Zhong Shu Hu Oolong Tea

Amount of tea:  1/6 the volume of the teapot
Water temperature:  195F
First steeping 45 seconds, 2nd 55 seconds, 3rd, 65 seconds, 4th 75 seconds, etc.
Tea rinsed before the first steeping. 
 
I love High Mountain Oolong Teas from Taiwan.  I chose to order from the retailer, “Tea from Taiwan,” because they specialize and only offer Taiwanese High Mountain Oolongs.  The order process was quick, easy, and my order arrived in about 10 days, Taiwan to California.
 
The Zhong Shu Hu Oolong tea was excellent.  Floral notes were evident in the first steepings along with very light natural sweetness from this unflavored tea  After multiple steepings, the Floral notes diminished, giving way to a fruity flavor, further enhancing the sweet nature of this tea.  What I like about Oolong teas is how the flavor changes during multiple steeps.  The first steep was 45 seconds and I added 10 seconds to each subsequent steep.  Even after steeping this tea 10 times. It still had lots of flavor, it was still very smooth, and never became bitter.   In the first steepings, the tea was light green, changing to a bright orange in later steeps, and finally into a light brown color. 
 
The retailer offers several sample packs so you can taste the teas before placing a full order.  
 
 
 

Nice, mellow, oolong with floral overtones. Very twisty leaves, and nicely aromatic.

Brewed western style…I can’t wait until I get my gaiwan from Jing’s, but things just weren’t tasting right in the Yixing pot I have. This one does smell good and the leaves really smelled good after steeping. Taste is good…almost creamy, apple taste-with a buttery note on the finish. I did it for less time (4 minutes) than I have been in the Teavana teamaker (basically just a loose leaf steeper that drains out the bottom leaving the leaves inside). This tea really gets tastier as it cools down. Not one I’d buy again (except to possibly try out in my gaiwan when I get it), but not bad.

Beautiful fruity high mountain oolong. First steeping gave almost-soapy floral notes, I got hints of peach blossoms and just a touch of citrus leaves. Not as aromatically stunning as the Wu Ling Oolong from Tea from Taiwan, but quite enjoyable nonetheless. The unfurled leaves are very pretty and quite large. The brew is straw colored—darker than the Wu Ling. Three subsequent brewings reveal notes of granny smith apple, honey, and toasted marcona almond. The initial aroma of peach blossoms remains and manifests itself on the palate as well.

It wasn’t great this time, there was hardly any flavor =( I remember really enjoying it! Maybe I didn’t store it well, for a while I just had it in a stapled bag. I guess I’ll have to bump the rating down a bit.

There seem to be a lot of Ali Shan teas that smell delicious but taste just kind of “meh”. This is one such tea.

The leaves were rolled into fat green nuggets and gave off wonderful aromas of melon, flowers, and lychee. Initial steeps were light and tasted of cucumber and melon. Some mellow floral notes of orchid and hyacinth emerge by the 3rd steep. At this point, the flavor begins to peter out. The remaining steeps were fairly insipid and flat.

Yawn…a very drinkable tea but ultimately forgettable.

I got a sample from TFT and was very suprise by the quality and the complexity in flavor of this nice blended tea.
I did 6 steeping around from 15 up to 1 minute increasing the steeping time at each steeping.
the first two steeping was very mild with a little smoky, nutty and a bit buttery creamy note in aroma that reminds Jin Xuan tea (but that is all in comparaison) especially when the leaves starts to open after the second steeping.
The third and fourth steeping get more interinting as it develops some sweet flowery aroma combines with a very light spinach and mountain fog. The after taste last long and it’s very interesting.
A combination of the sniff in the gaiwan, a sip and the feeling of the after taste gives you a very enthousiastic feeling.
Very good and balanced tea indeed

So I just got this Oolong from a very nice gentleman who sent me a few. I instantly broke out the tea maker and danced around like I had a bag of weed in my hand, I was excited. At first I didn’t smell it in the bag, but I could already tell it was going to be good. I love how it can actually be resteeped for full benefit.

So out of the tea maker I notice it has a spinach smell to it, and a bit of a spinach taste, but do not let this deter you! There is a creamy buttery, floral orgasmic taste that flows down my throat, letting me know that life is good and tea is the key to happiness. I cannot express my gratitude towards the man who introduced this to me, let alone be able to part with such an amazing tea.

I really am enjoying this tea. When I first tried it, I thought it was a nice, smooth Alishan, but nothing really that special. However, a couple months later, it has developed a more fruity scent and flavor that I really love. So I would say that this tea has improved with a bit of aging.