First tea of the day, and one of my favorite “go-to” oolongs to drink casually in a cup. Today, I switched things up a little bit and properly weighed out 4.5g of tea for my 100ml gaiwan in order to test a hypothesis: I’ve been doing it wrong.
See, I’ve always found this tea to be a little on the “lighter” side, with soft, floral notes and elements of stonefruit and honey. But, as previously mentioned, I normally throw caution to the wind and just “wing it” with a sprinkling of leaves in my cup that I refill as the water gets low. This time, I used stricter brewing parameters in order to see if I could get a richer, more buttery flavor.
Results? A moderate success. The first infusion was a little “thicker” and sweeter, with a green edge that I particularly like in this tea. I did notice the second infusion was much “richer” than usual, but I seemed to have missed a little of that delicate floral touch that I love about this tea. After letting the third and fourth infusions sit for a little longer with boiling water, I noticed a more astringent edge to it developing that I usually pick up after the fourth or fifth infusion.
In the end, I was able to coax those flavors out of the leaf, but I’m not sure if it was my favorite method of brewing this tea. The aroma is so strong and wonderful, I really missed it brewing in my cup. If I’m looking for buttery and sweet, I think I’ll stick with my Si Ji Chun oolong (KILLER bang for the buck).
Side note: this tea is well over a year old and purchased “on clearance.” The new batch was noticeably more flavorful in shop.
