Thread: Tea anyone ??!!

I love Oolongs or is it Wulongs ? Either way I love'em and what I really find is I'm loving Chinese teas more over Indian. I get Kusmi tea blends which use a lot of Chinese tea and man I could be way off but,I swear Chinese teas leave less of a film in my tea pots so they seem to be a less dirtier tea to me and seem to have a cleaner mouth feel? I could be wrong but that is my perception.

Seems like a little life is getting breathed back into this thread and that is good to see. Bella you are missed sorely and hope your enjoying a good cuppa up there my friend.

Originally Posted by Nightblade

I love Oolongs or is it Wulongs ? Either way I love'em and what I really find is I'm loving Chinese teas more over Indian. I get Kusmi tea blends which use a lot of Chinese tea and man I could be way off but,I swear Chinese teas leave less of a film in my tea pots so they seem to be a less dirtier tea to me and seem to have a cleaner mouth feel? I could be wrong but that is my perception.

I like my Japanese teas very much. But I think I like my Chinese teas just a little more. And there is a greater diversity it seems with Chinese tea. And I really like the gong fu brewing method - more tea, less water, many steepings. You get to see it unfold and expose different profiles as it steeps out. I don't know about dirty or clean though. Maybe it's just the nature of one tea over another.

Sorry, Oolong is the Anglicized spelling, Wulong is the Mandarin pinyin spelling. Can you elaborate on what you mean when you say "a film"? I don't know much about Indian teas, but I think most are blacks (?); black tea is fermented, and like Oolongs, should have a wash before you steep them. However, black teas do stain (then again, so do greens); in a porcelain pot this would result in a reddish mark, eventually dark brown or black I think, where in an yixing pot you would usually match the color of the clay to the tea (roughly; i.e. not using a yellow or green clay for black tea) and so it wouldn't really leave a mark. Also, if you have 'cracked glaze', on your cups for example, it will darken the cracks (generally considered to be a good thing).
That being said, one of the mains reasons I drink tea instead of coffee is the clean mouthfeel and the freshness afterward (as opposed to coffee breath). Green teas are considered to be "fresher" 爽 than fermented teas, so maybe it's the tea type, and not the origin?

I've got to say, the best Japanese green tea I've had (Uji Gyokuro from Tsuen) I liked better than the best Chinese green (fresh biluochun or longjing from the source); I find the flavor stronger and more complex. They used pretty much the gongfu method when I was at Tsuen, and that's how I brew it as well. That being said, they're all pretty damn good teas. I have to agree, there is MUCH more tea diversity in China; Japanese tea culture is a direct descendant of Chinese tea culture, and China has much more cultural and geographical diversity. As my Japanese friend said, "Japan is a green tea country", and as for Japanese green tea, I'm under the impression that Ujicha is undisputed number 1. Things just aren't that simple in China.

The other day we had dinner at a place called Alice's Tea Cup and they had a selection of teas.

I had a darjeeling called "Castleton Estate FTGFOP1" which was quite good, but I thought it was oversteeped which may well be just my drinking of primarily green and white teas these days.

Ujicha is, allegedly, the highest quality Japanese tea but I think it's a matter of preference. Perhaps it just suits the Japanese palette.

I find ujicha to be particularly light and delicate, which is great, but I think I prefer what seem to be the bolder flavours of kagoshimacha

Originally Posted by PigHog

Ujicha is, allegedly, the highest quality Japanese tea but I think it's a matter of preference. Perhaps it just suits the Japanese palette.

I find ujicha to be particularly light and delicate, which is great, but I think I prefer what seem to be the bolder flavours of kagoshimacha

Cool! I haven't heard of kagoshimacha. I will look into it.

Originally Posted by ffourteen

Sorry, Oolong is the Anglicized spelling, Wulong is the Mandarin pinyin spelling. Can you elaborate on what you mean when you say "a film"? I don't know much about Indian teas, but I think most are blacks (?); black tea is fermented, and like Oolongs, should have a wash before you steep them. However, black teas do stain (then again, so do greens); in a porcelain pot this would result in a reddish mark, eventually dark brown or black I think, where in an yixing pot you would usually match the color of the clay to the tea (roughly; i.e. not using a yellow or green clay for black tea) and so it wouldn't really leave a mark. Also, if you have 'cracked glaze', on your cups for example, it will darken the cracks (generally considered to be a good thing).
That being said, one of the mains reasons I drink tea instead of coffee is the clean mouthfeel and the freshness afterward (as opposed to coffee breath). Green teas are considered to be "fresher" 爽 than fermented teas, so maybe it's the tea type, and not the origin?

In the Western world tea isn't generally washed as is the eastern way. Thus a film over time coats the inside of the teapot and the pot needs to be washed.Westerners also generally use one pot for all teas...it's just what we do.When I brew Kusmi teas, the film isn't as quick to manifest and their teas don't generally have a heavy mouth feel like many British style teas which have a lot of malty Indian teas in their blends.British teas which I like just fine,always seem better suited with milk and sugar which I am also fine with but, when I drink Kusmi teas most of which are of the Russian blends that I choose(they have others)I usually drink them black with sugar. I have gotten films from green teas as well so I would say it's more the quality of the teas as opposed to the type mainly.Then again......it may be just the way the planets align and how the rooster crows for all I know heh......I still like tea no matter what the minor flukes may be.

Thanks also for the clarification on the Oolong Wulong thing. I love it it and it's one of my favorite types.

Originally Posted by gugi

The other day we had dinner at a place called Alice's Tea Cup and they had a selection of teas.

I had a darjeeling called "Castleton Estate FTGFOP1" which was quite good, but I thought it was oversteeped which may well be just my drinking of primarily green and white teas these days.

Sounds interesting but, ya just can't eat one scone......I have at least three with my pot O tea haha .Love me some scones-es !