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After a few rough days, I’m back on here again. Yesterday, my car sprang a coolant leak, so that little electrical issue that I wanted to get taken care of is going to have to wait until I can get the coolant leak fixed. I also spent most of my afternoon cleaning out my dad’s goat barn. What followed was a night of sinus trouble. Oh, and I had a job interview at 8:15 in the morning yesterday. It did not go well. I actually got stopped and yelled at by one of the interviewers. Now, I get the experience of helping my father trim hooves this evening and then get to work on my car in my driveway with my mechanic. My life is full of joy and wonder. Knowing that my evening is going to be hectic, I’m doing some writing now.

I’m dipping into the vast backlog again for this review. This was one of my sipdowns from either March or April of 2020. I still have a bunch from right around the time the pandemic hit. This was the last of the Jun Chiyabari oolongs that I tried during this time period, and though I found it to be a more or less great tea, it was my least favorite of the three.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a 10 second rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 6 fluid ounces of 176 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 17 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 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, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves produced aromas of cream, custard, cinnamon, vanilla, and baked bread. New aromas of orchid, grass, violet, spinach, and butter appeared along with traces of lilac after the rinse. The first infusion then introduced a dandelion aroma and very subtle orange blossom scent. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of orchid, violet, baked bread, custard, lilac, and grass that were chased by hints of spinach, dandelion greens, sweet corn, cream, butter, orange blossom, pear, and green apple. The bulk of the subsequent infusions added aromas of pear, lychee, plum, orange zest, green apple, almond, minerals, and green wood. Stronger and more immediately detectable notes of dandelion greens, cream, butter, sweet corn, pear, and green apple emerged in the mouth with mineral, cinnamon, plum, dandelion, almond, hazelnut, green wood, and orange zest impressions in tow. I also found hints of vanilla, lychee, seaweed, and vegetable broth-like umami. As the tea faded, the liquor continued to emphasize notes of minerals, cream, orange zest, butter, grass, dandelion, dandelion greens, and green wood that were chased by a swell of pear, green apple, plum, baked bread, brothy umami, violet, hazelnut, almond, orchid, spinach, and seaweed hints that lingered in the mouth and throat.

A very complex and unique Nepalese oolong, I was consistently intrigued by the tea liquor’s wonderful aromatics, texture, and lingering energy. It often suggested specific flavors more than it actually displayed them. I could see people who are into very aromatic oolongs loving this tea, but I could also see people who drink tea primarily for the feel and the lingering afterglow getting a big kick out of it. Personally, I’d be happy to try a future production of this tea, though I tend to be someone who goes a little more for aroma and flavor than for feel.