Lishan Premium High Mountain Oolong

This tea invokes an imagery association within me more than it pushes me to analyze its aromas and flavors. I feel like a butterfly recently metamorphosed and sipping wildflower-scented dew in the sun. I don’t put any stock into that feeling, meaning this tea is no better because of the imagery. It’s definitely the lightest of the three Lishan I’ve tried recently. More lemon mineral water that induces salivation, asian pear and honeydew. Some very light vegetal, nothing pronounced. Thick but not very sweet. Florals are present, stronger in the nose than in the mouth, like I can smell them on the breeze but don’t have my face buried in a bouquet. Barely any astringency. Could be a good daily drinker due to its lightness and it performs well both gongfu and western. I can’t say I’m inclined to purchase more. Somebody with a more refined palate might appreciate more than I do.

I think it’s Spring 2018 harvest based on website info but the envelope has no date.

Since I have been spending my time primarily focusing on Chinese oolongs lately, I figured I should shake things up a bit and try out a new Taiwanese oolong. More than anything, I wanted to give Beautiful Taiwan Tea Company’s Li Shan offerings another chance. I, personally, did not enjoy the last Li Shan tea I tried from them and wanted to see how another of their offerings from that area fared in comparison. I am happy to report that this tea was a smashing success in my eyes.

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. This infusion was chased by 12 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 12 seconds, 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, and 3 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted pronounced aromas of honeysuckle, gardenia, lilac, sweetgrass, cream, butter, and vanilla balanced by a hint of vegetables. After the rinse, I detected emergent scents of sweet cinnamon and magnolia balanced by green apple, watercress, and fresh pear. The first infusion produced a similar, albeit considerably more balanced bouquet with hints of petunia, lily, marigold, and fresh daylily shoots. In the mouth, I detected gentle, somewhat timid notes of vanilla frosting, cream, butter, freshly cut flowers, watercress, and sweetgrass. Subsequent infusions allowed the cinnamon, daylily shoot, green apple, and pear notes to shine, though I also began to catch hints of honeydew, white peach, oats, minerals, and leaf lettuce. The later infusions were increasingly mineral dominated with balancing notes of cream, vanilla, watercress, green apple, oats, pear, honeydew, sweet cinnamon, and flowers.

This was such a nice Li Shan oolong. I honestly was not expecting the floral intensity or the unique mix of aromas and flavors displayed by this tea. As far as I am concerned, this was a notable upgrade over Pear Mountain Premium. Check this one out if you haven’t already.

Another fine high-mountain experience.

Great balance – savory herbal and veg notes, floral (not overly so – very pleasant), fruit, creaminess. In fact, the more I drink this, the more I am reminded of kabusecha (Japanese green tea – grassy, sweet, fruity).

Quick comparison to Shanlinxi: Shanlinxi had a few nutty notes and more citrus. Lishan had more herbal and sweet grassy notes. Both were creamy, floral, and fruity, with excellent balanced umami to round everything out.
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Dry leaf – dried parsley, fragrant floral, hint at butteriness and creaminess

Smell – pungent green leaf; bread pudding(!) (creamy, bread-like, baking spices), buttered green veg

Taste – ARRIVAL: dried parsley, fresh cilantro; DEVELOPMENT: creaminess; sweet, fragrant floral (lily of the valley), tomato vine; FINISH: pina colada, sweet grass, kabusecha; AFTERTASTE: pineapple juice, strawberry compote, sweet grass, mint leaf