95

Sipdown? Well, I received this Taiwanese Oolong as a 6g gift sample with my January order, and I used it all in one session. Brewed western style, almost as directed: 6.4g leaf in 8 oz boiling water in a stainless steel infusion basket for 2 min. Dry leaf had a wonderful fragrance, which intensified while steeping. But this was way too much leaf, as it expanded out to fill my basket and poke out over the top! The aromatic, golden-colored liquor was sweet, smooth, non-astringent, and like a mouthful of flowers! Song claims flavor of Magnolia x alba, and so I’ll go with that, though I can’t say I truly know what White Fragrant Himalayan Champaca is, let alone what it tastes or smells like. It sure is lovely, and reminiscent of a dong ding I drank recently. This oolong is said to be the Qing xin cultivar (also known as “green heart”) which is well known among the high mountain oolongs, as are hybrids from it. The finish is extended, lasting several minutes on the tongue and in the nose, only finally tailing off in a mineral taste with a hint of skunkiness. Each sip was enjoyable as the cup cooled over the course of ~30 min. I never detected anything remotely of the claimed pistachio or cantaloupe (both of which are very familiar to me). A second infusion was also nice, but not as delightful as the first. Perhaps if I’d used a slightly cooler water and shorter steep the leaf might have given more, but I really liked it my way anyhow. I’ll never know because it is now sold out and next year may differ. Rating this as a 95. The third infusion continued to satisfy, as notes of cardboard and stronger minerality crept in alongside the floral sweetness. Long finishes continued here, and the cardboard notes gave way to a slight cantaloupe flavor way in the back of my mouth! Score another point for Song’s tasting skills. A fourth infusion was unpalatable and discarded. I hope other Steepsters got to try it!

Flavors: Cantaloupe, Floral, Magnolia, Mineral, Smooth, Sweet

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 0 sec 6 g 8 OZ / 236 ML
Cameron B. about a month ago

Still counts! XD

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Cameron B. about a month ago

Still counts! XD

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Life is too short to drink bad tea!
Pan-American: Left-coast reared (on Bigelow’s Constant Comment and Twinings’ Earl Grey) and right-coast educated, I’ve used this moniker & Email since the glory days of AOL in the 90’s, reflecting two of my lifelong loves—tea and ‘Trek.

Now a midwestern molecular biologist (right down to the stereotypical Hawaiian shirts), I’m finally broadening the scope of my sippage and getting into all sorts of Assamicas, from mainstream Assam CTCs to Taiwan blacks & TRES varietals, to varied Pu’erhs. With some other stuff tossed in for fun. Love reading other folks’ tasting notes (thank you), I’ve lurked here from time to time and am now adding a few notes of my own to better appreciate the experience. You can keep the rooibos LoL! Note that my sense of taste varies from the typical, for example I find stevia to be unsweet and bitter. My dislike of rooibos may be similarly rooted in genetics.

I am conversationally friendly but absolutely not here looking for dates or money. Nor to sell anything. If I’ve started to follow you, I don’t mean to be creepy, it only means you posted something I liked reading, or it was about an interesting tea or event. And I’ve recently discovered that the Steepster system only notifies me of new posts written by people I follow. If you follow me, I won’t assume anything. If I do not follow you, it isn’t a snub—you’re still a good human being!
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Photo with Aromatic Bamboo Species Raw Pu-erh Tea “Xiang Zhu” by Yunnan Sourcing, which is most definitely aromatic!

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Chicagoland-USA

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