I wasn’t entirely sure how to classify this tea when adding it to the steepster database: The bag says oolong, and iirc the menu at the shop did too, but the webpage for it claims it’s a white tea, as of course the name also implies. The leaves didn’t have the white down on them that I associate with white tea, but it’s lightly roasted so that seems reasonable, and it smells more like white tea to me when brewed.
All that confusion aside, I like it!
I gongfu’d it at 5g in a 140ml gaiwan at 200F, about 10s for the first steeping and taking it from there.
The first steeping was super savory – I really do see where they get the sundried tomato thing from. Fascinating stuff. But with the second steeping, a honey sweetness snuck in around the sides of my tongue. Still mostly savory, but it’s an interesting contrast as the flavor goes through me.
There wasn’t much change in the flavor after that – it feels like it gets all its complexity out up front instead of changing over time – but the flavors are so interesting from the beginning that that’s really okay and still works very nicely for me.
