Oolong tea is the most diverse and (in my admittedly biased opinion) the most rewarding category of tea. No other category of tea offers as wide a range of flavors as oolong tea.
From the light and refreshing almost green tea like taste of certain Taiwanese High Mountain teas to the woody full-bodied flavors of Wuyi Yancha, there is no ‘typical oolong taste’.
To give you a flavor of the allure of oolong tea, here is what you can expect from our tea tasting sessions.
Overview of Oolong Teas
Oolong tea can be divided into 4 sub-categories based on geographical location:
i) Guangdong Oolong- Phoenix Dancong family
ii) Minbei Oolong- Wuyi Yancha family
iii) Minnan Oolong- Tieguanyin, Huangjingui and other Sezhongs
iv) Taiwanese Oolongs
For example, you would expect a Wuyi Rougui to be closer in taste profile and characteristics to a Wuyi Shuixian (both Minbei Oolong) as compared to an Anxi Tieguanyin (Minnan Oolong).
This is not merely attributable to terroir (for lack of a better word) but the processing styles such as the roasting techniques in Wuyi teas.
Hence, in our tea tasting sessions, we aim to provide an overview of oolongs by offering a representative variety from each sub-category.
In addition, attendees will be given 4 samples- one from each sub-category- to bring home and try.
For the upcoming oolong tea events (subject to change), you can expect:
i) Guangdong Oolong- Phoenix Dancong (Xin Ren Xiang) to taste on the spot & a sample of Phoenix Dancong (Mi Lan Xiang)
ii) Minbei Oolong- Dahongpao to taste on the spot & a sample of Wuyi Shuixian
iii) Minnan Oolong- Double Baked Tieguanyin to taste on the spot & a sample of Huang Jin Gui
iv) Taiwanese Oolong- Shan Lin Xi to taste on the spot & a sample of Alishan Jinxuan
* Xin Ren Xiang, Dahongpao & Double Baked Tieguanyin are new additions to our lineup*
This would give you an overview of the diversity and complexity of oolong teas though 8 teas can never do justice to more than 300 varieties, admittedly.
Various Brewing Methods & Different Styles of Gongfucha
As we often stress, gongfu brewing is not ceremonial, merely a more deliberate and careful way to prepare tea, extracting the full flavors from it.
Though many are often wont to take a position, I will happily declare my staunch belief that gongfu brewing is the BEST way to enjoy oolong tea, especially since gongfu tea originated and thrived among makers of oolong tea.
i) Chaozhou style for brewing Phoenix Dancong
ii) Fujian style with a gaiwan for brewing Dahongpao
iii) Fujian style with a Zisha pot for brewing Tieguanyin
iv) Taiwanese style with a Shouzhuawan for brewing Shan Lin Xi
After the session, we hope that you would be emboldened to incorporate gongfu brewing into your regular- if not daily- tea routine, extracting the fullness of the oolong magic.
Also, our mantra is “bringing tea closer to you” and we are all about helping tea lovers enjoy tea to the max. We will show you how each tea is brewed and how you can recreate that taste at home.
Showcase our Teas
We don’t pretend otherwise, we sell tea. Pretty good ones too if you don’t mind me saying.
Each session, we will bring along some of our showcased teas so if you like what you tried, you can get them on the spot, at 10% off.
In fact, for purchases of $50 & above, you can offset part of the session cost (less off the cost of the samples) so essentially you attended a tea appreciation course for free!
So tea lovers in Singapore, we trust it will be worth your while to join us for our tea tasting sessions.
Upcoming events can be found here.
You can sign up for the one on the 3rd of Aug 2013 via eventsbrite.
