Gaoshanchi Taiwan Fushoushan High Mt. Oolong (Wulong) Tea

Thanks to Fong Mong for the free sample, and sorry for taking so long to review it. Fushoushan is one of my favourite mountains, and I somehow wanted to find a way to get two sessions out of the leaves. However, this didn’t work out. I steeped the generous 7 g in a 120 ml teapot at 190F for 25, 20, 25, 30, 30, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds.

The dry aroma is of apricots, orchids, honey, and other flowers. The first steep has notes of apricot, orchid, lilac, honeysuckle, sweet pea, honey, cream, spinach, nutmeg, and grass. The second steep adds notes of brown sugar, herbs, and arugula, and the florals and stonefruit get stronger. The next couple steeps have a nice balance of stonefruit, herbaceous, sweet, spicy, and floral flavours, with hints of custard and caramel. The spinach and grass start taking over in steep five, although the floral, honey, and herbs are still prominent. The session ends with spinach, veggies, grass, and florals.

This is a nuanced and complex oolong that checks all the boxes for a good high mountain tea. The nutmeg and stonefruit are particularly pleasant. While the Shan Lin Xi and Li Shan are probably better bets in terms of the price, this Fushoushan is a nice treat.

Lovely high mountain oolong. No astringency or bitterness. There’s an ethereal quality to this drinking experience. A bit of snap pea and spinach, with some stone fruit and honey in the finish.

I first tried this tea using a flash steeping method. For this tasting I used 3g of tea and 50ml of water per infusion. Fong Mong Tea recommends a water temperature of 85-90C for this tea. I used longer infusion times than I normally would for flash steeping, giving the tea a quick rinse before beginning with one minute for the first infusion.

The result was quite fantastic. The liquor begins a pale sunny golden yellow, tasting at once vegetal and floral, with a bit of fruity and mineral notes and fresh air. Smooth and creamy mouthfeel with zero astringency. There is no hint of bitterness, and it’s very refreshing. The next infusion sees the leaves continue to unfurl and this tea really shines. This is definitely a superior quality tea. The liquor starts to darken just a touch, but the flavour is consistent and delightful over the nine infusions I did during this tasting. By the sixth infusion, I found it was becoming a little bit squeaky, but the astringency remained pretty low.

The liquid has a pale, light yellow-green color. The aroma has scents of brown sugar, peaches, and lighter scents of honey, Ceylon cinnamon, and sweet cream. The body is medium, with a refreshing, clean texture. There is no astringency or bitterness. The taste has notes of brown sugar, peaches, floral honey, and lighter notes of Ceylon cinnamon and sweet cream. The aftertaste carries the sweet floral notes, and leaves an impressive lasting floral essence on the breath.

This is another great Fong Mong Tea. You guys this company has produced some amazing teas. From the first sniff after opening the package to the last drop descending your throat everything shouts exceptional tea. The moment I opened the package and smelled the slightly sweet marine and mineral notes I knew it was a lightly oxidized oolong. And then of course you look at the tightly rolled, dark green leaves and you know, yup that is definitely an oolong. When the water is poured over the leaves it gives off a vegetal smell. Which is slightly amusing because if you pick up the cup to smell it 5 seconds later …. you don’t smell it. Quite interesting. It has a smooth mouth feel with mineral, vegetal, and a few hints of grassy notes.

Thanks to Fong Mong for this sample. Up for tasting today is Gaoshanchi Taiwan Fushoushan High Mt Oolong. I dont think Im going to try to pronounce that one. I started by heating my green oolong clay pot. With just under 200 degree water, putting the leaves in and giving it a little shake. I got a nice floral, peach, stonefruit and honey aroma from it.

I decided to skip the rinse on this one, Im going to steep this out a bunch of times anyway, so Im not worried about the leaves fully opening on the first steep. Giving this about a 30 second steep. The liqour is light pale, very light, even for a high mountain oolong. The aroma is hard to describe as its floral, and not strong like roses, but subtle. Also honey, cinnamon, white grapes and stonefruits. Its also quite sweet when I sipped it. The aroma and flavor is quite ephemeral on this tea.

Second steeping the aroma changed slightly, as its now nutmeg, apricot, and still white grapes. There is a teeny pleasant sournote in there, but with white grape and apricot that does make sense. The nutmeg aroma surprised me a bit as that doesnt come up often on rolled oolong. But its very nice, this is one of the more complex tea’s Ive tasted. Its a bit hard to pin down the exact flavors.

Third steeping is slightly more sweet. White grapes is very prominent as well as honey. The aroma is so ephemeral that it almost seems to be changing as Im walking sipping it. THis really shows its high mountain bona fides.

Im going to brew this out a few more times, but I might like this one better than their Alishan tea.

Highly Recomended