Li Shan High Mountain Oolong

I’m not sure if I got this from a TTB or from an exchange, but I was glad to sip this down because I can’t keep buying tea until I make room.

I used ~5g (2 tbs) which was all of the sample that was left.

The brew smells floral but not like orchid. It smells a bit sweet and fruity also.

As for taste, this is very fruity, like raisins and dried fruits. Prune, plum, dark and sweet with some tannic undertones. No floral or grain notes. I really enjoy how strong the raisin flavor is, I’ve never had this much dried fruit without Earthy or toasted grain flavours present.

Tea #4 from a teaswap with Mastress Alita. Thanks!

In my quest to both move through various samples and go through the teaswaps in a timely manner, I chose this tea for my morning brew. It was nice to compare to the Li Shan I tried yesterday. I have a third Li Shan I might try tomorrow to give me a more well-rounded impression of this type of tea.

I prepared this two ways: gongfu and western, with enough nuggets left over for another western cup.

Spring 2017 harvest. The dry leaf smells vegetal, creamy, floral.

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Gongfu: 3g, 60mL, 195F, 10s rinse, 10/12/15/20/25/30/40/50/60/70s
Warmed leaf smelled of spring bulb flowers like daffodil and lily, kind of perfumey and sour vegetal. The taste started out light and remained relatively light-bodied throughout the session, with tastes of the springtime florals and a sweet-tartness like golden delicious apple. Mid-session, retained the same notes with the addition of moderate astringency, light sugarcane, peppery watercress and hints of parsley, spinach, cream and butter. Changing the temperature might allow for the butter and cream to become more prominent but I think increasing it would also greatly increase the mouth-drying quality. Final steeps faded nicely, with the green vegetal moving more toward broccoli stalk. Aroma was moderate with springtime florals. Aftertaste was pleasant, sweet and relatively short-lived.

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Western: 3.5g, 8oz, 195F, 2.5/4m.
I’d have to say I preferred this western style, as it hand a stronger, more well rounded profile while keeping the astringency to a lower level. Really nice, not over-powering florals in the mouth and nose. The distinct vegetal qualities were smoothed over. A stronger sugarcane sweetness developed with the creaminess, giving a thicker feel in the body of the liquor. More pronounced cooling. Very nice floral aroma wafted from the cup and the aftertaste was much sweeter this way. Wet leaf is kind of thin and delicate but most of it is 3-4 intact leaves and a bud here and there still attached to the stem.

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I found this tea to have the qualities of a great daily drinker and preferred it western. The price seems a little high for that, though. In comparison to a different, more complex Li Shan I drank yesterday (which is $10 cheaper per 100g), the price for this tea from Rishi is quite high.

EDIT If you play with the steep times western, you can minimize the slightly drying mouthfeel. Also picked up massive honeydew and more cooling sensation with the last of my sample brewed western. Do three steeps.

Thanks again Mastress Alita :).

Love You Oolong Time! This oolong is quickly proving to be a favorite. The first time I ever attempted gongfu brewing it was with this tea, and when I had a friend over, we had a gongfu session together with it as well, and really enjoyed picking out the flavor notes from each infusion together. I have the spring 2017 harvest of this tea.

I brewed five grams of this tea gongfu style in approximately 75ml of 200 F water. I got ten infusions from the tea, before it started losing flavor. The steeping times were as follows: 10 sec, 15 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 40 sec, 50 sec, 1 min, 1 min 30 sec. The tea brews up a very bright, clear, golden yellow color.

The first infusion of the tea had a very strong, astringent vegetal note, tasting of spinach and brocolli, with a slight, floral note lingering beneath the surface. The second infusion brought out the vegetal notes even more strongly, with that astringent, bitter spinach bite really filling the mouth, and the lingering floral notes becoming even more subdued.

By the third infusion, the leaves were really starting to open up, and a pleasant perfumey aroma was making itself present in the tea. The flavor of the tea was starting to sweeten out a bit, and taste more of orchids. The next infusion is when it really started to mellow out, becoming very sweet, creamy, and floral, tasting very much of orchids and lilacs! The next few infusions were probably the best, tasting extremely sweet, and entirely of floral notes… any lingering presense of the vegetal notes had disappeared! There was a slightly buttery mouthfeel, the tea was very smooth, it was filled with lovely floral notes, and it was hard to believe that it had such an astringent start. Subsequent infusions continued to have a very sweet taste of orchids and lilacs, though a slight vegetal aftertaste reappeared on my tongue.

The tea had very good staying power, and I felt very tea-full, satisfied, and had that nice aware-and-relaxed feeling from the session. I think fans of green teas or light floral notes would find this a very satisfying oolong.

Full Review: https://teatimetuesdayreviews.wordpress.com/2018/02/18/tea60/

From Day 2
Amanda SoggyEnderman Wilson’s Tea Advnt Calendar.
I love Oolongs and this one is not disappointing.
1st steep A light floral with a tiny bit of roasted notes. Yum! Very calming.
2nd steep floral and roasted fruit with a slight green hay note. Very pleasant and calming, like a warm Spring breeze. Not to be too descriptive, but it reminds me of how the air smells when it is being heated up by the sun. The light floral,roasted fruity earthy smell mixed with hay.

Tea Advent Calendar, Day 2

http://instagram.com/p/wHc36xgyTc/

I decided to do this one gongfu cha in my gaiwan. I’m so glad I did.

I love watching oolong in the rinse. The leaves just floating, barely open.
http://instagram.com/p/wHdSMDgyWP/

They open much more after the rinse in the first infusion
http://instagram.com/p/wHeNDZgybu/

Slightly roasty, rather sweet, quite tasty, and it lasted through many, many infusions. It lasted a lot longer than I thought it would.

If I could get this one, I would have it again.