I did 6 steeps and 1 rinse.
After rinse
The smell of the leaves is amazing! One can smell creamy flowers, buttery notes and even the smell of fresh pastries is noticeable.
Steeping
1st steep: floral notes at the start followed by a subtle creamy aftertaste. The aftertaste was very subtle so this steep was mainly floral notes.
2nd steep: the floral notes at the start were a bit stronger. These floral notes were followed by light creamy floral notes in the middle and a stronger floral finish. It’s quite interesting that the creamy notes were only noticeable in the middle.
After this steep, I started to notice the increased astringency of this tea. When finishing a cup, I immediately got a dry mouth.
3rd steep: heavy floral notes at the start followed by very subtle creamy notes in the middle. These creamy notes were not as strong as they were during the 2ndsteep. The finish of this steep is floral all the way.
4th steep: it starts subtle so no heavy flavours at the start. Floral notes start to appear and gradually diminish again. It also has a light floral aftertaste. Interesting enough, this steep does not have any hints of creaminess or buttery flavours, unfortunately. The creaminess is what made me taste this tea in the first place.
5th steep: no heavy flavours at the start. Increasing floral notes leading to a floral aftertaste.
6th steep: this was the final steep as the tea leaves gave me everything they had. No heavy flavours at the start, very subtle floral notes without any aftertaste.
I’m quite happy with the results of my first tea tasting of 2019. This Qing Xin was a tea I’ve had for a while and I’m delighted I did a proper tasting of it. Personally, the first three steeps were the best because I really liked the creamy flavours. I’m not really into oolong teas but I really liked this one. That is why my final score of this tea is 9/10. If I run out of tea and want to buy some new oolongs, this one will definitely be the first one on my list. Or even if I am looking for a good tea to serve with a sweet dessert such as a freshly baked strawberry cream pie or just any pie with a lot of whipped cream.
Flavors: Astringent, Cream, Creamy, Floral
