I’ve been neglecting my oolongs from Wang Family Tea, and wanted to rectify the situation a bit before starting on my spring 2022 purchases. This unroasted Alishan is from spring 2021. Following Wang’s instructions, I steeped 6 g of leaf in 120 ml of boiling water for 55, 45, 55, 65, 75, 85, 95, 120, 150, and 240 seconds.
The dry aroma is sweet and floral, with notes of orchid, gardenia, and honeysuckle. The first steep gives me heady orchid, gardenia, honeysuckle, pine, coconut, cream, grass, and other flowers (Daylon mentioned freesia, which fits). The florals are even headier in the next steep. Maybe it’s because of the pine, but I do get a sense of “woodsiness,” as the company calls it. The tea is also a little vegetal, with grass and lettuce in the aftertaste. Sweet freesia and lilac are more prominent in the next couple steeps, along with coconut, lemongrass, pine, lettuce, and that “woodsy” note. The next few steeps are full of sweet florals, but are becoming increasingly vegetal, with lettuce, spinach, and grass. The tea never gets bitter, but has a vegetal, floral fade.
This is a very nice Alishan that’s better than many others I’ve had. It’s definitely on the floral and vegetal rather than the fruity side, but as someone who likes heady florals, that’s okay. I’ll probably revisit another harvest of this tea at some point, though the Shanlin Xi Wild Garden is more up my alley.
Flavors: Coconut, Cream, Floral, Gardenias, Grass, Honeysuckle, Lemongrass, Lettuce, Lilac, Orchid, Pine, Rainforest, Spinach, Sweet, Vegetal
