Winter/Spring 2011 Shan Lin Shi Hung Shui Oolong

One of the difficulty in understanding tea is that there are so many parameters that vary from tea to tea. A good learning method is to compare 2 similar teas where only 1 parameter is different. Like this, most of the differences will be due to that parameter. For instance, to learn about the taste of winter and spring, we can compare these 2 Hung Shui Oolong from Shan Lin from this year:

1. Winter (left)
Cultivar: Luanze (qingxin) Oolong
Harvested by hand on November 10, 2011
Origin: Yang Keng (Shan Lin Shi)
Elevation: 1500 meters
Process: rolled Oolong with slow, medium roasting

Visually, what is typical to winter leaves are the white tips surfacing from the side of the rolled leaves. The colors are more vivid and varied.

2. Spring (right)

Cultivar: Luanze (qingxin) Oolong
Harvested by hand on April 25, 2011
Origin: Yang Keng (Shan Lin Shi)
Elevation: 1500 meters
Process: rolled Oolong with slow, medium roasting

The color is a more unified, yellowish green.  No white tips.

The lighter roast smell (milk chocolate!) of this spring Oolong seems to indicate that the winter version is more roasted, but the color of the spring brew is slightly darker. So, this is due to the fact that the spring Shan Lin Shi was roasted several months ago and the leaves had time to loose the superficial layer of roasting scent.

Winter leaves with tips between leaves

The fragrances of the spring brew are very intense and more flowery. The winter brew's fragrances are less exuberant, more forest and nuts.

The spring taste is light with a mild, sweet aftertaste. The tea flows easily and smoothly.

The winter taste has more tannins and body. It's sweetness has a darker character (sugar cane, brown sugar). The salivation induced by drinking this tea is stronger. The aftertaste is stronger and well balanced.

Such a comparison between these 2 Oolongs helps to clarify how the season impacts the tea. By focusing on this one aspect, we can go beyond simply saying which tea we like best. We achieve a clearer understanding of how the season impacts the growth of the leaves, their color, scents, taste...