Lala Mountain

I went back to oolong basics gong fu time , rinsing 10 sec, then 20, 25, 30, 25, 30, 35, 30, 40 continuing right now just under boiling. What I did different was the water ratio. I used about 3 grams and 2-3 oz of water for the first 3 brews, and then upped it to 4 oz, then 5 oz filling the cup. I got the same notes I wrote down in the first session, but the tea was a lot more balanced since I gave the leaves some room to breath. More fruit came out earlier, but was still on the subtle side building up into the later end of the session. I stand by what I said last time in that I think it was better than the Lishan, maybe slightly better than the Shanlinxi. I might have changed my mind if I used the careful parameters I did for this tea for the other high mountain teas.

Overall, this one’s a solid High Mountain and a bargain for Lalashan. It’s easy drinking and very clean in quality. In my personal opinion, Grand Crew’s more unusual tea types are better than the Taiwanese staples of Alishan, Lishan, and Shanlinxi. I’d recommend them for fast shipping and opening up your horizons on what they have to offer for a good price. In the US, they have a $25 or over shipping rate, and my tea arrived in less than 6 days from Taiwan…which was speedy. I tried checking the Canadian, and it didn’t say much other than the difference of speed between Express and Standard-nothing on prices/cost of shipping. I think I might have gotten Express Shipping with the Oolongdrunk10 code or the over 25 buck order.