Lochan Tea Samples -- part 4 of 4

Fourth tasting session for the Lochan tea samples:
(8 reviewed, 3 in the wings)
Enter stage left:
IV: Okayti Oolong, 2nd Flush 2007 Darjeeling. Light green and some white leaves in the mix................
V: Goomtee Oolong, 2nd Flush 2007 Darjeeling. Very dark green leaves..................
VI: Lochan Oolong, 2nd Flush 2007 Darjeeling. A mix of green/brown colours with some red..................
Let us see how these Darjeeling Oolongs perform.
UPDATE from 3 of 4 and change of plan ....
Saturday afternoon – tea tasting with friends (Mrs. Yang’s tea shop)..
Just what the doctor ordered. Sampling new teas, should be “Fun” activity shared with friends.
We have a re-tasting of the: Makaibari & Doke next is the 3 Darjeeling Oolongs.

All in all this session lasted 4+ hours, talk about Tea'd out ..
The Lochan samples went head to head with one from the tea shop. So that alone was 10 teas, then we drank Pu-erh and China Red teas from Guandong.
Tuff review board .. these folks have their own plantation and produce Oolongs to beat the best.
Paolo and Mrs Yang ready the Makaibari and Doke.. these will take on a teas from Anhui province.

Doke (large tray) Lighter leaf, Anhui richer green in direct comparison.
Amazing side by side, Doke on the left.
Contrast in soup colour. The lighter Anhui has a stronger smoother taste. The Doke lesser flavour and slightly bitter. The Doke lies horizontal in the brew while the Anhui stands vertical.
The Makaibari & Doke came out second best in the side by side. Everyone agreed the Indian teas were good quality, only failing the taste test.
Li Hong takes the drivers seat, to run the Oolong match up. We had 2 Fujian and one Taiwan Oolongs vs the Darjeeling trio:.......
There was much discussion about the Darjeeling samples .. very different leaf style and colour than the "China Oolongs"

Each of the Darjeeling teas had a distantly fermented taste and smell. Each more bitter than any of the China teas. ..

Note: I got caught up in the tasting and trying to follow the banter that I forgot to take pictures !!!! my bad.

All 3 Darjeeling's had a deeper colour soup leaning to the slightly reddish. This was deemed as bad by the panel of judges.

So again the China Oolongs took gold. The Darjeeling Oolong teas were just different. I'm sure its a matter of what taste you grow up with.

Eleven tea samples, a bit of a marathon when working out of a hotel … My rooms must be reminiscent of an Indian tea brokerage house.

The house-keeping staff have been very supportive of “shen jing bin Qui Lao” (crazy foreigner).
It’s hard to convince them I’m not in the tea business,- it’s only a hobby…
This week has been quite a departure from the omnipresent, Oolongs and Pu-erh.
So as my Granny would say “It’s back to old clothes and porridge now”