Buddha's Finger

I’m brewing this Gongfu style. This is a pretty strongly roasted oolong. In fact, it is so heavily roasted that the flavor reminds me of Houjicha. I don’t taste anything distinctly “oolong” about it, or maybe there’s the subtlest hint of flowers in the background. Compared to most other rolled oolongs I’ve tried, this one overbrews quite easily. It has a bit of a drying, astringent finish only two or three infusions in, and as dry as it leaves my mouth feeling, I’m not too compelled to do a fourth infusion. I will anyway, for the sake of curiosity…
The fourth infusion seems to have really lost flavor for the most part. I’m not getting much out of it, but it is still really dry feeling in the mouth, and has a bitter finish like orange blossom tea.
Other than the first infusion, I didn’t enjoy this tea at all. The first infusion was great and reminded me of some of the better Houjicha I’ve had, but after that there were some astringent and sour qualities that were so overwhelming to me I didn’t really feel compelled to try to describe the subtleties. It’s not that I don’t like the roasted flavors this tea has… it’s just that I’ve had lots of other teas that have similar roasted flavors without all the biting qualities of this one, so to me… I wouldn’t revisit this tea.

Remember how about a week or so ago I was lamenting my hands and wrists hurting because of writing too much? Well after getting myself some very swank looking wrist guards (I look like a Mortal Kombat Ninja) and only writing when necessary, my wrists are finally pain free. This is extra exciting because I can get back to folding my origami, which I have missed immensely. First thing to work on is my garland of Toshie’s Jewels for my Tea Lair and then I think I am going to make some stars. My Lucky Star jars are totally empty after they all found a new home, so time to refill them.

Today’s tea is Buddha’s Fingers from SerendipiTea, a nice amber oolong (meaning it has a higher oxidation than some of its more vibrantly green friends) from Wen Shan in northern Taiwan. The aroma of the little curled leaves is toasty and tasty! It is a blend of toasted sesame stems and tobacco with a touch of freshly broken green stems and a finish of coal. The aroma is more savory than sweet, reminding me of autumn fires at the end of a day.

Into the gaiwan it goes (fun fact, this was the first time I used this gaiwan after it arrived in the mail) for a nice steeping and slight unfurling. The aroma of the now soggy leaves is quite rich with notes of smoke, tobacco, toasted sesame seeds, and an underlying sweetness. This sweetness is like old orchids and a touch of wildflower honey. The liquid is mild with notes of sweet yeasty bread, butter, toasted sesame seeds, and a tiny touch of orchids at the finish.

This is a smooth tea in mouthfeel but slightly sharp in taste, it is an interesting contrast. The taste starts out with sharp, almost bitter, tabacco and rich toasted sesame seeds. This fades to a caramelized nut taste that lingers for quite a while as a sweet aftertaste.

For the second steeps’s aroma my nose was greeted with a very toasty roasty kick, like a blend of toasted bread and roasted nuts, along with a sweet caramelized sugar finish. The taste is pretty potent, starting out with an almost sour tabacco taste that causes me to salivate a lot, which in turn makes the taste come off as very sweet. After that initial fun flip-flop the taste is toasted sesame and caramelized sugar with a slightly dry finish. This is a pretty potent tea, not for the faint of heart, which I like, and find myself wondering how this tea would hold up to Grandpa Style Brewing.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/07/serendipitea-buddhas-fingers-tea-review.html