Hello Danny,

Doing well thanks. Hope you are doing fine as well. Going to Guang Xi
tonight and start to think about a little trip to Vietnam

I did mean rolling as in using a big bag with the leaves in it and then
putting that bag into a machine that will shape the leaves into a huge
7kg ball of tea which once broke shows the tea leaves rolled into
balls.

Thanks for the reference, I will ask Jing to look for that essay but if
you know where to find a copy of it feel free to let me know about it


can you explain me a little bit more about your last comment:
"Feng Huang Dancong began life in Chaozhou and were later introduced
into
Wuyi in the 1800s."

By Feng Huang Dancong you mean Shui Xian, right? I think that by that
time (1800) the only plants in Chaozhou were Shui Xian. If the Shui
Xian was taken to Wuyi, what tea was made with it?

SEb


samarkand wrote:
Hi Seb,

Long time no hear! How are you?

I think the rolling of leaves was a much earlier process in China. Wang
Caotang mentioned this in his essay "Shuo Cha" (Talking about Tea) in 1717.

Traditionally, the South Fujian Oolong is shaped into curl that is called
half-balled, it is only in the late 80s - 90s that it is shaped more like
Taiwan oolong, into a balld shape.

Feng Huang Dancong began life in Chaozhou and were later introduced into
Wuyi in the 1800s.

Danny


"SEb" wrote in message
oups.com...
Alex wrote:
Southern Fujian oolong was 'unfurled' until recently, I think. Does
anyone know when it switched?

Hi Alex,

You are right. Fujian Anxi only started to use the machine to roll the
leaves in early-mid 90's. Prior to that the Anxi oolong (tie guan yin,
se zhong, huang jin gui) looked very much like Wuyi Oolong and were
more heavely baked.

The machine was created in Taiwan and so rolled taiwanese oolongs were
available in the west prior to the early-mid 90's.

SEb