  Maybe Geoffrey Norman should be writing this review.

China:  More of the same.  Again the balance really works.  Again it's warmer, and across vaguely related range but into warmer citrus and more cinnamon.  Astringency is almost a non-issue, although some does round out the feel.  That dropping out may have related both to getting the infusion strength right and a natural transition across rounds.  It has more structure, and a very light dryness shows up in aftertaste, and that's about it.  It's odd how that experience seems to occur after you drink it, but then I've already said that.

Both of these have lots of rounds to go, and both may transition a good bit, but I may or may not make more notes.  It's hard to get back to the same level of focus, and a lot of the story has been told already.

Later infusions:  over the next couple of rounds I needed to stretch out the timing a bit to keep up infusion strength.  The Beauty version seemed to pick up a nice heavier grape flavor, not so far off muscatel, but a little towards Welch's grape juice.  The China version kept the hint of dryness but a lot of that earlier astringency edge dropped out.  Cinnamon hung in there but citrus range stood out more in the flavors.  

Both thinned a little in overall complexity, and feel range thinned, but stretching times picked up the underlying mineral tones in both.  Both are still really pleasant, and will keep going beyond that, but they're dropping off.

Those are both really exceptional tea.  The "Beauty" version is that little bit more exceptional, a real treat for anyone who loves the Taiwanese oolong Oriental Beauty.  Of course it wasn't exactly like that, maybe in between that and a second flush Darjeeling character.  For all of these teas being this good it should be very interesting and pleasant to see where the oolong processed versions ended up.

Calling this Summer Beauty version oolong would've been fair enough.  I looked back at the listing description and it does say that it's semi-oxidized, it just doesn't add that extra category label.  I think people take the type names too seriously anyway; as I interpret their use labels and groupings should help define the type and expectations.  Being based on an AV2 cultivar and grown in Darjeeling this couldn't be identical to the Taiwanese oolong Oriental Beauty version, but it's a lot closer than I expected it to be.  It doesn't make any sense to judge if a single tea version is as good as a different and separate category, but it is really good tea.