I really slowed down with my Wuyi oolong consumption since moving away from San Francisco. The weather there is perfect for this style of tea. Here, further north and a 30-minute drive inland, the highs are higher and the lows lower. It’s still foggy but not as temperate. I can’t remember the last time I had yancha :/
The dry leaf had a fairly strong, smooth roast aroma with other notes of celery leaf, cannabis, cacao, caraway, cranberry. It was roasty, rich, chocolatey and herbaceous. The warmed leaf smelled like a warm flourless chocolate cake made with dark and fruity cocoa powder. In the rinsed leaf I smelled dark chocolate with a sweeter, fruitier tone like redfruits. There were also orchids along with a very pungent herbaceousness.
The greener qualities didn’t transfer over at all into taste. This is indeed a medium-dark roasted oolong, which I prefer over the lighter roasts that seem to have been trending over the past few years. Perfumey on the sip, the taste spread across the palate with sweet mineral water and a dark roastiness, oak wood, chocolate-caramel-honey, a cooling mouthfeel. My body already settled. Second steep brought a richer, mineral body with honey-chocolate-cinnamon-camphor-caramel taste and a strong returning sweetness. Menthol oozed from my chest and cooled my upper body.
As the steeps lightened, they became woodier with a gentle sweetness. At the end of the session, the aroma finally registered with sugared peanuts or something like a Payday candy bar. Eight infusions overall. This strikes me as a good evening daily drinker.
Thank you, Leafhopper :)
Flavors: Cacao, Cake, Camphor, Caramel, Celery, Chocolate, Cinnamon, Cranberry, Dark Chocolate, Herbaceous, Honey, Menthol, Mineral, Oak, Orchid, Peanut, Perfume, Red Fruits, Roasted, Spices, Sugar, Sweet, Wet Wood, Wood
I remember how much I liked this one!
Knowing more about your tastes, I bet you did. It’s a solid tea.