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It is with thanks to Red Fennekin that I may try this tea. I’m sorry for the 5 month wait before reviewing!

Good morning everyone, it’s 9:18am and already 23C and expecting to go over 30C. In other words, it’s too damn hot! I hate hot weather, the type of heat that you just sweat in and can do nothing to prevent it. I truly hate it. The only thing getting me passed it is the thought of hydrating myself spectacularly with copious amounts of tea.

This will be my first tea today so far.

Steeping Parameters:
Leaf – 5g
Water Temp – 90 C
Method: Gaiwan 100ml
Rinse: 5 seconds

The leaf is tightly wrapped into good size (around 4mm) balls that consist of deep brown and green colours with a subtle yellow tinge near the stem. They have a high gloss appearance and the stems almost look like golden tips.

Scent is thick with sweet grass, honey and cream notes. Very beautiful!

First Steep – 40 seconds
Pale yellow colour with a sweet honey, cream scent. Reminds me of sweetcorn and honeysuckle flowers.

Flavour is soft with grass, honey, cream, floral (honeysuckle, peony, gladiola) notes and a dry yet perfumed after taste. The pre rinse has truly opened up the leaves to unleash it’s beautiful flavours. Also I know gladiola may seem a little random but it was the first thing that really sprang to mind in terms of flowers so I wrote it down. Wonderful first steep.

Second Steep – 50 seconds
Still light in strength but has smoothed out a little in this steep. More grassy and dry and a touch less sweet. Still very floral and with dryness. Also would say it’s lightly toasted. Like fresh flowers and grass that have been dry toasted in a hot pan for thirty seconds.

Note: The after taste now starts to taste like sweetcorn. It’s sweet but also dry, fresh, juicy and lightly earthy.

Third Steep – 1 minute
Note – More yellow in colour but still remains light.

Light but with a stronger after taste than previous steeps. It starts sweet and mild but grows into thick grass with flowers and that touch of dryness that makes it almost perfumed. Also still getting a lot of cream notes but less toasted element.

Fourth Steep – 1 minute 15 seconds
Still a lot of flavour and very beautiful, fresh floral notes. Very smooth and well balanced, the dryness has not increased. I would also say I detect an element of fresh hay.

Fifth Steep – 1 minute 30 seconds
This is the first steep that actually has reduced strength and flavour. It no longer has sweetcorn or sweet grass notes, in fact the sweetness only remains through the flowers which still hold strongly. The cream however is still just as wonderful as the first steep. Also still smooth but an increase in dryness.

Sixth Steep – 2 minutes
A very light steep, all that remains is gladiola and cream with a dry finish.

This was a wonderful tea and I dare say one of the best Li Shan that I have had in a long time, perhaps even ever! To me this is what hot days are all about.

(ps. For those that follow me on Instagram there are a few pictures of this, before, during and after steep).
I also turned it into a blog post. http://www.kittylovestea.co.uk/2015/07/01/pussy-cat-pussy-cat-where-have-you-been-featuring-li-shan-oolong-review/

Flavors: Cream, Flowers, Hay, Honey, Sweet, Warm Grass

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 5 g 3 OZ / 100 ML
teatortoise

I could almost taste the tea. Very pleasantly thorough. I love honeysuckle and cream, but the thought of mixing in sweet grass… tantalizing.

Red Fennekin

:D! I’m really glad to hear that you liked it. I agree, too – it was one of the finest oolongs I’ve had.

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Comments

teatortoise

I could almost taste the tea. Very pleasantly thorough. I love honeysuckle and cream, but the thought of mixing in sweet grass… tantalizing.

Red Fennekin

:D! I’m really glad to hear that you liked it. I agree, too – it was one of the finest oolongs I’ve had.

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Bio

I’m 34 years old from Leicester, England named Kayleigh.

I started off many years ago drinking herbal and fruit teas which over time peaked my interest in trying new types. Eventually I began to import and sample many different teas and cultures which I still do today. My life goal is to try as many teas and ways of having tea as possible.

Tea wise my cravings change constantly from pu erh one month to jasmine green to the next and so on.

I also enjoy watching Japanese Anime and horror films.

I am always up for tea swaps so if you see anything in my virtual cupboard then please contact me.

A short list to help swapping with me easier though honestly I am not fussy and am willing to try anything. Plus the notes below are usually, sometimes I love a tea that has an ingredient I tend to dislike and other times I hate a tea that I thought I would love.

Likes: Any fruit but especially melon and orange, vanilla, all tea types (black, green, white etc), nuts (any), flowers, ginger, chai.

Dislikes: Licorice, aniseed, clove, eucalyptus, lavender.

My rating system
I have my own way of rating teas that makes each one personal. I have different categories, I rate each tea depending on what it is made of. For example: I rate green teas in a different way to black teas or herbal teas. So black, white, green, Pu Erh, Rooibos, Oolong, blends and tisanes all have their own rating system. That way I can compare them with other teas of the same or similar type before for an adequate rating. And when I do give top marks which is very rare I am actually saying that I would love to drink that tea all day, every day if possible. It’s a tea that I would never turn down or not be in the mood for. So while I agree that no tea is 100% perfect (as nothing is) I am saying that it’s as close as it comes to it. After all, in my book the perfect teas (or close to perfect anyway) are ones that I could drink all the time. That is why you will find a high quality black or Oolong will not have as high a score as a cheap flavoured blend, they are simply not being compared in the same category.

Location

Leicester, England, United Kingdom

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