China Oolong Se Chung

I dunno… I think these Upton teas are mostly stale or just not very good. Every time I look at them, I have no memories of any distinction between them. I wanted an easy western brew after dinner last night, and this tasted like Lipton tried something new (sure, let’s say oolong). It’s fine to drink, not repulsive, but there’s one note and it’s not terribly interesting. I’ll take these to work… a pined-over, ugh-finally sip always tastes better than it has any right to, I think.

Lowering my rating, as I think I was trying too hard to throw it a bone.

I wanted to try out my new tiny little gaiwan (my first gaiwan, a little 50ml one, it looks like it’s for a doll!) so decided to try out the oolong from yesterday gong fu (got an earlier start on the evening and hopefully with the little 40ml infusions I won’t have to worry about having too much caffeinated tea before bed). I will admit that being brand new to using a gaiwan, I’m pretty fail-fish at it right now when it comes to pouring; it’s going to take several more sessions to stop making a mess, methinks. Definitely easier to deal with the shiboridashi in that regard.

Gong fu / 2.5g / 190F / 40ml / 25s|30s|40s|50s|60s|65s|75s|90s|120s

Overall, the Se Chung wasn’t very impressive gong fu style; the flavor was deeply roasty, nutty, and woody, but there was a very sharp, tangy, astringent finish right at the back of the tongue which wasn’t present in the western brew at all. The astringency did mellow a bit by the fifth steep, but never went away entirely. While some of the sweeter notes did start to come through mid-session, it was never the sort of floral honeysuckle note that came out in the western brew, with the woody/roasted nuts flavors remaining dominant. The tea remained to have a lot of staying power and may have had some more infusions in it past the ten I drank, but my final impression is this is a tea more ideal for western brewing, and I appreciated the chance to get some gaiwan practice in, since my pour was showing much improvement already by the ending infusions compared to the earlier ones.

a great tea!

when i smell the leaves dry, they have a musty peachy smell.

when i smell the leaves wet, they have a sweet peachy smell.

when i smell the brewed tea, it has a sweet peachy smell too.

when i taste the brewed tea, i taste sweetness, floral and peaches.

i rate this tea a 100 because its just awesome.

Not my favorite oolong. It’s the kind of oolong that tastes mainly like roasted barley. It’s much more complex than that, and if you like that flavor in your oolong, then I think this is a fine tea at a great price. It holds up the nutty, toasty, woodsy flavors through many steeps. I will likely keep some of this around, but may not be on my daily list. There’s a bitterness and a sweetness at the same time.

Solidly mediocre, better than expected for the price point.

I have the worst track record steeping this tea. For some reason I always forget about it and leave it stewing for like 15 minutes before it comes to me that I made Se Chung and left it somewhere. So today I made a big effort to steep it correctly, but to my surprise it didn’t really make much difference. It is slightly mellower, but that’s about it. The mystifying licorice flavor is still there.

Oolong literally translates to ‘black dragon’. Who knew!

Oolong teas, typically from China, are semi-oxidized teas meaning that after the tea leaves are picked, they are rolled and allowed to wither in the sun and thus oxidize in the aire libre. Oxidization produces the floral notes that characterize many oolongs. Se Chung Oolongs are oxidized for a shorter time than most other oolongs, thus lending itself more to a green tea style than a black tea.

The tea pours a golden yellow, constant throughout with grains of sediment collecting at the bottom of the cup. The tea shields its aroma through a floral coat like Poison Ivy, impenetrable yet irresistible to the casual tea purveyor. If you were to place the unfurled leaves onto a table and then roll your face in the leaves as if you were engaging with intimate areas of the temptatious super villain, you could better interact with the malty, almost caramel smells layered within the leaves themselves. Not that I would know, though.

Raising the mug to your speech-hole, you let the tainted water penetrate the cavity that is your mouth. The perverse liquid teases your taste receptors but, as the droplets trickles down the back of your throat, your buds on the tongue are left feeling unsatisfied. It has yet to be known whether this tea can finish or not. This is a sexual tea. Music pairing suggestion: the Yeezus album by Sir Kanye West.

Se Chung translates to ‘colorful variety’. How fun!

Tastes less vegetal than the Tie-guan-yin I tried.

the 2012 version by Upton Tea. a rather nice aroma, but weak taste with dominant astringency & sour bitterness of stale green tea. disappointing. kind of like a not very lucky pick from chinatown.

I much prefer Tie Guan Ying Special Grade (Z088S). They are both floral, but the Z088S feels and taste richer towards the end. But I think they are close.