Malawi 'Father Zambezi's Mission' Oolong Tea

I have some 2015 harvest, it’s holding up well. Very juicy as another reviewer noted. Sweet, with a different profile than Chinese oolongs, with a greener aroma. The astringency can be brutal if you aren’t careful, flash steeps work well, and I think it has calmed down some with age.

This is quite an interesting tea. I personally haven’t had any quite like it before. The leaves are really cool looking with green in the middle and a substantial amount of reddish oxidation on the edges. Liquor is the color one would expect from such a leaf – a bit of an amber color between the pale yellow of green oolongs and the reddish color of black tea – looks a bit like apple juice. Incidentally, apple is the main aroma I get from the wet leaves.

This tea has some fun flavors to it as well. Early steeps are crisp and fruity, the main taste I get is apples as well, though with some soft maltiness underneath. Later in the session, as the crisp higher notes fade, the tea is more malty with some slight vegetal notes and deep fruity flavor. I think I got some berry flavor (cherries or blackberries), but I’m not sure what fruit this exactly tastes like. Can get decently astringent if pressed or brewed at higher temps. Pretty unique tea and the first one I’ve ever tasted from Africa. Cool offering from What-Cha. Fun to drink.