Safari Oolong Hand-picked

I’m dying my hair with henna tonight and it has to sit for up to four hours, so I should have time for a few sessions. A nice wind-down to a busy week. Here I have a sample from the generous Togo, a Kenyan oolong. I decided to brew this in a gaiwan over western style but in retrospect, I think this would perform better western as there was not a pronounced evolution of flavor. I did get 10 steeps from this tea.

The dry leaf smelled herbaceous and sweet, like a very toned down fenugreek or a damp forest in the spring. I warmed the leaf in hopes of pulling out more aroma and was greeted with heavy notes of plum, apricot and a dark wood. A flash rinse produced notes of butter, wood, stonefruit and cherry. The first steep had a medium, smooth sweet body with tastes of white florals, peach, raisin and plum with a very faint buttery note. Astringency was present and lasted throughout the session. I’d say the peak flavors were present in the first and second steep. After that, the tea developed a complementary bitterness and faded gradually into a pleasant herbaceous and grassy note . The tea was fairly balanced overall though I could never seem to smooth the astringency.

This tea was pretty enjoyable and I think if the price is reflective of the tea’s quality, this would make a great daily drinker.

I have to say that this tea has aged wonderfully (and fast!). I just wish I had more to see it develop further, today I finished it. Most of the astringency is gone by now, even though the bottom of the pouch had some broken leaves. It has a full body with a fantastic buttery and bubbly mouthfeel. The fragrance is also strong, although not necessarily stronger than I remember it. It is different now though, and reminds me of a lighter oxidized autumn flush Darjeeling. The taste is sweeter, more spicy and well rounded and balanced overall. It also gained in complexity as far as I can recall. I enjoyed it a lot.

For this session alone I would rate it close to 90 in fact.