Sipdown, 117. I get it. I finally get it. What a really, really lovely tea. Thanks again so much to Teavivre for sending me this.
So the first couple of times I had this I was a bit underwhelmed. I don’t typically looooove high mountain Taiwanese oolongs but I do usually enjoy them. My first gongfu session I used my small teapot (6oz) but that was clearly too much. This time I followed Teavivre’s gongfu instructions on the site exactly and used the gaiwan that they sent to me (3oz). The florals were just intoxicating.
I ended up having one tiny cup from each steep and dumping the rest (only enough for another tiny cup at the end once all the leaves expanded!) into a cup to drink at the end. All of them were lovely, including the final cup. Smooth, luxurious florals, fresh and green. The texture was smooth and silky, and the flavor was rich and complex in every steep. Spring in a cup, which is lovely to have at the beginning of winter.
Gaiwan is a common tool that used in tea ceremony, as well as in the gongfu way for brewing tea. And it’s interesting to watch the little particles expand to leaves.