So far I have been unimpressed with the teas coming in from Teance; they have been average at best, though to be fair, my idea of "average" sets the bar kind of high. Nonetheless I found myself more than a little excited to try their Roasted Twig Oolong.
I love twig tea, karigane or kukicha, roasted or green, this kind of tea is a staple, always gotta have it in stock. Unfortunately this Taiwanese tea lacks the unique magic of its more prolific, Japanese counterparts. What kukicha brings to sencha, this tea fails to deliver.The leaves/twigs smell wonderful, like warm, toasted honey, only it doesn't taste as good as it smells. It has the same problem I often find in lighter oolong. Like push up bras, enticing yes, but they only build you up for a let down.
Still...its not all bad, pleasant, light with bits of fruit, with honey in the finish, no astringency. I find its good for 2-3 infusions.
9 comments:
Hi Alex, is this teapot the green Xishi from Teahome ?
http://www.teahometw.com/book/potC2-3.htm
I have the 180cc !
Hi Alex, maybe i have the same teapot, is it this one ?
http://www.teahometw.com/book/potC2-3.htm
Mine is 180cc.
Hello Alex,
Another interesting post! What kind of teapot were you using for this tea? It has an unusual color. Do you have more information about the teapots origin? Do you always use this one for roasted oolongs?
Have a good afternoon,
(another) Alex
Hi Bruno,
I got this pot from silkroadtrade on ebay. It was the only one they had. I'm very fond of it, and its the only yixing pot I use with any consistancy.
I don't have much info on the pot (I serched my archives and it would appear I never officialy introduced it).
And yes, I use this one for roasted oolong.
Hi Alex,
But is it the same as mine from the Teahome link ?
no, it's not.
Really? You have been unimpressed? Should we send you some rare Phoenix Oolong, or this year's Silver medal winner Baochong, or Anxi Tikuanyin from 1300 meters?
Hi Winnie, I never say no to free tea ;)
Let me be more clear though. In my opinion (whatever that's worth), while Teance is far better than just about any tea you'll find in a Specialty/Grocery store, when compared to the much wider selection available to the internet shopper, it doesn't stand out nearly as much.
However, my customers respond well to it, and it has been selling. I would put Teance in the same catagory as Rishi, great if you can buy it in a brick and mortar store, but not my first choice for regular tea puchases.
Twig oolong? Nobody actually drinks that in China. You see ladies in the tea stores here working over a large bamboo tray removing the twigs from the leaves. Stores buy maocha, and then the twigs have to be removed. It's a finishing process. They say if the twigs are left on the leaf, it will give a coarse taste to the tea. So no one drinks the twigs here. They all end up in large bags (sometimes swept up from the floor) - and then re-sold to to make tea pillows.
But if it were sold as a tea, it would be extremely cheap - basically the throw-away stuff.
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