The Drink-What-You-Own Showdown, oolong edition

In times of chaos and uncertainty, I find decluttering, cleaning and organizing extremely therapeutic. There’s something comforting about having things under control, especially when everything else is beyond my control. I had already embraced the “drink-what-you-own” approach to my tea stash a while ago, because while some teas age well, some others don’t and when you have a lot of them, chances are, many are getting stale and it breaks my heart to be wasteful.

Decluttering also means making room for new teas and restocking old favorites. Therefore, in order to find my favorite teas and understand what other teas I might want to try, I had to adopt an analytical approach to the content of my tea cabinet. Okay, analytical is an overstatement. Let’s say structured. I have seen this kind of approach used in relation to food and superheroes before. It’s called a “showdown”. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s a kind of contest. You take your teas and taste them side by side to determine your favorite (refer to the picture below, it’s easier to show you than to explain). I think it’s a fun way to dive deeper into those teas and better understand your own palate. It’s not scientific and it’s totally subjective. It has to be subjective, right? It’s my tea collection, it reflects my taste in tea at the moment. Taste evolves, so in a year, this might look totally different. And that’s the beauty of it. In the meantime, I’ve decided to start with my oolong teas. Here they are. I am omitting the brands because there’s no point in that and besides, no more free exposure for tea companies, that’s how it works in all other blogging fields.

At the end of the process you’re left with one winner but my guess is that you’ll find many favorite teas along the way and maybe change your mind about certain teas or discover that they’ve aged well. I’m matching similar teas to begin with, strip-style oolongs versus strip-style oolongs and rolled (ball) oolongs versus rolled oolongs to give them a fair chance. The last match could be strip-style versus rolled, though. I’m going to make it a series, starting with Duck Shit Dancong VS Midnight Blossom Dancong.

Dancong Oolongs

Dancong oolongs come from the Phoenix Mountains (Fenghuang shan) in Guangdong province, China. If you want to know more about these fascinating teas I recommend my blog post and this article. A note about Duck Shit oolong. If you’ve never come across this tea, you might be reluctant to try it. Don’t worry, its name doesn’t reflect its content, it’s just a story. The tea was so good that the farmer didn’t want anyone to know how good it really was.

Duck Shit Oolong

Origin: Phoenix Mountain, Chaozhou, China
Ingredients: oolong tea
Harvest: n/a
Oxidation: n/a
Preparation Method: glass gaiwan
Leaves/Water Ratio: 5 gr / 5 fl oz
Water Temperature: 200 F       
Steep Time: 30 seconds / 40 seconds at 195 F / 50 seconds / 1 minute and so on

EYE

dry leaves: dark brown in color with some rust hues, leaves resemble long strips rolled lengthwise, wiry in shape
wet leaves: dark green with rust hues
liquor: orange with rust hues

NOSE

dry leaves: (shaken in warmed up gaiwan) buttery and spicy
wet leaves: mineral and floral, notes of ripe peach
liquor: sweet and mellow, notes of jasmine blossoms

PALATE: sweet mineral and fruity, no bitterness. It does get slightly bitter as it cools

MOUTHFEEL: mouth coating and mineral

OVERALL IMPRESSION: easy drinker, not as complex as Midnight Blossom (see tasting notes below) but much more mellow in general, no bitterness, less astringency, great returning sweetness and fruity-floral notes at the back of the throat, which lingers pleasantly

Midnight Blossom Oolong

Origin: Phoenix Mountain, Chaozhou, China
Ingredients: oolong tea
Harvest: n/a
Oxidation: n/a
Preparation Method: porcelain gaiwan
Leaves/Water Ratio: 5 gr / 5 fl oz
Water Temperature: 200 F
Steep Time: 30 seconds / 40 seconds at 195 F / 50 seconds / 1 minute and so on

EYE

dry leaves: dark grey / black leaves with some rust hues, leaves are thin and wiry, skinnier than Duck Shit leaves
wet leaves: dark green with brown hues
liquor: orange with hints of amber and rust

NOSE

dry leaves: (shaken in warmed up gaiwan) very aromatic, floral, buttery, red berries  
wet leaves: floral, mineral, menthol notes
liquor: sweet with roasted notes

PALATE: mineral and roasted with an edge of astringency, bitter finish as it cools

MOUTHFEEL: pronounced minerality, mouth coating

OVERALL IMPRESSION: very complex aromas, I want to try this in a yixing tea pot. After gong fu brewing, the leaves cold brew really well overnight and still yield a flavorful and smooth cup without any bitterness

And the winner of this round is …. Midnight Blossom oolong. Great complexity and a lot of room for experimenting with different brewing parameters, methods and vessels. Which one was your favorite?

Next up are Sweet Cassia rock oolong VS Orchid Fragrance oolong.

Honorable mention to Lu Ann Pannunzio (The Cup of Life) who invented the “drink what you own challenge” and to Nicole Wilson (Tea For Me Please) for her blog post on what to do with teas you don’t like.