1. Home
  2. Tea Connoisseur's Forum
  3. Wu Yi Yan Cha Bing - A Lush Oolong! And The Smoothest Nai Xiang (milk) Oolong!

Wu Yi Yan Cha Bing - A Lush Oolong! And The Smoothest Nai Xiang (milk) Oolong!

My small treasure of a box arrived Wednesday from Teaspring. Some more wonderful '93 loose Menghai, a Nai Xiang Oolong and a brand new experience for me - an Oolong Wu Yi Cha Bing. Firstly, the bing itself is quite beautiful - pressed with characters, mountains, and stars and the aroma is intense - very, sweet and "baking chocolate". The disk colour is deep and rich - teakwood brown with tawny highlights. Being quite new to this experience, I broke off a piece as I would a pu-erh cha bing; although this disk is flat. Teaspring suggested using

1/2 small porcelain pot of leaves and doing a 1 minute infusion at oolong temp. This wonder of a tea held up strongly to multiple infusions becoming toastier, more chocolate and sweeter. The tea is a quite a bargain $9.90 and I'm assuming it will last for quite a while. I have to admit - this may just become my very favourite Autumn indulgence! Also, in this box, Nai Xiang Oolong. This one is probably with smoothest of the "milk" oolongs I've tastes and the flavour, although very delicate, more pristine and clear in the "milky/silky" tones. A lovely soft green and very sweet with virtually no rough green vegetal edges. Small leaves and a refreshing sweetness that did not diminish with multiple infusions. I've tried two "silk" Oolongs from red Blossom and the Taiwan version was much more pronounced a flavour. I had been particularly fond of the "Milk Oolong" from Holy Mountain since the flavour was so pronounced. But, both Red Blossoms' "Taiwan Silk" and Holy Mountain's "Milk" lack the complexities and nuances of sweet "milkiness" that appear in the Nai Xiang from Teaspring. Shen
Reply to
Shen
Loading thread data ...

Saw those two items a week or two ago and they piqued my interest. Haven't got around to getting it, though. I heard nai xiang is a mass favorite in Taiwan.

Reply to
Phyll

Hello SHen! This is wonderful news. I have been wanting some new stuff. I, once upon a time had heard of an oolong bing. Now I know, and the oolong milky seems just what I have been oolong-ing for. I had once had one tasted almost like a coconut flan. I cannot remember where it came from, but this one sounds very nice. Thank you for your info... I DO apreciate it. Jenn

Reply to
Jenn

Funny you mention those wuyi bing. I bought a few out of curiosity from the "wuyi star" brand store in shanghai, but i haven't tried them yet. The girl at the store said they're all shui xian of different grades. Now i'm curious to actually try them.

I wonder if they'll age better or worse than loose wuyi?

~j

[snip]
Reply to
Jason F in Los Angeles

I just wrote to Daniel regarding just that - he said to store it as you would any other Oolong and it will continue to age if kept out of light, heat, cold etc (you know the drill). I love the roasty-toasty flavour and will probably drink it through the colder months, so no aging for me. Shen

Reply to
Shen

Yes. They do seem to love it there, as I heard from Peter and Alice at Red Blossom. It has a "denseness" and a sweetness that I'm enjoying for now. My second, third and fourth pots had more of a toasted, fine, aged Oolong flavour than chocolatey. It may have been the aroma I was "tasting" in my first go-round. Shen

Reply to
Shen

Oops. I got that all messed up - it's the bing that's roasty-toasty, noit the Nai Xiang. Went to bed very late and just not enough tea, as yet, to communicate clearly. Geez....I've really got to respect my limitations! (LOL!) In other words, don't write about a cuppa 'til I've had a potta. Shen

Reply to
Shen

Agreed on all counts. Seems like a good price per ounce/gram for a pretty good tea. Wonder if this way of packing makes it cheaper at the producer end? I bought a few, intending to give them away if they were good. Turned out they're very good, so I might keep most of them to test ageability with and without occasional re-roasting. (Paper package won't mind, I'm sure.)

This appears and tastes like a very highly fermented oolong, but not too highly roasted - just what I've been seeking for long-term storage experiments. Will get back to you all around 2018.

It was interesting to observe a "taste expectation" when brewing this cake. It looks so much like a big-leaf shu pu mini-bing that it took a moment extra for the distinctive Wuyi taste to arrive on first sip.

I agree. In fact, I believe it's the best milk oolong I've tried yet. I've even brewed it under sloppy/abusive conditions, and always got good results even though it's very green by my standards.

I also tried Teaspring's Bai Ji Guan, which is also one of the very best I've tried. Were I not committed to Pu-erh in my oral drip these days, this could be the every-sunday tipple while listening to Midnight Special.

-DM

Reply to
DogMa

So glad you gave that oolong a try! Now you've got me - I'll have to taste the Bai Ji Guan, although it's still a little difficult to take me away from Scott's (YS)Yunnan Gold................... Shucks! I just sent off an order to Teaspring. Maybe I'll catch it in time. To be honest, I've tried this tea from several vendors, over the last three years, and not found one to knock my socks off, considering it is touted as "rare". Can you tell us why you preferred this one? Shen

Reply to
Shen

snip snip snip

Hi Shen,

A couple years ago, I also tried TeaSpring's Bai Ji Guan, and it was really good. The Tea Gallery in NYC has excellent Bai Ji Guans as well, and of course for me that's easier. One of the tricks is to let them get a good long rest. Of those available today, my favorite is still the 2005. It's softer, richer, and more complex than its newer brothers. Just my humble opinion. Let them sit, and taste the improvement.

Is Scott's Yunnan Gold the blond type or the mixed -- dark and light leaf -- type? Does it lean more toward the honey or the spice?

BTW, admittedly, I've never tasted a BJG from a beeng.

Michael

Reply to
Michael Plant

Heres Scott's

Premium Yunnan Black Gold

formatting link
taste (imho): choco+little smoky

Yunnan Pure Small Bud Black Tea Gold Tips

formatting link
taste (imho): honey+winey

Reply to
SN

More an absence of wrongs than a presence of rights. Everything good is there: fragrant, fruity/rich, fascinating a complex flavor that changes constantly - or perhaps stays the same, but reveals dimensions as the senses' attention moves around. What's missing is any hint of staleness, off-flavors, astringency (even in late steeps), other distractions. A solid canonical example of the type, IMO. And again, I rarely like oolongs this green this much.

-DM

Reply to
DogMa

DrinksForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.