Da Yu Ling Oolong Tea

Got a sample of this with my Yezi Tea order.
A few months ago I got Tealux’s version of as a sample from Virginia, and I absolutely loved it! So when I saw this tea on the Yezi Tea website, I couldn’t resist getting it!
It has that floral, perfume-y tea that I so adored in the Tealux version.
It has a certain creaminess, that’s not really my thing in oolongs so much, but the floral-ness makes it more drinkable for me.
It has that certain creaminess that I’ve tasted in milk oolongs…the kind that makes me kinda feel sick. xD So I’m glad that there’s a lot of floral in this.
But I think I like the Tealux version better.
Still a lovely cup of tea though. (:

120ml Yixing pot
Steeping times: 5s rinse, 45s, 55s, 70s, 85s, 100s, 115s*, 175s, 205s*, 265s

First steep: Perfumey taste, light greenish yellow liquid. The leaves opened up a lot already!

Second steep: Lighter perfume taste. The leaves have now fully overtaken the yixing pot.

Third steep: Still perfume, with a bit of a bitter aftertaste that I’ve noticed with oolongs.

Fourth steep: The perfume flavor is beginning to lighten up a bit and the bitterness has magically vanished.

Fifth steep: Sooo much flavor still left in this! I’m definitely gonna push it past the recommended 6 steepings :)

Sixth steep*: Wooow and just like that almost no flavor. My fault though, I should have known to add more time than 15 seconds for the 6th steep

Seventh Steep: Ahh, yes and extra minute did the trick. The flavor is back! Noticing more sweetness this time around :)

Eight steep: Wow, very noticeably sweet this time! Except I added extra water to bring down the sweetness and ruined the cup :(

Ninth steep*: I can’t believe they seriously suggest only 5-6 steeps. What a crime! This steep has come back down almost the 6th steep level so I’m gonna bump up the next steeping time for one final hurrah.

Tenth Steep: The perfume flavor is mostly gone now and has been replaced by a sweet taste :)

*increase steeping time next time around for better flavor

Here is photo of that last steep: http://instagram.com/p/pEoGQvguIu/

Well, all good things must come to an end. This was probably the best oolong I’ve tasted. You can tell that it’s very high quality. For the record, I’m sure I could have gotten another few steepings out of this! This was just a 5g sample, but I think I may buy a few ounce someday :)

Origin: He Huan Shan, Taiwan.
Thank u to Yezi Tea for this sample with purchase!!!
Dry Leaf: Tiny, tightly rolled green pellets with a mineral scent.
Method: 3.38 oz ceramic gong fu pot, 200F, 1 tsp tea
45" rinse/55"/55"
Wet Leaf: 2 fairly large leaves on a stem, very spinach green colored. Light floral with candy Sweet Tart scent.
Liquor: Light champagne – spring green color. Very light scent—not too floral, more of a light Sweet Tarts scent like the wet leaves.
Flavor: Thick mouthfeel. Not overly floral or creamy, very subtle. There are flowers, butter, spring peas and a nice balance. Not bitter or astringent at all but it is recommended to drink this tea after meals and I drank it 3 hours after a meal and did get a mild stomach upset (very very mild though) so one should heed this advice bc it’s pretty green.

This tea is gorgeous. I’m a little bit in love, with a tea. I’m resisting the urge to write: “on nom nom” as the entire review, because that’s probably not very helpful.

The dry tea smells like green tea, but after steeping, it smells like sweet flowers, with a little bit of berry. It smells like summer!

This was prepared gong fu style with just-under boiling water. First steep was 45 seconds, then 1:30, then 3 minutes. I prefer the longer infusions, but they were all great. The best infusion was at 1:30.

At 45 seconds, the color was very pale yellow and the flavor was quietly floral. After 1:30, the color deepened slightly and the flavor was sweet and flowery, but without being cloying. It’s hard to describe this effect, other than to say that it’s perfect. I can also taste the sweet berry flavor I was smelling as the tea brewed. After 3 minutes, the tea was a golden yellow and the floral flavors were more pronounced, but were still somehow subtle.

I want to drink this tea every single day. I’m currently kicking myself for not buying a larger bag, but it’s a little pricey. It’s absolutely worth the money, but for me, it will be saved for special occasions.

This tea is beautiful, amazing, delicious. Definitely my new fave!

From the first sip, I could tell that this was a high quality tea. Its leaves opened very nicely and were really pretty after the first steep.
Steep 1: Perfumey, vegetal. I didn’t do a wash, and I wish I did.
Steep 2: It had a nice, round taste with a sugary after taste. Very different from the first steep, and much more pleasant. This was my favorite steep.
Steep 3: Mineral and slightly bitter. Green tasting and light.
I would recommend this tea to someone who enjoys green teas and is looking to try an oolong for the first time. I have been drinking darker oolongs and black teas lately, so it was a nice change of pace tonight.