Long Feng Xia Oolong Tea

This is a new shipment direct from Taiwan of a bunch of oolong samples. I like Taiwanese oolongs but I don’t know if I know enough about them to rate them all differently or even tell them apart. I suppose only time will tell. I also got a cute little black xi ying teapot which I am eager to try out but not until I season it first and learn how I am supposed to brew with the thing. So this was brewed western style in an infuser mug with 180 degree water.

This tea is very charming. It’s a light yellow infusion with the usual buttery notes, has a very nice mouthfeel and smooth aftertaste. It is slightly grassy but not like eating grass. More like lying in a meadow of grass and watching the clouds go by. Some teas get me pretty wired but this is not one of them. It’s actually very relaxing and peaceful.

I am looking forward to getting more experiments going!

Yeah, I just got pooped on by a cat. I need some medicinal tea. Actually, the past couple of weeks have been kind of not great (though not to the just-got-pooped-on level, mind you) so even though I’ve been kind of quiet, I have been doctoring my pour, abused psyche with tea regularly. But yeah, the pooping? This sort of raises it to a whole new level. So I thought I’d try a whole new tea.

Well, ‘new’ tea… it’s actually really old. I can’t believe I’ve ignored my few remaining Tea from Taiwan samples for so long. I tell myself that they are vacuum-sealed so it’s really not a bad thing if I take months to drink them. I may or may not be lying to myself with that statement, but this tea doesn’t seem to have minded being tucked into my pantry for so long. It’s rich, floral and pretty darn intense. Sweet but not light and delicate. There is a nice floral tone to it, but the richness and intense flavor it has makes the sweetness more like a hard candy sweet, not nectar sweet. Or maybe nectar hard candy? It leaves a great aftertaste on my tongue, too. And, months old or not, it still tastes fresh – green and a little buttery.

I could totally see myself buying something larger than sample size of this one. It’s delightful. Almost worth the kitty poop that preceded it.
8g/10oz

Thanks to the appropriately name Tea from Taiwan for these samples. The description says from Winter 2009, so I hope I’m putting this under the right tea name. I couldn’t find anything else, so I’ll just have to go with it.

I couldn’t find any specific steeping instructions, so I kinda just went with other steepsters and made me I own. I did 3g, approximately 8 oz of watr, for 2 minutes. Let’s see how it goes.

Oh man, this is a fantastic oolong, and this is coming from someone who is so-so about oolongs. I’m definitely getting some subtle buttery undertones and slight floral notes, but nothing is too overpowering. It even has some similar characteristics to a green tea. This is a lovely tea, although it is a bit pricey so I wouldn’t have it every day.

The second infusion is just as lovely, with maybe a touch more astringency in it than before. But still a very lovely flavor.

I was looking for a tea to break in my new gaiwan with, and was rummaging in my stash and found half a sample of this still left from, er, a month ago. But hey, it was still in the foil pack, rolled down on itself and clipped with a small wooden peg, and inside my Lock & Lock, so it still had to be okay, right? (It was!)

A quick note on the gaiwan: I already have, uh, three, but was considering buying a “cheap” one from ebay, those $3 ones (EXCLUDING shipping) to knock around. Last night I was at the home section in Landmark and saw— I could not believe it!— gaiwans! ON SALE! For something like (converted) $0.66! Of course, one doesn’t expect master craftsmanship at this point, so I examined each carefully from all angles and picked out one that looked alright. It took, I dunno, 20 minutes. Haha. So while I was at it, a woman who was passing by, probably piqued by the intensity of my selection process, paused by the display and picked one up.

“What are these for?” says she, lifting up the lid and squinting into the cup. “Are these sugar bowls?”

“Uh. Well…” How to explain. But then I brightened up at the thought of sharing with a random person the joys of a gaiwan. “They’re for tea! You put loose leaf tea in them, you see, and…” I demonstrated pouring it out and pointed how the imaginary leaves would get stuck…

She ‘hunh’-ed. Blinked. Then went away.

So much for spreading the tea gospel.

But: back to the Long Feng Xia. I can see why this is a favorite among the Feng Fu samples. I shook out only a bit of the leaves for a session of western brewing, probably not even half a teaspoon. But the leaves expanded to fill half the gaiwan. Pleased to find one leaf that seemed particularly large, about two inches long, and an inch across at the widest point. There’s something about finding large leaves that makes me want to pound my chest in a (confused, anachronistic) cavemanly fashion, and proclaim: “Yarrrrh! Yea, I am drinking TEA! From the LEAF. Take that, bitches!” (My caveman needs to watch less television.)

Now turns out the gaiwan is crap at pouring (is what I will maintain. yes.), but it brewed the tea up pretty well. The lid smell is amazing! The first whiff is floral, but let it air out for a bit, then breathe in deeper. I swear it was like… omg butterscotch brownies. Like the ones I buy from our cafeteria, that look dubious but still taste great, even after getting tossed around in my school bag. Sniffing deeply now at the lid of my gaiwan, I can imagine the crackled crunchy crust… the yummy, buttery grease oiling patterns on the wax paper… a hint of nuts sprinkled on top, perhaps… biting into that crunchy, crackley chewy goodness and just…. NOM.

Damn I want one now. But tea, yes. We were talking about tea. The tea liquor is light golden yellow, with a somewhat lemony aftertaste on the tongue, but still that lovely sweet oolong taste at the back of my tongue/in the throat. Mmm. Good stuff.

Oh and my pouring skills improved with the second brew, with minimal spillage on my trusty super-absorbent tea cloth. So here’s to an enjoyable tea session with cheap tea ware, good tea (might have to repurchase that Long Feng Xia. hmm) and drinking mid-morning oolong out of a pair of shot glasses*. Cheers!

*It’s almost been a month since I moved to the new apartment, but tea cups are still at home. ^^; Housewarming presents, anyone?

Annoying P.S.:
And while I was sitting back waiting for my third round to brew and sighing happily and thinking to myself self-satisfied thoughts like “Aaaahhh” and “Man, that’s good tea” and “I pledge allegiance to the teas of Formosa”… (what, does no one else do this?) I suddenly remembered that the boyfriend will be going on a trip to Taiwan next week! I wonder what I shall ask him to bring back for me. :D :D

I don’t own any fancy tea making equipment and had a hard time finding instructions that made sense for my simple mug and infuser. I decided upon 3 gm of the rolled oolong “pearls” and about 8 oz of water, and steeped for almost 2 minutes.

I was very pleasantly surprised by this tea. It’s such a light, pale green and the aroma is so subtle that I figured I hadn’t steeped enough leaves or hadn’t steeped it long enough but no- this is awesome! The tea is buttery and smooth, with a medium body. I can detect the light firing.

I brewed a second cup for a bit over 2 minutes and this time a distinct floral aroma developed. These leaves are quite large and have half-filled my infuser now. The flavor is still mellow but definitely more complex with the addition of the floral notes. A very satisfying oolong.

Doesn’t seem as flavorful or smell as good as the last three I have had from TeafromTaiwan. Don’t get me wrong, it is better than anything green or oolong that I have ever had from Adagio or Teavana , but I think I was spoiled by the first ones which were very good. I broke down today and ordered a gaiwan from Jing Tea shop so I could try and do “Eastern” style properly. With this one, I cheated and went “western” using my Teavana 2 cup steeper, the whole pack sample, and 195F water.

This is the kind of tea for when you’re in the mood for something soft and delicate. I would say that’s true for pretty much all of the long feng xia teas I’ve tried.

The taste of this tea is crisp and fresh, with subtle floral and vegetal notes that have to be gently coaxed out. It doesn’t play well with very hot water. Instead, green tea like temperatures (180 – 185 F) are necessary in order to bring out its delicate character.

It starts off light and sweet. A pale yellow liquor that tastes like early morning dew on grass. Notes of lily of the valley appear as it cools. The color becomes greener with subsequent steeps. The body grows fuller and the tea bursts with a buttery floral taste. I detected notes of hyacinth, daffodil, and gardenia. After a few more steeps the tea mellows out a bit as it shifts to a fruity-vegetal taste.

I steeped 4g of this tea in my 110ml purple clay teapot using 180-190 F temperature water. The tea was steeped 7 times following a rinse for 30s/45s/1m/90s/2m/3m/4m.

This is a great oolong. Some of them leave me not feeling so great… for whatever odd reason. But this one is smooth and doesn’t give me any weird tingle sensations in my throat. Smooth with some sweetness. A bit of creaminess. Grassy. Actually this is the first time Ive had a tea that has more of a sweet grass. The dry smell is like cherrios….?

Method: 1 heaping tsp, 182 degrees, grandpa style

Dry Leaf Aroma: Floral and Fruity. Sweet. Smelled a little like baking cookies.

Brewing Aroma: Vanilla and lightly citrus

Flavor: This had a very thick and buttery feel. It reminded me of a very light vegetable broth. This was a very hearty tea! I think it would be especially well-suited to cooler weather drinking.

One of my fav Taiwanese teas. Sweet Buttery and floral