91

My schedule has been so tight recently that I have not been able to do many gongfu sessions. That means that my oolong and puerh consumption has seriously declined. Transferring to a new job has unfortunately been limiting my free time. When I have had time to drink oolong this week, this has been the one I have been drinking. It’s a nice rolled oolong that is very easy to drink.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 195 F water for 10 seconds. I followed this initial infusion up with 11 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 2 minutes 30 seconds, and 3 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, a sniff of the dry tea leaves revealed a mildly floral aroma. After the rinse, I noted pronounced aromas of cream, butter, custard, apricot, peach, and fresh flowers. The first infusion produced a similar, albeit slightly more balanced aroma. In the mouth, I detected a pleasant blend of cream, butter, custard, vanilla, sticky rice, and honey underscored by perfume-like notes of saffron, lily, lilac, honeysuckle, and gardenia. There was also a very subtle nuttiness that I caught just before the fade. Subsequent infusions amplified the fruit, vanilla, honey, and floral notes. The vague nuttiness emerged more fully, revealing the flavor of roasted almonds. A slight breadiness also began to emerge. Tealyra describes it as a toast note, but I thought it was more reminiscent of fresh baguettes. A note of golden raisin also began to appear around this time as well. Later infusions grew nuttier, creamier, and breadier. I noticed that the baguette, roasted almond, cream, butter, and custard notes began to dominate, though I could still detect soft, yet distinct impressions of flowers, honey, golden raisin, and vanilla. Oddly, I did not detect much of a mineral presence. Normally, I get a lot of minerality from oolongs, but not this one. For the most part, it remained smooth, sweet, creamy, floral, fruity, and buttery throughout the course of the session.

This was an intriguing oolong with a great blend of aromas and flavors. I probably could have gotten at least one or two more infusions out of it, but decided to stop where I did because it was late and I needed to get some sleep. Judging from this encounter though, I would not hesitate to recommend this tea to just about anyone looking for a quality oolong at a great price. I honestly think it would please both experienced drinkers and oolong novices alike.

Flavors: Almond, Apricot, Bread, Butter, Cream, Custard, Floral, Gardenias, Honey, Honeysuckle, Peach, Raisins, Saffron, Vanilla

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 6 g 4 OZ / 118 ML
Fjellrev

I hope you’ll be able to find more pockets of time in the future to enjoy the tea that you like.

eastkyteaguy

Fjellrev, that makes two of us.

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Fjellrev

I hope you’ll be able to find more pockets of time in the future to enjoy the tea that you like.

eastkyteaguy

Fjellrev, that makes two of us.

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Bio

My grading criteria for tea is as follows:

90-100: Exceptional. I love this stuff. If I can get it, I will drink it pretty much every day.

80-89: Very good. I really like this stuff and wouldn’t mind keeping it around for regular consumption.

70-79: Good. I like this stuff, but may or may not reach for it regularly.

60-69: Solid. I rather like this stuff and think it’s a little bit better-than-average. I’ll drink it with no complaints, but am more likely to reach for something I find more enjoyable than revisit it with regularity.

50-59: Average. I find this stuff to be more or less okay, but it is highly doubtful that I will revisit it in the near future if at all.

40-49: A little below average. I don’t really care for this tea and likely won’t have it again.

39 and lower: Varying degrees of yucky.

Don’t be surprised if my average scores are a bit on the high side because I tend to know what I like and what I dislike and will steer clear of teas I am likely to find unappealing.

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KY

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