Jin Xuan doesn’t get a lot of attention among Taiwanese oolong fans, possibly because much of it is of poor quality. This version is from Alishan, though, and I’m hoping it’ll be more interesting. It also goes without saying that it’s not one of those artificially scented Jin Xuans that I avoid like the plague. Thanks to Fong Mong for the sample. I steeped 7 g of leaf in a 120 ml teapot at 190F for 20, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds.
The dry, loosely rolled large nuggets have a subtle aroma of cream, corn, and flowers. The first steep has notes of cream, butter, gardenias, corn, corn husk, and grass. It reminds me of cream corn to a ridiculous extent, though with a vegetal aftertaste. The second steep morphs into soft peaches and cream with hints of gardenias and other flowers. There’s also butter and corn in the background. Needless to say, this tea is quite sweet.
The third steep returns to a floral cream corn with hints of cooked veggies like asparagus, while the next steep loses some of the corn and is heavily floral, almost perfumey. I love how this tea keeps changing! By steep five, the vegetal notes start becoming more prominent, although it’s still floral and creamy. The end of the session is almost entirely vegetal, with lettuce and asparagus in the foreground.
This is a sweet, nuanced Alishan oolong that even high mountain snobs like me can appreciate. I loved watching the flavours play musical chairs throughout my gongfu session. I highly recommend this tea, especially given its price point.
Flavors: Asparagus, Butter, Corn Husk, Creamy, Floral, Gardenias, Grass, Lettuce, Peach, Perfume, Sweet, Vegetal
