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I last drank this last mid-November of 2014. This note is for educational purposes. Ratings won’t be deleted to keep the integrity of my first tasting note.

Had a gongfu session with a ceramic gaiwan. 3 second rinse. Steeping times: 25, 55, 75, 90, 100, 120, 160, 240.

I couldn’t smell anything the dry leaf. The wet leaf aroma – after the rinse – is sweetly floral, and then becomes buttered popcorn. Thereafter, it is purely floral.

The liquor looks very pretty in a white porcelain cup: clear, bright, like sunshine. Medium-bodied. The texture is thick for the first couple infusions, and then gradually thins out.

Throughout the session, the flavor profile is pretty nearly consistent. The first and second infusions begin with a floral note and finish with a sweetness. An apricot/strawberry aftertaste lingers. Reminded me of a Taiwanese high mountain oolong. Thereafter, floral-plant and sour notes are dominant. The plants – green leaves, chloryphyll – aren’t strong or delicate, a medium intensity. Very Tie Guan Yin-like.

The sourness, I learned from Teavivre’s website, occurs naturally and is actually a part of the process these leaves underwent. A part of the interview with the farmer, Chen Biyi, from the website: “It is because a longer time of spontaneous fermentation before fixation. The sour flavor comes out naturally after the long time of tossing and oxidation, often in three days.”

In infusions five, six, and seven, the sourness becomes a part of the background, staying more under the tongue and allowing me to enjoy the plant and floral notes.

How it differs from last time: It’s much less fruitier, and when I did taste fruit with this session, it was only a for a little and I did not pick out the same fruits (peach, banana, clementine – where??). Presently, it was so much more plant-floral-like. I wonder why the sourness appears now but didn’t back then.

I liked drinking this. Good quality. But I was very new to oolong in general back when I had my first session. A dominating floral quality doesn’t strike me as “Wow yes love!!” – it’s alright. I now know that I am very much more into Taiwanese oolong.