Wenshan Baozhong Taiwan Pou Chong Oolong Loose Tea

The first tea taiwon had an excellent appearance. opening the bag the smell instantly pulls you in to its almost relaxing aura. the tea is one of my first experiences with an oolong so I am extra exited to try this lovely sample. I waited patiently for around five minutes for this lovely tea to steep. To say that the color of the tea was beautiful is an understatement. The tea when served is a natural mellow yellow. the smell alone is enough to inspire keanu reeves to say woaaaaaaaaaaaah. however the most important part the taste it does not let down. The sweet tea has an humble light taste that is yet delicate and smooth. It is like walking across a silk pillow or taking a stroll through a city on a easy sunday morning. The flavors.have.a slight earthy tone but I am not sure what else however,.this tea has made me fall in love with oolong.

For my first tasting of this particular tea I used a gaiwan. I used 2g of leaf, and gave them a rinse with hot water before infusing. To infuse, I used water at 85 degrees Celsius, and began with a 15 second infusion time. The liquor was yellow but somewhat pale. The flavour, I found, was a bit unique. It tastes even cleaner than it smells. There are definitely floral notes in here, and I also taste minerals, it’s sweet and this first infusion is a bit perfumey to. There’s a vegetal flavour at the heart of this tea somewhere between green beans and edamame. The flavour is light but very enjoyable and satisfying.

Continuing on, I add 5 seconds with each new infusion, and the liquor’s pale yellow hue begins to strengthen. I taste more floral and minerals. The mouthfeel is buttery and smooth yet there’s some astringency at the back of the mouth that lingers, to go with the lingering floral aftertaste. Using this method I continued to 9 infusions, letting the final infusion sit for several minutes. This final cup’s flavour was more mineral in nature, and a lovely note to finish off on.

For someone who loves Taiwanese oolongs, I haven’t tried many Baozhongs, possibly because I’m unsure how to brew them. Thanks to Fong Mong for the sample, which is perfect for this cool spring day. I steeped 6 g of these long, mostly unbroken leaves in a 120 ml teapot at 176F for 25, 20, 25, 30, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds.

The dry aroma of this tea is intensely buttery and sweet pea floral. The first steep has sweet pea, lilac, butter, grass, and vegetal notes. The second is more herbaceous, with a long, floral aftertaste. Upping the temperature to 180F in the next few steeps brings out notes of pepper and what could be called lime; it also makes the tea more vegetal. The crisp, vegetal and floral balance persists until the end of the session.

This is a nice, uncomplicated tea that’s a cross between an oolong and a green. For me, the heady florals are the best part of the drinking experience, and the aroma lingers in the cup after the session is over.

The first infusion has a green-gold-yellow color, perfectly clear and transparent. The later infusions took a more gold yellow color without any green. Again, the aroma is beautiful, with scents of Chinese cinnamon, honey, gardenia flowers, and apple. The body is medium, with a fresh, lively texture. There is no bitterness, and a very light astringency to the first infusion, which further dissipates in later infusions. The taste has pronounced notes of Chinese cinnamon, gardenia, apples, and honey, with maybe a light touch of sweet cream. The aftertaste carries the gardenia and apple notes, with a lingering, powerful, and noteworthy floral bouquet being left on the breath. Very impressive!

Today we have up Pou Chong Oolong from Fong mong, thanks to them for this sample.

I started by heating the yixing and then adding in 6 grams of leaf. Using 200 water, I decided to skip the rinse for this as Im doing a longer steep about 45 seconds on this to bring out the intense aroma. I got a clear pale yellow liquor that smelled of an aroma of maple syrup, honey and cinnamon. Tasting it , I also got a floral taste as well as lingering sweetness. I really need to try this someday at breakfast. Its softly flavored but intense in the aroma.

The second steep is very similar with just a slightly darker liquor this time. Also the sweetness seems a bit more prevalent, though there is still a general note of spices, Im still going to stick with naming it cinnamon but it could be allspice. This tea makes a very nice last morning or early afternoon tea, but I can imagine it going well with breakfast.

Third steep the aroma is much more pronounced in the floral area, Im not really good at placing floral aroma’s. So I will just leave it at this. There is a very slight astringency on the back end now as well, not disruptive to the flavor at all, but it is there. It might actually be a little better like this as it feels more complex and full now.

This is an excellent tea I plan to brew out a bunch more times.

Highly recommended.