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__Morgana__ drank Formosa Ali Shan by Adagio Teas

2036 tasting notes

I had a totally klutzy moment and knocked over the first infusion of this. Ugh.

It’s rolled up and fragrant in the tin and 5g of leaves in the gaiwan didn’t seem like much volume. But the leaves did quite an unfurl, and ended up filling the gaiwan by the end of the session.

It has a sweet dairy/floral fragrance in the cup. Very light yellow liquor. Almost colorless on the first infusion. A little more color on subsequent infusions.

I think it might be worth my while to try a Taiwan green oolong in proximity to a China green oolong to see if I can make a generalization about the differences. So far it seems to me the Taiwan ones are somewhat less buttery and more perky, but that’s based on a rather small sample and a rather unscientific comparison.

The second infusion was sweetly floral with a tad of bitterness at the end of the sip. Not an unpleasant bitterness, just a bit of vegetable bitterness like some greens have.

The third steep is similar. There’s a freshness to the taste that is quite nice.

I took it through my usual five steeps and enjoyed it. But it does seem to be a bit of a johnny one note. Not a lot of complexity to this one, not a lot of evolution from steep to steep. Which is ok, sometimes. It might make a good western style steep given that not a lot seems to be gained by multiple short steeps.

Flavors: Floral, Milk

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Kirkoneill1988
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sounds yummy :)

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Kirkoneill1988
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sounds yummy :)

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I got obsessed with tea in 2010 for a while, then other things intruded, then I cycled back to it. I seem to be continuing that in for a while, out for a while cycle. I have a short attention span, but no shortage of tea.

I’m a mom, writer, gamer, lawyer, reader, runner, traveler, and enjoyer of life, literature, art, music, thought and kindness, in no particular order. I write fantasy and science fiction under the name J. J. Roth.

Personal biases: I drink tea without additives. If a tea needs milk or sugar to improve its flavor, its unlikely I’ll rate it high. The exception is chai, which I drink with milk/sugar or substitute. Rooibos and honeybush were my gateway drugs, but as my tastes developed they became less appealing — I still enjoy nicely done blends. I do not mix well with tulsi or yerba mate, and savory teas are more often a miss than a hit with me. I used to hate hibiscus, but I’ve turned that corner. Licorice, not so much.

Since I find others’ rating legends helpful, I added my own. But I don’t really find myself hating most things I try.

I try to rate teas in relation to others of the same type, for example, Earl Greys against other Earl Greys. But if a tea rates very high with me, it’s a stand out against all other teas I’ve tried.

95-100 A once in a lifetime experience; the best there is

90-94 Excellent; first rate; top notch; really terrific; will definitely buy more

80-89 Very good; will likely buy more

70-79 Good; would enjoy again, might buy again

60-69 Okay; wouldn’t pass up if offered, but likely won’t buy again

Below 60 Meh, so-so, iffy, or ick. The lower the number, the closer to ick.

I don’t swap. It’s nothing personal, it’s just that I have way more tea than any one person needs and am not lacking for new things to try. Also, I have way too much going on already in daily life and the additional commitment to get packages to people adds to my already high stress level. (Maybe it shouldn’t, but it does.)

That said, I enjoy reading folks’ notes, talking about what I drink, and getting to “know” people virtually here on Steepster so I can get ideas of other things I might want to try if I can ever again justify buying more tea. I also like keeping track of what I drink and what I thought about it.

My current process for tea note generation is described in my note on this tea: https://steepster.com/teas/mariage-freres/6990-the-des-impressionnistes