Shan Lin Xi Winter Sprout

Sipdown! (5 | 5)

Another swap sample from a kind Instagram tea friend.

Wow, is this a sweet tea! Oodles of brown sugar, honey, sweet corn, some spun sugar as well. A bit of a toasty popcorn note as well, along with rich dried stonefruit notes that remind me of apricot fruit leather. Among these is also the more usual clear mineral notes and thick, sumptuously silky texture that I often find in greener oolong. There’s a touch of gentle floral as well, especially near the end of the sip.

Reading the description, I can totally taste the crystallized ginger note as well, even if I’m not astute enough to describe it on my own he he. A very interesting and unusual oolong, and I’m thankful for having a chance to try it because of the kindness of friends! :3

Gongfu!

Someone brought this into the office for us all to try because they were curious to see if we’d agree with the tasting notes of “kettle corn and cotton candy”. I have to say, I am of mixed opinion. The session was overall really lovely and I greatly enjoyed the tea. Over my six or seven steeps, I got a a wide array of light to medium bodied notes throughout the session: airy sweet sugar snaps, ginger lily, kettle corn, and orchid to name a few! So, I suppose I’d say kettle corn is accurate (for me at least – taste is subjective) but cotton candy feels like a bit of a stretch. I suppose you could argue for that “light and airy sweetness” being interpreted as cotton candy, though.

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CR93HoXr5Rm/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzV2A7BM8TM&ab_channel=GingerRoot

Among my favorites, this winter sprout tastes unmistakably like cotton candy. Not that it’s super sweet; it’s literally the flavor of cotton candy. And it’s very forgiving of temperature, even given how green it is. I used to be very careful with cooling the water to 205, but I’ve found you can just throw boiling water on and get what are arguably more interesting experiences out of it.

This tea was sweet like a baked good, hits you in the face with wonderful notes of brown sugar, cornbread, caramel, etc. The downside is it only survives 2 or 3 infusions. I can see why it has a cult following, especially among Westerners with more of a sweet tooth. (2016 harvest)

This is the winter sprout from 2014 (I need to note this as Song currently has their 2015 winter sprout available). Subtle oolong flavor with a slight sweetness to it, almost berry-like. I suppose this is the kettle corn flavor they mention in their notes, but it’s coming across as more of a fruity sweetness to me. Very mild, delicate flavor, and the scent of the dry leaves is lovely. I had several steepings, I think maybe five or six, and the flavor held up well, not transforming really, but just intensifying a little with each steep. Could be because I kept increasing brewing time.

Arguably one of the most sophisticated teas I have had the pleasure to try. I received this as a gift and decided to try it in three steepings, per the previous review. It did not disappoint, although I had drastically different, pleasant notes!

On the first steeping, I noticed tingly, mentholated noted alongside the pine and grassy flavors of the oolong, less creaminess and more of a citrus-forward scent and flavor, with notes of tangerine, yuzu, kefir lime, and green grass on the nose. The flavor was abuzz and left my tongue on fire with a panoply of flavors that lasted on the palate for a while. Per the instructions, I steeped this for one minute with 6g at 205 degrees.

I steeped my second round for two minutes and noticed more gentle flavors that aligned more with the tasting notes on the package- spun sugar, light pickled ginger at the forefront with a slight herbaceous flavor on the back palate and a hint of Asian spices. Still strong on the second steeping although I was conservative with my measurements as this is a tea I wish to savor.

The third steeping was more aggressively saline than the last two. It loses most of the sweetness from the first two steepings but retains the light vegetal flavors characteristic of the leaves- spinach, broccoli, and a light brown sugar note. Each sip is round and full. I don’t know if using a slightly more modified concentration of water to tea would accommodate for more steepings, but for this amount it was a highly pleasurable experience. This is a tea I will enjoy for a long time to come- a definite bucket list steep.

The scent of these large rolled tea leaves is fruity, nutty, and creamy. Shan Lin Xi is my favorite region for rolled oolong, so I’m excited to try this winter picked variety. An initial infusion really opens up the aroma of the leaves, and it’s incredibly fragrant, with plentiful bouquets of flower scents and a very forward plum aroma.

The first infusion is very rich and sweet, the predominant fruit note being of nectarine with a long lingering passion fruit flavor. At the front of the sip is also a creamy nutty taste that reminds me of pecan.

The second infusion has more of the evergreen forest notes I usually pick up in Shan Lin Xi, while the taste is still creamy and quite floral now. The aftertaste is peachy. The aroma is floral and camphor.

The third infusion is much more mellowed, with a honeyed taste and a bit of a camphor or clove note in the back of the throat. This infusion is a really enjoyable an subtle wind-down from the bursting and fragrant second infusion.

The fourth infusion has receded to a much more subtle creamy flavor with a lingering floral aftertaste. The fifth is even more subtle, and sweeter.

I don’t see this tea pushing out many more infusions with substantial flavor, but every one of them has been top notch. It tastes so clean. This is one of the best rolled oolong teas I’ve had!