What an interesting contrast to the White Peony (also from Adagio) I finished earlier. I’m snowed in here in the Great Lakes, so I thought I’d taste through some of my Adagio shipment. Where that had all the delicate hints of floral, melon, nectar and vegetable, this one has all kinds of subtle mineral, roots, fruit, and smoke. Come to think of it, the Irish Breakfast from this morning was malty, citrus and toasty… I may have just developed my first tea flight… just need to find a grassy green I like…
Back to this one. I think when people were saying oolongs taste like “mineral” I was originally expecting something more “metallic.” So it’s taken me a few different brews of different teas to parse out the flavors. By the third infusion, this one had lost a lot of that mineral flavor, and vegetable smells and flavors came out more with a bit more toasted rice smell and flavor. I don’t know that I’d say I “like” it. But I don’t “dislike” it either. These oolongs are just so different than anything I’ve had.
I can’t help but compare/contrast this to the Ceylon and Assams I tried yesterday. This is just so different than the “bold” flavors in those. But not “delicate” flavor either. But not “earthy, mushroom” of the pu-erh either. So many different flavors… And I haven’t even delved into actually FLAVORED teas yet. How do you pick?
