I had picked up 2 oz of this tea during their promo of buy a certain amount and get 2oz (50g) or any tea free! I did a bit of research beforehand and decided on getting this, the most expensive tea they had at the time, for my free tea. The girl working there actually tried to sell me on the Ti Kuan Yin instead, which is significantly cheaper. But to be honest, after smelling both of them, I still liked the way this one smelled more. It smelled full of creamy smooth vegetal goodness. Since I do have a ton of other oolongs, it has taken me a long time to get to trying this.
After measuring the leaves into my filter and setting the kettle to boil, I promptly knocked over a glass and had it shatter into a gajillion pieces. By the time the mess of cleaned up, the water was boiled and cooling so it might have a bit cooler than ideal, but I just went ahead and poured the water over the leaves anyway.
1st steep:
Lightly flavored and lightly colored. It’s smooth with a brothy slightly creamy mouthfeel that I often get from green Taiwanese oolongs. It’s a bit vegetal and the after taste is a bit umami. I can’t say much else for it. Not too much going on here in terms of flavor right now.
Steep 2:
I’m always amazed at how much green oolongs expand. This brew is a bit darker in color. Smells a bit floral and vegetal. Nice. Hmmm…not getting much out of this tea either. Just a nice smooth green Taiwanese oolong here. High mountain? Sure, but nothing really all that special. Good quality but not unique. Am I using too much water? The wet leaves smell like cooked bok choi, but the tea itself…hmm… just not that interesting. I’m gonna stick the leaves back in and see what happens after another minute.
Ok, so I let the tea go for another minute. It’s bordering on bitter now so that was not the best idea. :) I’m getting that bok choi smell I get from the leaves before, but now it’s in my tea. I like.
Ultimately, this tea seems mediocre to me. An ok green Taiwanese High Mountain oolong with all the typical characteristics. Flavor is a bit too light even for me, and I tend to like my tea lighter than most people. I’ve got tons of this tea left so if anyone wants this, let me know! It’s not bad, but I have lots of other oolongs that I like better.
I know David’s is trying to get into more straight teas at the moment. Some of them sound quite yummy and unique. I wonder if they’d let me trade this in for some of the new better sounding ones. hehe
