Figured I’d put this tea through it’s paces today – gongfu style, of course.
Disappointed as I was with the store, the two Taiwanese wulongs I bought from teasme are actually pretty good.
This is the cheaper of the two, at $14.50/50g.
Rinsing. It’s not as cold this morning (and I slept in a little bit later…) so it’s not as steamy. Still smells good though!
First steep: ~30 sec, ~90˚C. Very pale yellow-green liquor. Stronger than it looks.
Aroma: Honey, lilies, vanilla.
Taste: Sweet, subtle, fruity. Milky smooth.
Second steep: ~30 sec, ~90˚C. More colour to it now.
Aroma: As above, though the vanilla note is more pronounced. I sniffed a bunch of things in my cupboard to give myself some ideas to compare it to (I’m really bad at naming smells/tastes), but I’ve forgotten most of them now. Oh well.
Taste: A little more astringency at the back of the tongue, but still smooth, sweet and fruity. Very tasty.
Third and fourth steeps: ~30 sec, ~90˚C.
Flavours and smells are quite pronounced now. Lingers in the mouth for a long time.
I quite like this tea.
Well, four steeps is enough for one morning. My teapot is rather large, so I’ve had almost a litre of this tea now. I’ll give it a break for an hour or two and come back to it later.
All in all, a surprisingly good tea.