85

I was really excited for my box of different teas to come from Teavivre. Spent too much money, but it’s been absolutely worth it.

It’s an oolong with the larger dry leaves, like a Li Shan or Ali Shan. They smell good, and promisingly like those of Shan Lin Xi, which is my all-time favorite. The liquor is a vivid gold, almost green, like brass. It smells sweet and floral, with just a hint of that bakiness that some of the more traditionally made oolongs have.
This steeping seems to taste rather vegetal, but still rather flora, with an aftertaste of that bakey flavor. This seems to be how some teas are supposed to taste, and others, it’s when I haven’t made it quite right, so I’ll be making a followup review, just in case. As it cools a little, that herbaceousness takes more of a background role, and it turns into a delightfully well-balanced tea. In the aftertaste, I see what people have been saying about that butteriness; it’s smooth and quite pleasantly mild.
My adjective department is somewhat lacking today, which I’ll try to fix in the followup review. Really tasty tea, and I’ll be purchasing again from Teavivre when I run out.

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 1 min, 0 sec

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Bio

I live with my paternal family on a small, family-owned alpaca farm in the Pacific Northwest. I’ve been drinking tea, not considering tisanes, since I was relatively small and first allowed caffeine. Here, we are lucky enough to have two lovely, non-chlorinated wells, so I have relatively unlimited access to nice water that doesn’t influence the taste of my tea, and it certainly feels like a privilege. I prepare tea gong fu style, sometimes with an Yixing pot, and sometimes with a small porcelain pot or gaiwan, as that works best for many of my greener oolongs. I love learning, talking about and making tea.
One of my favorite things about making gaoshan oolongs is the focus and care that takes to make them truly shine. If I’m having a rough day, I can sit down and just focus on the time, temperature of the teaware, etc, and it is completely distracting from whatever is upsetting me.
I think that, however, the most fun is in trying new teas (particularly oolongs; they’re just too wonderful) and working with them to learn how to make them taste their best.
I had a job at the island’s tea shop for a while, and enjoyed the opportunity to learn and teach about teas, and to taste anything I wanted of the stock.

Location

Washington State

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