One obtained these two wonderful teas from Stephane at Tea Masters. He wrote up a good description of these teas when he first reviewed them. The above pictures are the unroasted version and the bottom, the roasted.
The roasted Shan Lin Shi's dry leaves were, well, roasted with subtle odors of sweet greeness lacking in floral. Its flavour was of roasted green sweet honey barley. Its aftertaste was rich and deep, which accompanied a pleasant chalky dry mouthfeel.
The unroasted Shan Lin Shi's dry leaves were floral covered in a light roast. Its flavour was of sweet light honey, slightly cinnamon, floral pastry. Its aftertaste had bright floral subtleties, which accompanied a pleasantly smooth, soft coating of the mouth and tongue.
The chaqi of these two tea was of note. Although they are the same tea, they exhibited such different energy. The qi of the unroasted oolong is strong and centering, pooling in the stomach, causing a feeling of lightness in the extremities. The qi of the roasted roasted oolong is soft, warm, freer in nature, causing energy to flow through the limbs of the body.
One finds it quite interesting what just a little roasting can do to the vital energies of tea!
Peace
7 comments:
Thanks. I really find information like this helpful in coming to grips with roasting and the changes brought about by degree of roasting. The photos are really great. While the dry and spent leaves are quite different looking, the visible differences in the brewed liquor seem very minimal.
Thanks Sal,
Although the leaves do exhibit the biggest visual difference, the liquor of these teas is quite noticeably different, but the pictures fail to enunciate the contrast. The biggest downside to most Korean ceramics (excluding Goryeo celadon and Joseon White porcelain) is that it doesn't allow for a clear, unadulterated view of the colour of the tea. Either way, even the glassware doesn't seem to show off the difference.
Peace
Beautiful post and Wonderful information! When are you gonna publish a Tea beauty book? I could help : )
-Toki
I'm glad you drank these 2 teas side by side. I also think this is quite amazing how roasting can change oolong so much. Thanks for sharing your experience.
the liquor is so nice sweet yellow and the leaves are really beautifull, they seems strong and have a so dark luxury green
Wonderful! The leaves look so bold!
Toki,
Thought about publishing a book, but decided on a blog instead. :P
Stephane,
Thanks again for suppling the material, in this case, such beautiful teas.
Gingko and Phyll,
Viewing and feeling these hefty leaves was a real treat and nice way to reflect on the tea. No wonder there was such powerful qi within these teas. The leaves are truly natures masterpiece.
Peace
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