ShanLinXi Special Reserve

Great quality leaves and a tremendous amount of depth! Thick and almost brothy, that ends with a returning sweetness that lingers. The richness of aroma from the wet leaves is intoxicating, as it captivates your senses in its complexity. It gets out of the arena of floral notes, but is more savory and thick. You can smell butternut squash, along with a slow simmered, stewed chicken (sorry if the meat reference offends – I’m at a lack of words to compare and this is the closest I can think of). The taste is more like green lima beans and butter. Smooth and full to the mouth. No astringency. Great tea! Certainly above ordinary.

Wow. This is absolutely a wow tea. I was shocked at how buttery, creamy, and smooth this tea is from the first steep onward. Like, audible noises of delight while drinking it. I think my wife and children thought me a weirdo. (Lets face it. They’ve thought that long before this little stint)

There isn’t much more to say about this. It is buttery. Feels creamy on the tongue and throat. There are some floral aspects to it but not strong. Which is great because I’m not a huge floral oolong guy. I’m kind of in love with this tea and now I understand the price tag on it. And now I’m contemplating ordering much more than just a sample of this.

Confession: Shan lin xi is my favorite variety of rolled green oolong, though my experience is somewhat limited. I’ve had spring and fall harvest from Eco-Cha, and found that I was enamored by the spring harvest but the fall harvest (which I ordered by mistake) ended up being dismissed to my bowl steeping stash after a few gongfu sessions didn’t really tickle me the same way. I have no idea what harvest this sample from BTTC is, but I’m excited to try it either way.

The aroma of the dry leaves in a prewarmed gaiwan is buttery and nutty. The wet leaves smell buttery and grassy with hints of alpine plants. The taste of the first infusion is very clean, grassy and buttery, really smooth. I’m mostly captivated by the cleanliness of the tea. It’s just so crisp and feels good on the tongue. There’s a warming camphor-like quality in the back of the throat.

The aroma of the wet leaves is intoxicating after the second infusion, it’s dripping with honey and sweet flowers, and alpine air. I’m really impressed by this. Man, this second infusion is something else. There are some honey sweet notes to it now. The body is really thick and buttery. The taste reminds me of the aroma of warm grasses and flowers in the afternoon sun. There’s a lingering aftertaste that is floral and almost fruity. This tea has the kind of complexity that I can’t even describe the flavor very well. I love when this happens. It’s an adventure tea. I feel I’m being transported to its origins and taking in all the sights, smells, and sounds.

One thing I’m enjoying about this tea, on the third infusion now, is that it doesn’t have the floral soapiness that is hard to avoid with some of these green high mountain oolongs. Some are quite susceptible to overbrewing. This one can brew up pretty rich in flavor without punching me with those heavy floral notes. Flavors here are similar to the second infusion but not quite as lush.

Fourth infusion now, similar to the third, mellowing out some. Still pretty buttery. I think this tea will push out many flavorful infusions to come. I’m going to go ahead and give this the Lion’s Seal of Approval!!! (there is actually no such thing, and I am a dork) This really is one of the best rolled oolongs I’ve had, and definitely stands up to the best Shan Lin Xi I’ve had. Great stuff. Going to give this the rating it deserves, since it had me swooning over it.

Received this as part of a straight tea package from LP. Thank you!

My package arrived today with part of a YS order and part mystery tea. I really like getting mystery tea in the mail. It makes me go outside of my comfort zone and try things I normally wouldn’t order for myself. I really need to just sign up for a tea subscription somewhere so that I am forced to not pick the same old same old. Maybe once my stash is under control. Does that ever happen?

This is a wonderful tea. Light, sweet, buttery…. oh yeah buttery. I didn’t have enough for a full on gong fu session so I have been having fun just playing with this tea. Add some water here, taste it, add more time, add more water. I havent’ done that much with tea, always thinking I will destory it. This is fun and delicious. I am excited. My husband and I have a date to finish reading The Martian together tonight. Such nerds. Go to bed early to read. Oh well it is the little things in life right? Books and tea. An end to a good day.

I spent my entire stash trying to figure out a way to brew this tea without bitterness and on my last cup I finally got it. Very brief steeps mixed together bring out the depth that was missing. The tea somehow became brighter and cleaner and the strong vegetalness faded. A very enjoyable oolong tea indeed!

My ShanLinXi from Beautiful Taiwan was labeled “2015 premium.” I’m going to assume that this is the same tea but forgive me if it is not.

I have been so happy with all my BTT oolongs! This was no exception. It started out SO SWEET! Very lightly vegetal and slightly mineral…later steepings became more vegetal and got increasingly buttery. The mouthfeel is silky and amazing. MMMMmmmmm goood tea :)

Backlog:

The tea that I had was called “ShanLinXi Highest Moutain” but the descriptions are the same so I’m going on the belief that the Special Reserve = Highest Mountain.

Anyway! This is a fabulous Oolong! The dry leaf has an intense aroma: strong, sweet, floral. Once brewed, the liquid has a softer scent, but there are still obvious notes of fruit and flower in the fragrance.

Yes, I got notes of butterscotch. Nice! Sweet, smooth, not bitter or astringent. Smooth from start to finish. As I say in my full-length review of this tea: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/10/07/shanlinxi-highest-mountain-oolong-tea-from-beautiful-taiwan-tea-company/ – it’s kind of like having one of those butterscotch candies in your mouth and allowing it to melt over the palate. This tea is like that.

I also pick up on notes of flower and hints of spice.

This tea keeps on going, too. I got eight very flavorful infusions out of it. I highly recommend this one.

This tea is GOOD.

I love the mouth feel. It is creamy and buttery. The flavor is outstanding. I’ve had this pseudo gongfu and I’m on my 7th infusion now, and it’s still giving amazing notes. I knew this one was more expensive, but it’s $25 for 2 oz. (I only had a sample size.) I think it’s worth it. This is one of the best oolongs I’ve had.

The wet leaves smell so green and fresh, but the tea doesn’t taste vegetal at all (it’s okay if it does, but that’s not what I get from the tea.)