Sixth sample from Lupicia.
It has been long since I have had any decent oolong tea apart from the bottled Suntory one. Oolong tea is quite popular in Japan, but still I feel that while a lot of shops label oolong teas correctly as “oolong tea”, they are usually only referring to darker and more roasted oolong teas in bottles or tea bags. It seems that it is enjoyed more for its health benefits rather than the taste itself. Not surprisingly, I have therefore seldom encountered any real loose leaf variations except when visiting professional tea shops.
Back in Norway I used to drink a lot of oolong tea, but these were usually more lightly oxidized green and fruity ones, so a meeting with the more baked and flowery Tie Guan Yin was certainly something else!
When brewing this, I used a small gaiwan with about 1 dl boiling water, steeping 5g of tea for about 45 seconds, just according to Lupicia’s instructions, and used the same leaves for about 5 times.
The first cup had a strong baked taste to it, and I wondered if I really had steeped it the right way. No bad astringency however, so I figured the first cup would be like this and that the taste would be more rich at the second and third serving. And indeed it turned out that way. As the baked taste became weaker in the second cup, a more nutty taste became more present, and was mixed with a more floral taste in the third cup. The fourth cup was also okay, but I do not think it is necessary to step it five times as I felt it became a bit too weak in the end.
Although the reunion with this good Tie Guan Yin was a warm and delicious one, I will still keep my focus on Japanese teas as much as possible while I am in Japan. Lately, I have been looking up different tea ware that could be more suitable to brew different kinds of Japanese tea in. Hopefully, I will be able to acquire something like that also in the not to distant future.
