Gaba Milk Oolong

This appears to be no longer available on the website. Whoa. I started with a steep at 10 seconds. Caramel and better notes. Highly reminds me of ghee. Which is generally the butter they use for dipping crab and lobster in. Though not always. Ghee is clarified butter and technically even if you are allergic to dairy you can eat it. Steeping at 175 in a gaiwan. Porcelain and white. Now at … um… 30 seconds? I’m getting some apple, still ghee, and some buttered veggies. The wet leaf is very unique smelling. Kind of buttery but also like kids apple juice. Ooo and look at those leaves. Not fully unfurled yet but gives you a good sense of the expert processing. Lots of brown leaves but also some olive greens. The longer you steep (like with most tea) these all become a bit more intense but I honestly prefer the first quick steep. The second steep I am finding more of those fruity notes along with the ghee and… candied leaves? Hahaha good grief. I really can’t think of a better way to describe it. And buttered popcorn.

I’m an outlier here, but I don’t think this is a very good tea. It reminds me a lot of Mandala’s milk oolong, which whipped me through the same excited-then-disappointed loop: both are quite vegetal, grassy, threatening astringency. The condensed milk and bakery notes are apparent on the nose, but the base doesn’t gather, doesn’t intensify, doesn’t help sustain those flavors through the sip. There’s no center.

I’ll take this to work. When all I can really manage to appreciate is the “oolong note” or “sheng note” of an otherwise meh tea, I do delight in those broad strokes.

This all said, this tea has made me feel VERY grateful that many of my first touches with “archetype teas” were from amazing vendors that really chose stand-out examples. How sad would it be to think I didn’t like milk oolong after a miss like this? Very! I’m specifically thinking of What-Cha’s milk oolong after this session… sofa king good. Aged oolong from Global Tea Hut is another that comes to mind.

I am getting the buttery gourmand notes, especially in the smell. The first few infusions are light and a touch sweet. Not floral, but smooth and consistent body. The liquor is a bright orange.

This is a pretty good tea so far. I left one of the steeps too long and it did not come out bitter or astringent, just smooth and strong. The flavor profile is not as pleasurable to me as something like a TGY but I still really appreciate what this one brings to the table, it’s not too expensive either! Well balanced.

Craved this one. This oolong shows what oolong can do green and oxidized. Unusually balanced for a Gaba.