Today I am sipping 2005 aged mao xie by Verdant tea, I started this off by giving it a quick rinse in my Yixing. The rinse produced a very pale honey color liqour and an intense aroma of floral, smoke, honey and caramel.
First infusion the liqour darkened to a medium honey color and took on a bit more floral notes at this point, there is a bit of minerality and a little sensation of tingling on the tongue that you really only get with good oolongs. I knew right away this was going to be a winner. Sweet and smokey, that aged oolongs seem to really engender.
Second infusion was slightly darker, but not by a lot. I got a little more honey in this one, as the infusion got a little sweeter. But the flavors and aromas were pretty similiar, though the leaves opened up nicely at this point. I think for the third infusion Im going to bring the water up to boiling.
This was a wise choice, it brought out more fruit flavors, maybe raisins and a bit more of the minerality, that you kind of feel on your tongue. Also it’s hard to describe how clear this liquor is.
Im sure based on this it will steep out many more times.
I highly recommend this tea if you like aged oolongs, smokey, floral or minerality.
Flavors: Caramel, Floral, Honey, Mineral, Smoke
