>We have a shop here in New York City (Big Apple Tea House) where they sell
>"Wulong" which is not Ti Guan Yin, and several Ti Guan Yins, which they
>claim are *not* Wulongs. So, having thought that "Wulong" is the name given
>to teas in the partially oxydized catagory, I resurrect the question, What
>is Wulong? I should mention too that lately their stock seems to have
>fallen. Previously, their Wulongs, whatever they might be, were absolutely
>delicious.

I don't know how to specifically define Wulong other than to say it's
half fermented, but I'm about 98 percent sure that Tie Guan Yin is a
type of Wulong; the wulong family branches out to many different types
of tea, but regardless of what their claim it is, it has to be a type
of Wulong. I say 98 percent because I consider all my knowledge
questionable because the shopkeepers could have been lying about
certain things to try to make a sale..heh. The other way around may
be true; I was told that Wulong is a type of tea and a classification
as well, if that makes sense. So, it's possible to have a Wulong that
is not a Tie Guan Yin for instance, I have some Gao Shan Wu Long (a li
shan...tall mountain wulong) that is not a tie guan yin. There was a
shop in Dongguan, the city I stayed, called Shang Ming Ming Cha that
had many such teas.

A friend of mine in Hong Kong has a pretty good website concerning
teas, and sells a bit of it. Check it out:

http://www.chineseteas101.com

>>
>> What in the devil is gunpowder tea anyway?
>
>Gunpowder is a hyped green tea of low and generic quality, sometimes
>somewhat smokey, but nearly always boring, and seldom complex. If you find
>an expensive version, that adds insult to injury. My friends tell me to
>always add "IMHO" when I rant like this.

Beats me, I had no real desire to buy any but now that you've said
that, it reaffirms my position. heh. I saw it once in Shanghai;
looked cheap and smelled bad but was expensive.

oh yeah, IMHO. heh



Mydnight

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thus then i turn me from my countries light, to dwell in the solemn shades of an endless night.