Floating Leaves

Spring 2012 harvest, since vanished from the vendor’s site.

3-stage filtered L.A. water just off the boil into my white/brown “turned” Jingdezhen gaiwan, then into a Pyrex measuring cup, then a small porcelain cup.

Dark brown/black/gray/gold whorls resemble intricate lines of a woodcut block. Dry aroma suggests toasted coconut, pipe tobacco, and raisin bread. Subtle and complex.

Pale xanthous liquor.

Once brewed, the aroma is slow moving but potent, filling the room gentle notes of cocoa, old lumber, and rare books.

The roast, oxidation, and age synergize perfectly on the palate. As soon as you begin to identify a flavor it morphs into a different one – smoke becomes wood becomes toast becomes fruit becomes spice and so on until it’s time for the next sip or pour. Round and mellow with a recurring hint of chocolate/hazelnut.

Very pleasant overall – will take my time to savor this, but I expect my 60 grams won’t last long. Thankfully the tea has superior longevity so each session can be stretched out over many infusions.

Not a bad tea per se, but the roast is certainly too dark for me. Really distinct smokey, charcoal notes, especially after a few infusions. Too much for me.

Sipdown 27

Goodbye tea

Trying to sip through this since I don’t love it. Easily oversteeps and starts getting quite bitter. Still not getting the sweetness associated with honey or creaminess associated with milk. Mostly butter and cooked veggies.

A bit let down by this. I’m getting a lot of milk aroma (it smells like added milk flavoring, though that isn’t listed anywhere), but I don’t get it in the flavor. I’m definitely not getting any honey. Mostly butter and lilac. It’s quite average, and the price just doesn’t align with the quality ($15.50/30g….which is a perfectly acceptable price for a decent Jin Xuan but not this Jin Xuan).

Harvested April, 2021; Roasted June 2023.

3-stage filtered L.A. water just off the boil into my white/brown “turned” Jingdezhen gaiwan, then into a Pyrex measuring cup (sorry), then a small porcelain cup.

No rinse; Infusions at 30 seconds (x3), 45 seconds (x2), 1 minute, 2 minutes, and 4 minutes.

Butterscotch/Xanthous to gold gradient.

Delicate but fairly complex aroma: fruity, starchy, with an array of roast and smoke elements.

Flavor follows the nose, with a persistent sweetness hinting at dòu bāo and cherry blossoms. Smooth slightly complex roast offers balance. Medium, slightly nutty finish with faint hints of wood and expensive cigarettes. Loses a bit of character once it is steeped out, becoming slightly “dusty.”

Medium-light bodied, not-quite-milky, no astringency if you are attentive to the infusions.

Aptly described as “cozy,” this is a quiet yet superbly balanced (in terms of oxidation/roast) small batch production perfect for contemplation.

I was excited to see this tea in my package from Daylon. I can’t remember whether I didn’t get it last year because I’ve had mixed experiences with milk oolongs or because it was out of stock, but either way, I’m happy to try it. I steeped 6 g of leaf in a 120 ml porcelain pot using 195F water for 25, 20, 25, 30, 30, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds, plus some long, uncounted steeps.

The name is promising and so is the aroma: violets, honeysuckle, milk, and other florals. The first steep is subtly milky and pleasantly floral, with honeysuckle, lilac, violet, and maybe some gardenia. I get a buttery honey note in the next steep, along with grass and that floral bouquet. I notice honey, milk, florals, grass, nuts, and whispers of roast in the next couple steeps. This tea has a thick body and is easy to chug. The next few steeps are very floral, with lilac and honeysuckle predominating, with milk, honey, nuts, and very light roast providing a balance. The nuts and roast get stronger near the end of the session, though they never become too sour or aggressive.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this tea. The roast was just enough to get rid of the grassiness I often find in milk oolongs, and the florals and honey were lovely. I didn’t detect any fruit, but the flavours that were there made up for it. I particularly appreciated the ethereal violet florals in the first couple steeps.

Toasty, with some high mountain delicacy and florals and green. Good centering in the chest and upper back, I think. I’ll be saving the rest of this and the Hongshui to savor in a quieter and more focused environment on down (up?) the road.

Peanut M&Ms: roasted peanuts, darkly toasted peanut skins, milk chocolate.

I’m perfectly content to drink this, but I’m a little shocked at how underwhelmed I am by it. It’s solid and feels good, just not my bullseye cuppa. I will, also, always have my heart’s eye trained squarely on FL’s Lala Shan Hongshui. Guh guh guh guh. Not all Hongshuis, turns out!

I’ve eyed this one for a while, and decided to gert 30 grams of this. I contemplated getting 60, but it would have been 14 bucks more, and I’m trying to be more frugal right now….meaning I’ve already spent more money on other stuff. Instagram got the better of me, and I bought a Matcha preworkout that’s extremely tasty along with a variety pack from a Canadian company called Gogonuts with boba milk tea flavored whey protein packs that are insanely good. Many of the bases of the powder have tea in them.

Back to this one! It’s exactly as Shiuwen described, and super easy going and forgiving Jin Xuan with the best combo of florals and mouthfeel. There’s a light roast to this one that you can’t really taste, but it gives off a very nutty and cookie like aroma in the dryleaf. Tasting it, it’s vaguely nutty like a macadamia and high in the buttered milk notes. The honey is there more like honeysuckle, and the teas florals lean more in a purple direction of the flower category, bordering between plumeria and hyacinth in hints, and violet later on.

I’ve only had it western in a mug and in longer steeps gong fu with my Manual Tea Brewer (Spirit Branded Gaiwan) 20 sec rinse, 35 sec, 45 sec, 2 minutes, 5 minutes, then essentially grandpa. I got more nutty tones western style after about 3 minutes and 15 seconds. Gong fu, there were more floral qualities and more viscousity.

I felt like it stood up even to my flavored oolongs, and a lot the Jin Xuans I’ve had lately are up to par with some of the higher mountain stuff. This teas only down side is the lack of longevity for 3-4 grams. I went lighter so I can share more with Leafhopper, though I have a strong feeling that this would do really well in the 7 gram serving territory gong fu. I preferred Western ever so slightly because I got more nutty and savory qualities with the sweeter florals that way. I’d definitely recommend this one in a green oolong rotation for sure, and what’s unique about it is how balanced in smooth it is. This is the oolong that you’d expect to taste through the way companies try to sell Milk Oolong in the first place, and like Shiuwen, it’s got all the qualities I look for in my oolongs too. Easily a tea I’d place between a 85-92% rating.

I opened this box of adventures-to-come from derk and about went catatonic with indecision. I finally snapped out of it and — having just tried Mountain Stream’s Wintergreen White Ruby — decided I’d start by pulling a couple of gifted 18s and splashing around in some ruby puddles this afternoon.

The steaming leaves already have me off and running to understand wintergreen… they smell like those pink chalky candies and Euthymol toothpaste. I’ve always been quite drawn to this flavor, so I’m stoked. Also a bit medicinal/herbal. Celery became the prominent scent after several steeps.

For the nerds: wintergreen is an essential oil from the Gualtheria procumbens plant; the specific compound that creates the smell is methyl salicylate. Wintergreen is not a true mint. The sassafras descriptors in others’ notes make sense, as wintergreen is the oil most often used in root beer these days (sassafras itself got outlawed, so we replaced it). Anyway.

Pours a reddish caramel, and the liquor first and foremost smells like wet dog — persistent through all steeps. Also red fruit, and a spearminty scent that isn’t quite wintergreen.

Middling weight in the mouth — not light or full. Cooling taste and big ol’ wintergreen, dried red raspberry, lightly tannic and crisp. Sweet, but a light fruity sweetness that doesn’t read caramel/molasses/honey to me… distinctly herbal, which is probably the wintergreen but feels like it could lean toward fresh fennel… a touch of toastiness toward the final steeps.

I stopped around eight steeps — the last two sat quite a long time and, though the character was still pleasant and the mouthfeel good, the tannins started vying for too much attention. I cut ‘em off. I’m really enjoying the Ruby 18 cultivar (aka Sun Moon Lake!). Thank you, derk <3

A winter oolong sipped down during one of Steepster’s winters…

I finally prepared this in a tiny teapot to experience a greater range of aromas and flavors.

The scent of the dry and warmed leaf is a treat! Take your time with it.

First steep is young grass with slatey minerality and a full body. Second steep on is plenty of lily of the valley, young grass and milder minerality with many shy nuances. Light and silky body with some gentle tannins. Perfumey floral aftertaste transitions to squeaky-grassy tulip. I notice the bottom of the cup smells like sugared cherry blossoms. The overall feeling reminds me more of a spring harvest than winter. A pleasant send off :)

Very, very good, though a touch too perfumey and ‘bitter greens’ for my taste. As with most green oolong, I’ve taken a liking to bowl brewing and prefer so over preparing in a little pot. Will come back with more later.

Not counting Baozhong, this is the only green oolong I picked up in my big Black Friday Floating Leaves haul. How will it compare to their good but not amazing spring 2021 Shan Lin Xi? I steeped 6 g of leaf in a 120 ml porcelain pot using 195F water for 25, 20, 25, 30, 30, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, 180, and 240 seconds, plus some uncounted final rounds.

The aroma of the dry leaves is of orchid, sweet pea, pineapple, green apple, honeysuckle, pine, and spinach. The first steep has notes of orchid, sweet pea, sweetgrass, butter, citrus, pineapple, and green apple. The next steep is more herbaceous and vegetal, with that sweet candied pineapple I found in the first steep. Steeps three and four add minerals, pine, and honeysuckle florals, and remind me of grassy cotton candy in a good way. Sweet florals, minerals, and pineapple persist over the next few steeps. The session has a predictably vegetal and grassy ending, though the florals have lots of staying power.

I’d say this is a step up from their 2021 offering, both in terms of longevity and taste. Oolongs with pineapple notes always make me happy, and I finished this one quickly.

Spring 2022 harvest

Not wanting to brew this in glass or porcelain, I decided to use a clay pot normally used for sheng pu’er only. The tea turned out very well. Maybe the clay softened some tannins that Leafhopper experienced.

Complex aroma hangs close to the cup, vacillating quickly and quietly between fleshy geranium and marshmallow and other niceties.
Taste is savory, crisp and clear, juicy and bright, dark earthy tone.
Wintergreen and sarsaparilla, dried cherries, malt, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, cedarwood.
The third steep got away from me. When I came back to pour, the tea did not nip at me. I took it for another 4 or 5 pours after that.

I’ve had a Ruby 18 like this before and greatly appreciate this one’s flavor profile today.

This is my third Ruby 18 in the past few months. The one from What-Cha was so good that I now consider picking up samples of other Red Jades, even though this is a tea type I often find too tannic and astringent. This version is from the 2022 harvest. I steeped 6 g of leaf in a 120 ml teapot at 195F for 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds.

The dry aroma is of sweet potato, caramel, malt, menthol, sassafras, and tomato vine. The first steep has notes of sweet potato, raisin, menthol, sassafras, malt, tomato vine, and brown sugar. The tea is a bit drying and already has some astringency. The next steep has even more raisin, sweet potato, and menthol notes, with tannins, malt, caramel, cream, sassafras, and wood in the background. Steeps three and four emphasize menthol, sweet potato, earth, raisins, and caramel, with increasing levels of tannins and a hint of something floral that I can’t name. More malt, tannins, and raisins appear in the next few steeps, though the tea is still quite sweet in spite of its astringency. The sweet potato persists into the end of the session, though the tea also becomes more tannic, earthy, woody, and mineral.

A solid Ruby 18, this tea nonetheless falls short compared to my beloved What-Cha version due to its higher levels of astringency and less complex palate. However, I liked the sweet potato and caramel, and this is a nice example of the type. I’m now completely out of Ruby 18 and I’m not sure if I mind. I think I like Shan Cha and Taiwanese high mountain black teas more than Ruby 18, in spite of its intriguing sassafras/menthol elements. Aside from the What-Cha version, it’s just too tannic for me to really enjoy.

130ML water
7.2 G tea leaves
oolong-seasoned yixing white jade teapot

I rinsed this tea in near boiling water for 5-10 seconds and steeped for 30 seconds to start.

My first brew was light colored which reflected the amount of flavor imparted initially. Notes for the first brew are marshmallow cream and syrupy with vaguely vegetal aftertaste. I’ve been sick for some time so my tastebuds may not pick up nuanced flavors as well.

What an amazing tea! I love high mountain oolongs and Floating Leaves has many great options, but I hadn’t been such a big fan of baozhongs because they are usually a little too light/mild for me. This one is not! At its apex, it has a rich honeydew melon-like sweetness and a pleasant bitterness that is distinct from the higher elevation oolongs like Lishan. It tastes much greener, as well. I brewed it gong fu in a ~140 ml yixing-style clay pot with ~96C water for 30 seconds each infusion. The first 2 infusions were very floral and not all that rich, but by the third infusion it had opened up a lot! Significant body high feeling, as well. Brews strong for easily 6+ infusions, increasing time slightly after infusion 4.

As I enjoy Floating Leaves oolongs thought I’d try one of their black teas.

I expect Keemun/Qimen leaves to be tiny having purchased previously from a different source, but I was taken back by the coffee grind size of these leaves. As it is really bitty I am using a filter when pouring from a small Nixing teapot to cup. So far I am not a fan but I don’t want to waste tea.

If anyone else has had this tea recently perhaps they’d share their method of brewing and tasting notes.

Edit: A small porcelain teapot worked well so I had a few sessions with this tea.

Perhaps it is just this particular production but I found it to be very sour.

An interesting tea that can be quite tasty, but is easily overbrewed, drawing a strong artichoke and chrysanthemum flavor that is a bit odd, but not entirely bad. It’s a long-lasting tea with a silky mouthfeel that’s well rounded in sweetness and tannin, but the artichoke flavor makes this more of a novelty that’s interesting to try rather than a tea I would love to sip on all day.

I drank this. I know I liked it, but I have no notes for this. I always expect good things from Floating Leaves and this tea is no exception. I just wish I remember what it tasted like. XD
Maybe I’ll have it tomorrow during the snowstorm….very very tired of winter.

Great value tea from FLT. Not an overly complex oolong, but very enjoyable regardless. Aroma and flavor are both mostly roasted nuts, coffee, and a strong caramel-sweet finish. This one does a good job of toeing the line – it tastes pretty heavily roasted, but isn’t sour or dominated completely by roasty notes. Texture is smooth and full throughout the session as well. Really pleasant daily drinker type of tea.

I didn’t bother measuring; just covered the bottom of 60ml gaiwan and went from there. Ripe plums and strawberries on the nose meld with bittersweet dark chocolate on the tongue. Fills the mouth and finishes long. No astringency; instead produces a slight salivatory effect. Well processed and medium roasted, flavors harmonize on the palate. Massive, pleasingly plump leaves after steeps six or seven.

For reference, I used the following steep times (gongfu brewing): 10 s wash, 10s, 15s, 20, 30s, 45s, 4-5 one min steeps, and a final 3 min steep.

The dry leaves smell chocolatey and sweet. Once awakened, they take on a malty, yet almost fruity scent that causes some salivation.

The first few infusions are smooth, yet heavy and thick in the throat. The liquor is a deep reddish gold. The tea has structure and body, leading with sweet, honey-like notes that give way to a malty aftertaste.

Towards the final infusions, the heaviness of the tea seems replaced with creamier notes that linger in the back of the throat. The tea is fruitier — perhaps reminiscent of dried cranberries? Some astringency can be tasted. Overall, a stronger tea that can be taken with food as its flavor is not dampened easily.