Thank you to Fong Mong Tea for this sample!
I did a quick rinse of my leaves in warm water, I am so accustomed to doing this now after hanging out in Chinese tea shops where they rinse everything and today I’m infuser mugging it since I’m not at home, but decided to use the entire 6g sample so I could have more of a gong fu experience.
Steep #1: around 45 seconds?? This is already very nice. I’m getting an aroma of buttered popcorn and the tea is quite creamy with some light floral notes. I know some milk oolongs are artifically flavored but I think this is natural.
Steep #2: also around 45 seconds. There are some more floral notes coming up now, I want to say gardenia? Still very buttery, a bit nutty, definitely seems creamy and a bit vegetal. Does remind me a bit of buttered peas or corn.
Steep #3: Slightly more vegetal and less flowery but still a very pleasant cuppa.
I have to admit that Jin Xuans are not my favorite type of oolong, I must have requested this without realizing what it was. Still, it was very enjoyable and a tasty tea. I think I will really appreciate the High Mountain oolong and the Dong Ding.