1988 Aged Ginseng Oolong

“Don’t let the Ginseng part keep you away from this if you’re not a fan, (coughDexter) this has nothing to do with regular ginseng oolong. If it wasn’t for its name, I wouldn’t even know it’s supposed to be there.”
That’s part of what TheTeaFairy wrote in her note about this tea yesterday. Hmmm I’m not sure we are drinking the same tea. In fairness, I’m not really sure what “ginseng” smells or tastes like – but there is something in here that is just screaming “spicy floral” – I’m assuming that’s the ginseng. I’ve had quite a few aged oolongs now and none of them had ‘that" smell/taste to them.
Sorry TheTeaFairy this just does not work for me. I screwed up my nose when the water first hit the leaves, screwed it up again when I removed the leaves, left it sitting on my desk for about 15 minutes and at that point thought “ok this is getting better as it cools” drank about half the cup and now a few minutes later it’s back with a vengeance. There is a brief moment at some temperature that this mellows but it’s short lived.
As always, thanks for the opportunity….

You know when you place an order, there’s a point when and you realize your cart is really getting full and you need to slow down…but there are so many good ones that you just can’t leave behind, right? Then you think sample size. Yes! Yes! That’s the answer, give yourself the illusion you’ve got your act together, you’re NOT out of control, not at all. You suddenly feel much better about adding 10 more teas, seems like the reasonable thing to do. (Not!!)

That’s how I came to order this tea. I should have been less reasonable and order a larger quantity…That’s the other thing about large orders. Somehow, the full size pouches are the ones I wish I had ordered in sample sizes, and the sample pouches end up being the ones I should have ordered in full sizes. Ugh???

Not a secret, I love pretty much all types of oolong, and the aged ones fascinate me.

Don’t let the Ginseng part keep you away from this if you’re not a fan, (coughDexter) this has nothing to do with regular ginseng oolong. If it wasn’t for its name, I wouldn’t even know it’s supposed to be there.

This is not smoky at all, but roasty and caramel like. If you’d smell the infusion without knowing it’s tea, you would think it’s a dessert, very creme brûlée, custard like. There’s that faint mineral taste in the background I have come to appreciate. The ending has a cooling effect in the mouth, fresh, but not in a minty kind of way, just like when you inhale and it’s cold outside. That might be the ginseng part. But it has non of the eucalyptus notes traditional Ginseng oolongs have.

I had to basket brew cause there wasn’t enough for me to use the gaiwan. It will be interresting to try short infusions when I get more of it.

And yes, I will definitely buy a larger quantity next time.