Vigorously trying to finish my army, that is how I am spending my evening! I have basing to do, and my Intruder Alphas and the Ravagers that Ben surprised me with to finish. I have until tomorrow evening, and considering my afternoon will be taken up by allergy testing, I highly doubt I will finish, alas, my fear of bringing an unfinished army might come to pass. Just between you and me, I am not looking forward to my allergy test tomorrow, though trying to play Dropzone Commander afterwards could be an adventure!
We are finishing off Oolong week with Adagio Tea’s Pouchong (or Baozhong, depending on dialect) a very lightly oxidized (think 8-10%) Oolong with lovely curly green leaves. Pouchong is one of those teas that I tragically forget exists unless it is right in my face, which is tragic because it is one of those Oolongs that taste and smell like springtime. So, let me remind myself why I like this Taiwanese Oolong so much! The aroma is intensely floral, hello notes of hyacinth, orchids, and a mellow finish of chestnuts. It is like flower nectar and mild, sweet, nuts, the aroma overall is fairly mild while also being heady.
Since I do not (yet) have a dedicated Pouchong yixing, into the gaiwan the curly leaves go, and of course it is the dragon gaiwan because it is an oolong, love matching tea utensils to appropriate teas. Brewing the tea brings out the tea’s strength, the now wet leaves smell like a spring bouquet with notes of hyacinth, orchid, lilac, honeysuckle, and butter. Ok that last note is not so much part of a spring bouquet, but hey, it takes all types. The liquid is mellow sweet butter and lots of floral notes, it is very much a pile of flower nectar.
First steep starts out pretty mild, and finishes pretty mild, it is a super mellow tea without much of a presence. It has a wonderfully smooth mouthfeel, but the floral notes and sweet nectar are mild, there is a slight mineral note at the finish as well.
Second steeping time, the aroma is still pretty potent floral nectar with a distinct buttery tone as well as a finish of chestnuts. This steep has a little more body, still pretty mild and mellow, I am not much impressed. The taste is flowery and sweet, but it lacks a real presence, it is like watered down tea. I am wondering if I got an old sample, the bag I got from Adagio was different than any other bag I have gotten from them, so maybe they are changing their packaging, or maybe they package Pouchong differently. It does not taste state, it just does not have much of a taste. Sadly not every tea is a winner.
For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/03/adagio-teas-pouchong-tea-review.html
