Here is a post I presented to private groups of tea friends, I will post it here as well in case any of you have suggestions. Most of you know my tastes were always in the realm of puerh, since my little life detour brought me back to tea again I have discovered a craving for oolongs like never before. Hence the following:
I am cruising down the oolong highway at breakneck speed. I have learned one thing, I was using far too little leaf. While I very much doubted this when you knowledgeable folks first told me, I tried it anyway. I am now finding that a ratio of between .8g to 1g per 10ml of water is working well for me, ie 8-10g in a 100ml gaiwan. It seemed awful heavy when my friend first suggested it, especially when one looks at the cost of the better teas, but my results have been very positive.
I would like to find a vendor who could supply an assortment of teas that show oxidation and roasting levels. Preferably on the same tea, or at least same genre of teas. In other words a selection of mid grade oolongs of the same genre but at a variety of oxidation levels, and another set of a given oxidation but at a variety of roasting levels so that I can zero in on preference within those variables. IE, should I be looking for a lightly roasted 20% oxidation (aka fermentation) versus a heavily roasted 40% oxidation? Seems like this might be a marketable idea, take the exact same raw tea and process it at a variety of oxidation/roast levels to allow a consumer to discover his palette.
Or am I barking up the wrong tea tree?
Mike