Oolong tea from Hon.yama, fall harvest, "Haru-meguri"

I feel guilty about these generous Thés du Japon samples from Derk. I wasn’t sure how to steep them when I received them and I’m equally clueless now, but instead of figuring it out, I accidentally shuffled them into the tea museum. The box is out in the open now, so there should be more TDJ reviews soon.

I’m excited to finally try this floral green oolong from Japan! I steeped 3 g of leaf in 85 ml of 195F water for 25 seconds, then lowered the temperature to 190F for 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds.

The dry aroma is very floral and Baozhong-like: lilac, lily, sweet pea, gardenia, honeysuckle, and grass. The first steep has all these florals, plus strawberry, peach, citrus, cookies, and grass. It’s also quite astringent, though the peachy aftertaste is amazing. I lowered the temperature to 190F in subsequent steeps, which really brings out the butter, lilac, sweet pea, grass, and strawberry. The star here, however, is really that super-ripe, realistic peach, like one you’d have to eat over the kitchen sink. The next couple steeps are still very peachy and floral, with apricot, orange, spinach, umami, and strawberry. The fruit is a little less pronounced in the next few steeps, letting the florals back in. The tea peters out into grass, spinach, and faint florals soon afterwards.

If you don’t mind astringency, this is a beautiful tea. I was even more impressed by the fruit than by the florals, though both are lovely and indeed reminiscent of a Taiwanese oolong. (Did I mention the strawberry and peach?) The flavours are strong even after two years in storage. Lower temperatures tame the astringency somewhat. I hope these farmers keep experimenting with these Taiwanese-style oolongs because this one is an excellent start. Thanks again, Derk, for the chance to try this tea!

I went for it first because it was the Baozhong like one. Brewing it up, it struck me as being closer to a first flush darjeeling than a Taiwanese oolong. It had a thick body, beautiful leaves like a Baozhong, and some florals that remind me of Jin Xuan and Baozhong, especially in texture, but the profile was heavier with umami for me. I kept on getting the same kind of notes that I get in Gyurkos and First Flushes, like a little bit of apricot and strawberry hints, but lots of greener ones like soy, edamame, cream, fresh grass, gardenia, and drying astringency. I had hard time getting past the 5th cup gong fu. I liked it, but it was a little bit astringent and almost too green for me.

Final freebie from the order, thank you :)

October 22, 2021 harvest

I feel surrounded by flowers — lily, lilac, sweet pea, freesia, gardenia, honeysuckle. A very complex, aromatic tea with persistent retronasal action. I did brew this with boiling water as suggested, at least initially, and then dialed it down after the second infusion. The liquor is — I finally get what TDJ refers to as fluid. There’s a bit of weight to it in the mouth but it’s not necessarily thick or oily. It moves around. A little alkaline-umami with a floral bitterness, some drying astringency. In the gripping aftertaste is a fruity, morphing mix of strawberry glaze, sugary peach and vanilla-cream mixed with the heady floral bouquet. Got maybe 7 infusions with long-ish steeping times, last steep produce a pure floral perfume taste-aroma.

The leaf is beautiful. I haven’t seen leaf edges rimmed with oxidation in a while. I like it. And wish I had more to play. I never expected a tea with this strong of a floral bouquet to come out of Japan. Well done!

This is even more baozhong-like than the other oolong I tried — from Sashima, Kanaya-midori cultivar. The cultivar of this one is teased at in the description. It’s probably Qing Xin. Could be Four Seasons, could be Jin Xuan shrug