A Tale of Two Oolongs
Traditional Oolong (left) and Tan-Pei Oolong (right)
I stopped in to see Master Tsai last week, and we got to discussing oolongs and their different processing methods. High mountain oolongs are very popular right now in Taiwan, and a lot of people I speak with seem to think that anything grown below 1,000m isn’t worth drinking. I asked Master Tsai what non-high mountain oolong teas he would recommend. Well, one thing led to another, and before I knew it he was getting out a couple of teas to sample. Both of them are from the same farm (in Nantou county), and the leaves are from the same fields. The difference is in the processing methods.
Traditional Oolong
The first tea we drank was a traditional organic ooong. It’s considered ‘traditional’ because it is harvested and processed using methods from before the high mountain tea style became popular in the 1980s. The leaves are a little older when picked, and they are oxidized and roasted more than the popular ‘green’ oolongs (most high mountain oolong falls into this category) on the market now. This gives the tea a richer, more mature flavor than its light roasted cousins, with slight fruity notes. The liquid is medium green with an orange tint. It’s smooth on the tongue, with a mildly astringent and slightly sour (in a good way) aftertaste. Under the watchful eye of Master Tsai (and with the aid of a carbon steel tetsubin heated over charcoal) it really impressed me. Even going ‘light’ on the leaf (about 1/6th of the small I-Hsing pot we were using), the flavor was consistent after 7 rounds. It leaves a pleasant dry feeling on the lips, and was an excellent choice for our afternoon tea session, and I couldn’t help but think it would be great for washing down wedges of gouda (or dark chocolate)!
Tan Pei Oolong
After a brief break to reset the table and rest our palates, we opened the other organic oolong. This second tea was a medium-roast oolong. It was more robust and full-bodied than the first tea, with a brownish-orange color. The mouthfeel was also smooth, but it had a stronger ‘presence’ in the mouth. This is a great tea for a slow, prolonged drinking session, and we lingered between each cup to enjoy the dry aftertaste that intensifies deliciously in the back of the throat. I was reluctant to take the next cup at times! Another great thing about this tea is how forgiving it is. I got distracted on the second round (long story!) and ended up with a 2-3 minute steep – ouch! I asked Master Tsai if I should dump it, or dilute it out by adding a quick ‘rinse’ round to it (don’t cringe – that’s a legal maneuver!). He reassured me with a smile, and told me to serve up two cups. While the color was much darker than the first round, and I expected a cup of tea that would ‘put hair on my chest’ (my dad says that a lot), it turned out to be quite acceptable. The flavor was strong, and some of the subtleties were lost, but there was no bitterness at all. More importantly, the subsequent rounds were only mildly affected. Although I had to lengthen each steep by 10-15 seconds, we still managed 8 very good rounds of tea.
Two very nice ‘low mountain’ oolongs
All in all, it was an excellent tea session, and the highlight of my week. I’m not sure I’d prefer either of these over high mountain in general, but on that particular day, they were the right choice for the occasion. I’m hoping to duplicate the experience at my home tea studio one of these weekends, and I’ll let you know how it works out. If I can work out the ‘technical difficulties’ with the video camera, I’ll see about putting up some video of it.
Remember to drink more tea!