A mystery oolong pick from a joint buy with Leafhopper, May 2020 harvest.
Aroma in bag is fruity with dried cherries and has the Si Ji Chun cultivar-specific florality which I can’t describe. Dry in hand smells roasted. Warm brings chicory coffee, molasses and brown toast and the rinsed leaf displays a sour roast note with woodiness.
The aroma is of roasted pears, dried peaches, chicory and cinnamon. Happy and comforting. The taste is weak at first but does build. It starts slightly nutty and mineral with a background roast and floral character. Clean tulip and little bit sweet aftertaste. Next cups begin with a mellow burst of woody spice which transitions smoothly to an impression of a damp, overcast fall day — autumn leaf, muted petrichor, pine resin, a whisper of smoke, unripened peach still clinging to the branch, twiggy sweetness, all rather subtle. A touch of camphor lingers, like taking a cold breath. Later steeps are nutty sweet maybe with a bit of honey, roastier.
This tea could be perceived as flavorless; I’d say it has subtle depth. Even with a rinse, it does need a long first steep in a gaiwan, maybe 45 seconds, back off a little bit with the next and increase from there. I like the character of this tea. It’s comforting like a Chinese Wuyi shui xian oolong but much more unassuming, giving a clue to its Taiwanese origin.
Flavors: Autumn Leaf Pile, Brown Toast, Camphor, Cherry, Cinnamon, Coffee, Dried Fruit, Floral, Flowers, Honey, Mineral, Molasses, Nuts, Peach, Pear, Petrichor, Pine, Plant Stems, Resin, Roasted, Smoke, Spicy, Sweet, Wood
I’m glad you once again got more from this tea than I did. Maybe the longer steeps were the secret, though I think it’s more probable that I don’t enjoy most roasted teas.