Exploring several Wu Yi oolongs this year. They have been a consistent favorite, so time to get to know them a little more. Might as well start with the Four Famous Bushes! I’ve sampled a few Da Hong Pao, and one Tie Luo Han. So, up next is Bai Ji Guan.
Overall, it was OK. When it was good, it was really good. Unfortunately, I only ever really got three good infusions. The subsequent infusions lost most of their interesting notes.
The flavor profile is sweet, floral, herbal, and savory. Very complex and nice while it lasted. The sweetness was fairly pronounced but was tempered by a wonderful savory note that brought the whole flavor into a delicious harmony.
There was also a really nice salty sweetness in the aftertaste, which I really like. Kind of liked salted cantaloupe.
All in all, it had a complex and fascinating flavor, but was fairly short-lived. I’m very glad to have tried it, as it was quite unique. Worth the experience.
*
Dry leaf: floral, pollen, dried parsley and dill, sweet and bitter fruit like kumquat. In preheated vessel – roasted corn and tomato vine.
Smell: light honey, honeysuckle, sweet floral, fresh parsley
Taste: yeast roll, honey butter, fresh parsley and cilantro, grape skin, orange flower, mineral. Light saltiness and fruit in aftertaste – salted cantaloupe, apricot, floral.
People who liked this
Comments
One thing I would throw out there about Bai Ji Guan is that because it tends to be so mellow, you really have to dig when it comes to analyzing it. It can be a very deceptive tea in a lot of respects. One thing that helped me with this one was spacing out my infusions. Once I abandoned a regimented routine, I felt like I got much more out of it. I also found that playing around with the water temperature can work wonders. One wouldn’t expect it given the delicate nature of the cultivar and the light roast, but it’s a fairly durable, resilient tea. I know I had the same issue myself. I probably did at least five gongfu sessions with this tea (the rest were Western, which worked pretty well), and of the bunch, three produced only about 3-4 truly exceptional infusions while the other 2 were very nice sessions overall.
I agree. The tasting notes I took kept changing. Sometimes I loved the tea, other times I was unimpressed. The flavors were elusive as well, as you noted. I only had 25g, so I only had five sessions, ranging from porcelain gaiwans to clay, with varying leaf:water ratios. It was a different session every time. The best session was a small gaiwan packed with leaf, with very short infusions.
Anyway, definitely a sit-down-and-pay-attention sort of tea. It was worth the price of admission, for sure. A very challenging and engaging tea, sort of a workout for your palate, but I’m not sure I would purchase much of it regularly.
One thing I would throw out there about Bai Ji Guan is that because it tends to be so mellow, you really have to dig when it comes to analyzing it. It can be a very deceptive tea in a lot of respects. One thing that helped me with this one was spacing out my infusions. Once I abandoned a regimented routine, I felt like I got much more out of it. I also found that playing around with the water temperature can work wonders. One wouldn’t expect it given the delicate nature of the cultivar and the light roast, but it’s a fairly durable, resilient tea. I know I had the same issue myself. I probably did at least five gongfu sessions with this tea (the rest were Western, which worked pretty well), and of the bunch, three produced only about 3-4 truly exceptional infusions while the other 2 were very nice sessions overall.
I agree. The tasting notes I took kept changing. Sometimes I loved the tea, other times I was unimpressed. The flavors were elusive as well, as you noted. I only had 25g, so I only had five sessions, ranging from porcelain gaiwans to clay, with varying leaf:water ratios. It was a different session every time. The best session was a small gaiwan packed with leaf, with very short infusions.
Anyway, definitely a sit-down-and-pay-attention sort of tea. It was worth the price of admission, for sure. A very challenging and engaging tea, sort of a workout for your palate, but I’m not sure I would purchase much of it regularly.