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Yesterday I received the small Teavivre order I placed on Black Friday. Three weeks in the mail is pretty good, especially considering that it’s the holidays on top of a pandemic. I had some trouble checking out and didn’t request any samples, but Teavivre included two free 7 g packs of this tea, which was incredibly generous. Perhaps they knew I like Taiwanese high mountain oolongs? Anyway, I couldn’t resist cutting one of them open and decided to follow their steeping instructions, brewing the entire 7 g in my 120 ml teapot in boiling water for 25, 25, 30, 40, 60, 90, 120, and 180 seconds.

The dry aroma of these large green nuggets is of orchids, honeysuckle, other flowers, and sugar cookies. The first steep has a nice silky texture and notes of orchids, honeysuckle, butter, cream, spinach, grass, and cookies. I love the lingering, sweet aftertaste. The second steep gives me that sappy note I sometimes get in high mountain oolongs, along with more cookies, some umami, and faint apple and stonefruit. The aftertaste switches from sweet to grassy. The next couple steeps are greener, with notes of spinach and kale, although the tea is still floral, slightly fruity, and sweet. This tea keeps getting greener as the session goes on, but the florals and sweetness keep it interesting.

Having associated Teavivre mainly with Chinese teas, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of this Taiwanese oolong. I love its sweet florals, although perhaps due to my brewing parameters, it was greener than I generally prefer. Maybe shorter steeps will make the fruit and florals pop!