Alright, I have finally finished off the last of the Verdant aged oolongs I purchased a few months back. I still have the two from Puerh Shop plus a bunch of Wuyi and Dan Cong oolongs from Yunnan Sourcing that have been mellowing for a while. Clearly, I’m going to be going through a lot of tea this year, but let’s get back on track. I mentioned in a previous review that these aged oolongs from Master Zhang have been incredibly hit or miss for me. Count this one as another miss.
I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a 10 second rinse, I steeped 5 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 212 F water for 10 seconds. This infusion was followed by 13 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 13 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, and 5 minutes. I normally would have conducted a 7 minute infusion to close the session, but I didn’t feel like it tonight.
Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves produced aromas of ripe berries, must, wood, and flowers. After the rinse, somewhat more distinctive scents of wood, must, blueberry, raspberry, sweet cherry, and marigold presented themselves. The first infusion allowed touches of vanilla and dried chrysanthemum to peek through the mix. In the mouth, I mostly detected notes of cream, must, moist earth, wood, blueberry, raspberry, and sweet cherry chased by hints of vanilla and flowers. Subsequent infusions introduced a mild mineral presence as well as impressions of caramel and golden raisin. This tea seemed to wash out faster than the others. The later infusions were mostly a mellow mix of minerals, wood, earth, and cream underscored by faint hints of berries and flowers.
This aged Tieguanyin was more mellow, more approachable, and less funky than the 1990 version. Unfortunately, its simplistic, yet oddly muddled flavor profile and lack of staying power did little for me. I can say that I’m glad I took the opportunity to try it, but I doubt I will go out of my way for a tea like this in the near future.
Flavors: Blueberry, Caramel, Cherry, Cream, Floral, Musty, Raisins, Raspberry, Vanilla, Wet Earth, Wood
