Pinglin Bao Zhong

An okay to decent oolong! I got the 2022 harvest of this tea from my recent Camellia Sinensis order, and it was nice but it didn’t last long. Very nice leaves albeit slightly dull and slightly broken, creamy and milky aroma that was extremely delicious but not potent enough, liquor was vibrant and active with a bright greenish-yellow hue. Flavour was decent for the first few steeps, reminds me of a Jin Xuan, creamy and milky and overall flavourful. Texture is decent, smooth yet with a slight bite. Character is lacking however with poor performance in the cup in later steeps, finish & aftertaste was quite nice, good airy finish with a slight milky aftertaste. Cha-qi was almost non-existent and steep longevity was mediocre to poor. Overall, a good tea but nothing too amazing especially past the first few steeps.

This is the 2018 spring harvest. I know, I can’t believe I’m drinking a tea that’s less than a year old! I steeped 6 g of leaf in a 120 ml teapot at 203F for 30, 20, 30, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds, plus two long steeps at the end of the session.

The dry leaf smells like heady lilacs and orchids with a hint of citrus. The first steep is highly floral, with lilacs, gardenias, jasmine, and orchids, plus a vegetal backbone, maybe some parsley, and strong citrus hints. The mouthfeel is a bit oily and the aftertaste is like exhaling perfume. (This is a compliment in my books.) The second steep is more herbaceous, with a saline quality that I noticed because the website pointed it out. If I had to compare it with anything, it would be the Man Lou Xiang from the same company.

The next couple steeps become slightly more vegetal, though still heavily floral and citrusy. However, it’s starting to slide into green tea territory. Steeps five to eight have softer florals, less citrus, and a more saline, vegetal profile. I steeped the tea twice more because I didn’t want to let go, and while the steeps were quite vegetal, they were still tasty.

I highly recommend this tea to anyone who likes floral, slightly fruity oolongs. I can see myself ordering it again.

This review is for the Pinglin Bao Zhong from Camellia Sinensis’ 2019 Spring Taiwan sampler set…

Like the Si Ji CHun from this set, I drank this one Grandpa style as well. I also drank it immediately after trying the Si Ju Chun, so I was doing a lot of direct comparison in my head. This is a style of oolong that I am kind of iffy on; usually it’s pretty nice but sometimes it’s a little bit too green for my liking. I think I actually have a tin of this in my stash right now too, just from a different year’s harvest – it’s taken me a long time to get through…

I found this enjoyable yesterday, but less so than the Si Ji Chun. It was greener, and a little bit sharper in that green quality – the sort of “lawn clipping sour grass” effect, hitting at the side of my mouth. However, it was also sweet and floral with that kind of “ambrosia”/nectar note, and a lot of floral elements like gardenias and elderflower. I think the reason I like the Si Ji Chun better is that it’s creamier to me, and more buttery (though this is a little buttery). I’m glad my coworker brought this in though; having tried this style of oolong from CS before (and still owning it), it was nice to have a fresher revisit of it. I still enjoy the older harvest that I have currently, when I’m in the mood for a greener oolong, but it certainly hits in a different way now that it’s lost freshness…

Is this even the same Pinglin Bao Zhong tea that others are writing about? I am currently too lazy to get up and reread the tea pouch. Edit—I did get up and check the tea pouch and yes, that’s all the label says. I can only guess that this newer batch, purchased July 2016, is a totally different creature than those previously written about. Completely different flavour profile.

Totally coconut, which is being lost on me today as I just had another but different coconut oolong yesterday and I had forgotten how coconut this one is. Delicious coconut which is not quite was I was in the mood for, so I will postpone proper reviewing for another time.

Yesterday, I had an early doctor’s appointment in the city, which meant that I was perfectly positioned to wander over to Chinatown and treat myself to dim sum. A large group, about seven or eight, older men were there, old as dirt, really, and it was a delight to watch them hang out, joke, read their papers, eat, torment the servers, and carry on. Although they were speaking in Cantonese, it was clear that they had great affection for each other and had known each other for a long long time. I wonder how often they have their morning breakfasts together. I suspect rituals and camaraderie like this have much to do with their longevity.

Apart from this group, was an older gentlemen having breakfast alone. He had brought his own yixing teapot, teacup, and huge thermos of boiling water for the gazillions cups he drank with his meal. I. was. dying to go over there and ask him what kind of tea he was drinking, but I didn’t: too embarrassed and concerned about the possible communication gap. After his meal, he dumped his mountain of leaves out onto an empty plate: curly, fizzly, dark. I asked one of my favourite trolley people if she knew what kind of tea that was and she suspected it was heung pin, which we later got translated as jasmine. Yeah, maybe she just felt she needed to give me some sort of answer. It doesn’t necessarily tell me anything about the leaf.

Anyway…

This started out as creamy and kind of buttery with a hint of raspberry but then developed an intense pineapple flavour that was at first very sweet but then very sour. I have to say I’m kind of loving it! I’m a huge fan of sour and this is definitely quite lip puckering. The first time I had this I found it good but nothing special but I can really see myself missing this when it’s gone — uping my rating!

From the Lewis & Clark teabox! I love these types of oolong especially on these dreary winter days when I forgot to notice what the dry leaves looked like because it was too dark out to see them. I’ve had these types of oolongs a couple times before. This one seemed to be a little lighter in flavor than usual. But it’s such a nice flavor. Buttery, a little fruity like pineapple, a little floral. My favorite oolong flavors combined. All of the cups were very consistent in flavor but I probably should have used a half teaspoon more. Teasenz sent me a tea like this one that wasn’t available for sale yet that was VERY good. I’ll be keeping my eye out for it.
Steep #1 // 1 tsp // 15 min after boiling // 1 1/2 min steep
Steep #2 // 12 min after boiling // 2 min
Steep #3 // 10 min after boiling // 3 min

From the Lewis and Clark TTB.

Brewed gongfu-style with gaiwan. Steeping times: 20 sec, 15, 20, 30, 45, 60.

The leaf consists of twisty forest green leaves, whose color brightens when they are first infused. Even though they were picked from the bush long ago, they appear as if their life is retained. At first the aroma is generally sweet and buttery. But as the leaf cools, the notes change: kettlecorn and sweet potatoes with marshmallows (like the Thanksgiving dish), and then squash and zucchini. Each infusion produces a pale green liquor – almost neon – that is medium-bodied, creamy, vegetal and sweet.

L&CTTB

Sweet, vegetal, floral. Delicious. I really liked this. Wish I’d been able to have more of it.

Added to my wish list.

Received a sample of this fresh 2014 Taiwanese oolong from a friend. Brewed up about 2 grams in 115 ml, did a quick rinse of the leaf in a strainer first, then proceeded with gongfu steeps in a Jian Shui pot which may have been a poor choice. I read oolong on the label, the leaf looked dark, but when I brewed it I saw it is green oolong and not a dark roast.

This tea is incredibly floral, heavy on the gardenia, or orchid or pea flower. Since this is a natural flavor and not artificially added, it is quite lovely. But the tea is too green for my liking. The soup is greeny-brown, which is okay, but it was very astringent and the sweet flower flavor then went sour on the tongue afterward and lingered. Had two cups and didn’t want anymore. I would probably love this more deeply roasted, the roast would have given a sweet lingered taste instead of the sour. But then I might as well be considering a black tea, because some of this same floral taste was present in the Wild Purple Dehong Black I reviewed recently.

This is probably a really good tea, just not my taste so I will leave off a rating.

While I enjoy oolongs, I’m not one to become obsessed over them. This tea has a lovely vegetal floral aroma as it brews (think steamed spinach with gardenia flowers), but the taste didn’t quite live up to this heady aroma. The brew was almost a salty bok choy, or endive, which was pleasant, just wasn’t expecting.