2011 "Qi Lan" Grade A Wuyi Mountain Oolong Tea

Earthquake tea! When the tower of the hospital that I work in started visibly shaking this afternoon, we did not assume earthquake, but it turns out that’s what it was. Enough to make the building sway fairly significantly, but not enough to do any damage. Anyway, now it’s time for some tea. Another at-random selection from the ol’ bag of dark oolongs!

The aroma on this one is decidedly less roasty, though that is only in comparison to the previous one I had, which was incredibly roasty. I do believe there are some floral notes lurking behind the roasted oolong scent. They come out in the flavor too, but surprisingly this tea lacks a very distinct sweet note you might expect, though it is faintly there. It definitely has the roasted nutty taste as the main note, but I’m liking this one for it’s slight floral character.

I’ve been sipping on this tea all day ~ it is alright, but nothing memorable. It is a good tea for when you are focusing on other activities. It is a bit nutty and not really sweet – not nearly as complex as I prefer my darker oolongs. Overall, I wouldn’t purchase this but I’ll definitely enjoy what I have.

As others have noted, the honey-sweetness and roastiness are less prevalent in this than in the other China Cha Dao Oolong samples. However, I’ve really enjoyed five infusions of it. It’s certainly more subtle, and perhaps less complex. But, I like how it evolved for me. I was really surprised by the strong floral notes I got from the third steep onwards. It started out quite nutty, and the floral emerged to work alongside the nuttiness.

Still working on stat (Linear regression can be really time consuming, especially when you keep getting distracted by stuff…), but my other tea gave up the ghost, so I threw some of this in a cup, and proceeded to to brew it grandpa style. See previous notes for details.

A very good Wuyi Mountain Oolong. This is the “Mama Bear” of the Wuyi Mountain Oolongs I tried from China Cha Dao. Not too smokey, not too sweet, but just right. Enough complexity to keep me interested through several steepings. It is distinctive in it’s aroma, and does not overwhelm you as some can. One note, this tea really depends on having good water that is not hard, best with bottled spring water (soft).

Thanks to Jerry Ma for the free sample!
This tea is excellent!!
This is only Grade ‘A’, but it was better (imho) than the ‘AAA’ Da Hong Pao sample…
It was deliciously fruity – strong honey and cinnamon, along with some kind of tropical fruit (not tart-, nor berry-, nor plum-, fruit like).

The cinnamon flavor was clearly present at first, but it always ended with a really good honey-like flavor, and a nice returning sweetness. I haven’t had much Wuyi Oolong before, but this was very good.

This is one of those high end tea drink as opposed to store brand tea. It is lighter in roasted flavoring; and honey like in taste leaving for a very smooth, almost velvety note on the palette.

The leaves are roasted, dark, crunchy and curled and when dispensed amidst the water in the cup the leaves unfolds to fullness; and what was dark in coloring of the leaves is a mild green; and yes the leaves are edible as well. Maintaining that honey flavoring throughout.

Texture is described as smooth and mellow and this conjures the honey sweetness in the cup making for a slight flora aroma and not vegetal.

This has a semi-strong scent that is sort of “standard oolong” -nutty/seedy with a barely-there honey tone.

Tasting it, this one’s a little weird but in a good way. It has a good sized flavor, brown (maybe walnutty) taste around the back of the tongue, a typical oolong flavor in the center of the tongue and a slight clover sweetness. It also has a strong “something” that is good but I can’t describe.

Conclusions: I like it but doubt I’d buy it. It’s good, I’m glad I got to try it, but it’s not a wow-er. I look forward to trying the other samples as this one makes me think it’s possible there’s a “buyer” in there.

Oh, and I must add the they are very generous samples. Enough for a few cups, unlike some sample-senders, which is great as it can take me a few cups to really decide on a tea. Sometimes a second or third cup will take something from “meh” to “gotta have” or vice versa. These samples are enough to really explore the tea.

This tea left me feeling very whelmed, it is nothing to right home about, but appranently it is something to write on steepster about. I’ve had worse yancha’s but I have definitely had better. If I was given a tin of this stuff I would drink it, unlike some others I’ve had. But this won’t be going on my wish list.

This tea is a bit dull and flat and lacked the floral subtleties that I have grown to crave in some of the better teas that emerge from the wuyi region. It held up quite well to multiple resteeps, on my third at the moment, but honestly I consider that a shame.

Again thanks to China Cha Dao for the sample but I can’t in good conscience recommend this one. 2 down 4 to go.

185F. 4min. 1g leaf per 80ml water.

Compared to the other samples I tried, this one is less toasty, but also less sweet.
It’s like a “lite” version of the other types. Which is not to say that this tea is bad, because it is not. I am currently on my second infusion, which I am enjoying greatly.
It is, however, less impressive than the other samples. Good, but not outstanding.