Formosa Tea House

My hubbie and I got this tea at a local Taiwanese tea shop called Formosa. The owner, Chien (who is a WEALTH of knowledge) suggested it as it won several competitions in Asia. After trying it, I can certainly see why. It’s a beautiful oolong, fairly heavily oxidized. We drank it gong fu style with our yixing pot which we reserve specifically for oolongs. The first steeping was dark, despite only steeping for about 30 seconds. It smelled almost like red (black) tea, but there was no bitterness or astringency when drinking. On the second steep, some of the typical oolong sweetness and freshness started to come through more. The aroma was intoxicating. The tea leaves opened up into these pristine long leaves with purple hues around the edges. It was beautiful, really. At the third steeping, the tea was at its prime. So smooth, flavourful and just a joy to drink. There was nothing vegetale about the flavour at all One of the highest quality oolongs I’ve ever drank. A delicious, relaxing oolong that was great right from the first steeping, which is exceedingly rare I find.