Qi Lan

A decent rock oolong that is pretty easy to brew and enjoy.

This one has a multilayered aroma when dry; including notes of brownies, fruits, nuts, coffee, and orchids; unlike later in the session. The first infusion tastes sour, yeasty and milky, with an aftertaste of nectarines and sweet wood. The tea has a nice mouthfeel that’s astringent but not abrasive. The rest of the session gives a more warming and floral vibe. There are some more savoury steeps with butter flavour. Interestingly, I find it impossible to overbrew this tea, which is certainly not a given among yancha.

From the Here’s Hoping TTB:

o Quantity: Half sample pack / 110 ml
o Water temperature: 200 F
o 4 infusions: 60, 60, 90, 90 sec

Stream of consciousness notes (ie. don’t think too much, don’t care about grammar, just write what you are experiencing as you experience it)
o Dry leaf aroma: immediate mineral notes, wet rocks, a hint of floral, some sweetness and a note of honey, when allowed to air it is much sweeter and has an additional note of sugarcane
o Dry leaf aroma in heated gaiwan: strong and sharp wet mineral notes are at the forefront then accompanied by floral notes
o 1 sec wash
o Throat: warm (ie. soft as opposed to sharp) sweetness and a bouquet of flowers that fades into sugarcane
o Wet leaf aroma: sharp mineral note, then a wet rock note that covers the floral notes in the background
o Liquor color: medium brown that leans more to red than yellow
o Liquor aroma: butter upfront and then cream and flowers, warm sweetness
o Taste: mineral and concord grape notes hit first with a small amount of upfront astringency and then are overshadowed by the floral notes which is where the sweetness lies, the middle of the sip has a short note of cinnamon, the sip ends with a bit of cream that lingers, the mouth is coated in a bit of a mineral note and very faint amount of flowers, body is thin, length is long.

o 2nd infusion liquor aroma: light mineral notes mixed with floral notes and a faint amount of cream, small amount of bread
o 2nd infusion taste: mostly minerals and flowers up front, a small amount of bread in the middle, less astringency than first steep, however the astringency lingers and coats the mouth

o 3rd infusion liquor aroma: warm sweet cream over the mineral notes, floral notes intermingle with both, has less depth
o 3rd infusion taste: the mineral note is very soft, the overall sip is a bit sweeter, floral makes up most of the notes and then cream, a small amount of astringency shows up at the end, sip is a bit drying

o 4th infusion liquor aroma: bread notes are more upfront, followed by notes of flowers, very minimal mineral notes
o 4th infusion taste: bread notes hit first, followed by cream and a faint amount of floral, less astringency at the end of the sip than in the third steep, length is short, cream note lingers longest

o Spent leaf aroma: hot water, then bread, and finally a faint amount of flowers

This turned out to be my favourite Yancha of this sample package provided by Gabriele and Nannuoshan. It had Avery nice nix of fruit, spice, floral and wheatgrass notes and made me think of spring.
http://instagram.com/p/zYd9BPmK34/

The leaves ranged from olive green to brown with hints of rust. Once I put them into a preheated pot they released a scent that was quite fruity and spicy with hints of cherry, papaya and berries.

I steeped 2g of tea in a 100ml yixing at temperatures between 90-95°C. This tea yielded 10 steeps for me ( 2*60, 2*90, 2*120,150, 210s, 4 and 5min).

In early steeps the scent was fruity with hints of melon, white peach, and cherry mixed with cinnamon, wheatgrass and a bit of vanilla.

Early steeps yielded a wheatgrass flavour opening up to a cantelope cherry blend with cinnamon, cream, clover nectar. The tea had a fruity floral aftertaste with clover nectar and cantelope.

By 90s the tea had a flavour where the notes were well blended and a minetalnote became apparent.

Towards the end the flavour faded towards mineral notes, honey, sweet veg and a bitter sweet cacao note.

This tea was a nice antidote to the wintery weather we’ve been having.

http://instagram.com/p/zYet9umK5g/

A big thank you to Gabriele and nannuoshan for this sample!

I requested a sample of this thinking it was something I had never tried before and didn’t put it together until today that I actually have some Qi Lan oolong in my cupboard already. I ordered this same type of oolong from Teavana back in October. It would be interesting to compare them side by side to see the difference between the two. Perhaps I’ll do that with the rest of my sample.

I had a black tea earlier today and it’s so interesting to see how different the leaves look when comparing the two. The black tea had leaves so small that some were almost twig-like. The oolong leaves are plump and curvaceous, a shade of green so deep it might pass for black. It has a sweet scent, but I don’t detect anything floral just yet. I’m hopeful that it will live up to its description of “unusually sweet and flowery”.

Oops, I forgot about the rinse on this one until it was too late. I let it steep for about 60 seconds and poured the wash over the cup, pitcher, and saucer. Hopefully this won’t affect the taste too much. I’m waiting on my first “real” steep to finish now.

I’m sure this is because of my inexperience with different types of teas, and oolong specifically, but the aroma reminds me of nannuoshan’s roasted Tie Guan Yin oolong that I had earlier in the week. It has that aroma that reminds me of dense, hearty bread pulled right from the oven. The taste is very bitter so I’m thinking I must have let it steep too long or at too high a temperature. It’s also a touch astringent, but I’m sure this is due to over-steeping as well. This might be a little bit strange but I can detect a hint of spice. It seems like there was something like cinnamon in that last cup.

The second cup is much less bitter and much more enjoyable. It still has that baked bread quality to it which I’m enjoying, and I’m still tasting the tiniest bit of cinnamon. By the third steep, the tea has opened up and is beginning to resemble torn grape leaves. Its aroma is starting to fade in both the leaves and the liquid. This may be due to my forgetfulness with that first steep/rinse. I’m sure it pulled out quite a bit of the flavor that was meant for the first cup. This tastes very watered down, more hot water than tea flavor here though the color is still a golden yellow. The fourth, and final, steep is barely flavored at all. I’m sure it’s because I messed this one up in the beginning. Next time I’ll know to do things a little differently.

Infusions
4 ounces water + 195 degrees + 60 sec, 60 sec, 60 sec, 90 sec

This sample came to me via Marzipan and was a free sample from a group order a bunch of Steepster folks went in on. The dry leaf is huge and twisty and gorgeous. The steeped liquor smells amazing- roasty and tangy. I get mostly mineral and lightly roasted flavors with a very faint hint of tart cherry. The aftertaste is long and lingering. I would prefer more fruity sweetness and more floral flavors, but that is probably just a personal preference. I’m normally not a huge fan of this style of oolong. Thanks Nannuoshan and fellow Steepsterites for the sample :)