The Drink What You Own Showdown - oolong edition

This post is part of a series. If you haven’t already, check out Part 1 here.

In times of chaos and uncertainty, I find decluttering, cleaning and organizing extremely therapeutic. There’s something comforting about having some things under control, especially when everything else is beyond 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 a structured approach to the content of my tea cabinet. It’s called a “showdown” and it’s a type of contest. You take your teas and taste them side by side to determine your favorite (refer to the picture below, it’s easier with a visual aid). 

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’m making some progress deciding which of my oolong teas I get to keep and which ones have to go. Life is too short to drink less than exceptional tea.

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.

Today I’m tasting a Wuyi oolong alongside a Phoenix Mountain oolong (Dancong). Wuyi oolong, also known as "yancha", "cliff tea” or “rock tea", comes from the Wuyi region in Fujian province, China. Dancong comes from the Phoenix Mountains (Fenghuang shan) in Guangdong province, China.

Sweet Cassia rock oolong VS Orchid Fragrance oolong

Sweet Cassia Rock Oolong

Origin: Wuyi Mountains, Fujian, China
Ingredients: oolong tea
Harvest: n/a
Oxidation: n/a
Preparation Method: yixing teapot
Leaves/Water Ratio:  5gr /  6 fl oz
Water Temperature: 205 F / 96 C
Steep Time: 10 seconds / 15 seconds / 20 seconds / +5 seconds and so on

EYE

dry leaves: dark grey and dark brown in color, rolled lengthwise but not tightly, they feel fluffy and light almost like cornflakes 
wet leaves: dark brown
liquor: deep caramel with ruby red hues, slightly foamy on the edge of the pitcher

NOSE

dry leaves: spicy and sweet, when shaken in warmed up yixing teapot very spicy and sweet with smokey and fruity notes
wet leaves: smokey
liquor: sweet and spicy, faint notes of vanilla

PALATE

Sweet and smokey with intense mineral finish, it gets astringent as it cools

MOUTHFEEL: mouth coating minerality

OVERALL IMPRESSION: lovely returning sweetness at the back of the throat. It’s delicious.

Orchid Fragrance Oolong

Origin: Phoenix Mountain, Chaozhou, China
Ingredients: oolong tea
Harvest: n/a
Oxidation: n/a
Preparation Method: yixing teapot
Leaves/Water Ratio:  5gr / 6 fl oz
Water Temperature: 205 F / 96 C      
Steep Time: 10 seconds / 15 seconds / 20 seconds / +5 seconds / and so on

EYE

dry leaves: dark grey with some rust hues, leaves are rolled lengthwise and appear longer and larger than Sweet Cassia Rock Oolong (see above), there is a huge piece of stem without any leaves attached and a few other thinner stems
wet leaves: dark brown with dark green hues
liquor: deep amber

NOSE

dry leaves: after rinsing for a few seconds, beautifully and intensely aromatic, floral with a fresh mint or eucalyptus note
wet leaves: sweet notes and eucalyptus notes
liquor: sweet

PALATE

Very floral and sweet, minerality is more evident as it cools

MOUTHFEEL: mineral but not as intensely tongue coating as Sweet Cassia Rock Oolong (see above)

OVERALL IMPRESSION: returning floral notes at the back of the throat linger. It’s equally delicious and completely different!

And the winner of this round is …. Orchid Fragrance Oolong! Great complexity on the nose and on the palate! I didn’t expect the eucalyptus notes at all! It was a tough decision and I think I would have picked the Sweet Cassia Rock Oolong in the fall and winter, it’s equally complex and so comforting!

Which one was your favorite? Stay tuned for the next round!