2009 Medium Roasted Benshan Oolong

Comparing notes to the 2006 Benshan.
This particular tea has more of a woodsy and roasted taste profile while the 2006 has a slight cocoa (dry chocolate) taste. I prefer the cocoa taste notes, especially when the tea thins out. For those who like a medium roast profile, being less than most roasted tgy have, this is a tea that can last for hours. There isn’t much that has to open up for this leaf which helps with a consistent brew. My suggestion with this, as with most roasted teas, I advise to drink some water between steeps because the back of the throat dries out pretty easily after 20oz; this is my experience. My personal preference for Benshan is of a lower roast while tgy is higher and overall I prefer the roast profile found in wuyi teas. This is surely a hit for many, but the few (such as I) this leads to just a sampling.

I found this to be a nice tea from Chawangshop, even better than their 2006 oolong. It’s got a semi aged taste, a bit of that aged fruity plum. Not too roasty. One thing I did notice on the downside was a hint of mustiness. Not that overpowering, though, and I’m somewhat new to aged oolongs so I’m not sure if this is common? Anyway, I like this tea especially for the price. I put 50g away in a tin for aging and will drink the other half now.