Nok Yoong – Oolong Tea 303 and Oolong Tea 111
It’s the second day of Lunar New Year, known as Kai Nian. It’s a day to honour the God of Fortune. I’m celebrating with two oolongs my daughter brought back from Thailand, Nok Yoong Oolong Tea 303 and Oolong Tea 111.
I’m not sure what the numbers refer to. They’re probably not sequential as it seems unlikely that they’ve got hundreds of oolong teas in their catalogue. Nok Yoong is a Thai company but Oolongs 303 and 111 are grown in the Fujian and Anxi regions of China.
303 is a lighter Oolong which uses full leaves that expand impressively in the pot. Its packet tells me that they “remind of freshness after the rain”. 111 is a spring harvest tea with apparently “the true taste of a bitter sweet”. Its leaves are tightly rolled clusters like gunpowder tea.
Oolong Tea 303
In my tea-tasting notes, I wrote down that this tea was “brisk and fresh with a caramel popcorn finish”. Like some kind of fancy schmancy tea taste or something. I’m not wrong though. There is a warm sweetness to this greenish Oolong that’s absolutely delightful.
Oolong Tea 111
This Oolong is darker than its companion with a woody, whisky taste. I’ve written “muscatel?” in my notes because I can never remember exactly what muscatel means in tea-tasting terms, but it seemed appropriate here. I think it’s the expensive – and slightly dusty – bottles in the drinks cabinet vibe that this tea is giving.
Both teas are utterly delicious. It’s incredible how much oolong varieties can differ from one another. There’s far greater diversity in the Oolong family than there is with, say, black or green teas. Every time I drink a really good Oolong I say to myself, “I really must drink more Oolong”.
And that’s exactly what I said this time. Twice.
Today’s book pairing is The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
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