Wu Yi Shan "Que She 928" Rock Oolong Tea

I truly enjoyed this!!! At first brew She was beautifully light floral and a little something sweet that I can’t put my finger on, with a slight ‘Rock’ mouth feel..but not too much… The second brew was just a bit less floral with the same slight ‘Rock’ mouth feel. BUT let me say this… She stayed with me for a while! I could still taste the sweetness half an hour later! I usually will only do 2 steeps since I brew Western style, however, I probably could have pushed this tea farther! In fact, I will certainly be sitting with this beauty in a Gong Fu session!

This is a nicely balanced tea, but not special in any particular way. It has a soft mouthfeel, smooth taste and a tangy aftertaste. It is quite aromatic overall, with aromas of orchid, peach pits, wood, cinnamon, spices, and pastries all present in one form or another. I could also detect the vanilla and lychee flavours mentioned in the description, as well as rock sugar and cider notes in the aftertaste.

Today I am drinking the Spring 2018 harvest of Que She 928 oolong from Yunnan Sourcing. When I placed 5 grams into a warmed 50ml gaiwan, and breathed in the aroma of the dry leaves, it smelled like a bakery: vanilla wafers and graham crackers with some brownies baking way in the back and on top of all of that you get the classic oxidized sweet tea smell. It was like some hipster bakery turning out matcha-infused sugar cookies. There are no smokey notes. Whoever roasted this did a masterful job.

After a quick rinse the bake shop closed its doors. Now the wet leaves had a strong sweet floral note like orchid and a green tea smell. I processed this both with short steeps and just off the boil water and with longer steeps with cooler water and up to 2 minutes long. They both are good, but I preferred the longer steeps. Even with long steeps, there was never any bitterness and no astringency — and I mean zero - not even a hint. I am curious to know how this would perform if done western style. It might be the best option. Another day. The mouthfeel was always very wet on this one. The color of the tea liquor is pale brownish-yellow-like a watered down honey color.

Taste reveals the da hong pao roots of this cultivar. I think of it as da hong pao light, and I prefer it over da hong pao. The roasting isn’t strong like da hong pao, but a lot of the same flavor and mineral tastes comes through. No matter how long it is steeped, it keeps that classic wu yi taste and never goes vegetal even though pushing it to 2 minutes, the leaves will smell somewhat like spinach, but it in no way ever gets into the taste of the tea.

I emptied the leaves to have a look, and unlike in the photos I usually see of Que She, this batch appears to have no leaves oxidized to the point or turning brown or brownish-purple leaves like you get with new growth, and there are no burnt leaves during roasting. All of these leaves were small, heavily serrated and dark green. The leaves would be camouflaged perfectly if in a serpentine gaiwan. Another enjoyable oolong from Yunnan Sourcing.

i ordered this one at the same time i ordered my strainer from ys (i seemed to have lost my old strainer in moving, but this one is far finer and wider.) shipping came fast so thank you ys. this tea is supposed to be a mutated da hong pao, which i find amusing, and it interested me enough to try it.

ive only ever tried one other dhp, from whispering pines (the wild crafted,) so i cant pick apart the differences too easily but i’ll try.

my wildcrafted stuff is nearly finished and all thats left is small leaves with some tea scraps. the que she though, is laden with full leaves which when smelled delivers a strong dark chocolate aroma.. its really nice.
at this point im on my second steep of about 8 sec and honestly i cant really tell what im tasting, maybe cacao.. some sort of sweetness in. lemon! thats part of it. the mouthfeel is weak and i think its because of this acidic quality of the tea.. like it fills your mouth and then circles around the sip and clears out the body from the surface of your mouth.

third steep in and im picking up some nuttiness, like roasted almonds. the acidity has died down. This is no doubt a mutation of dhp.. less oxidized, soup is lighter color if i recall. The leaf in pot smells more like dhp, but tastewise- no, not totally. i like it and i’ll see how many more steeps i can get from it. i also am loving this strainer- nothing gets through it !!!

k one more steep (4th.) when i smell the cup of tea something makes me pick up frosting, like from frosted flakes, also clean spring water and leaves. the tea has gotten bolder and the sip leaves me with sandpaper tongue slightly.

thanks if you read this.. i know my reviews are pretty scattered around and impromptu.

-nycoma

Not bad, but there are better Wuyi teas from YS….
Nose; peaches, roasted grain, alfalfa, light cardamon, light floral, toasty.
Palate; a bit watery ( I tried a few different temps. and times, etc. and this characteristic was still there ), light peach, wheat toast, cardamon, limestone, delicate — similar to Rou Gui.

This is an excellent oolong from Yunnan Sourcing. It is very smooth, with a medium roast. No off roast flavors, it is quite velvety. Later steeps have that defining orchid flavor, just a touch. Well balanced astringency. This is one of the best oolongs I’ve had in a while, and it’s not expensive. I found that short steeps with lots of leaf worked well.