Maitre de Thé

I’m not sure who I got this sample from (I don’t keep track). I was craving milk oolong or maybe an anxi hairy crab oolong. I settled on this to facilitate a second sipdown today.

I just got my new 25mL teacup in the mail today, so I decided to brew ~50-65 mL water per steep. I used 2 tsp leaf (my entire sample), so that’s why I got so much longevity out of the leaf. Also, I used so little water each steep that I would be disappointing if it didn’t last 10+ steeps.

Steep 1: 50mL hot water (183 deg F), 2 tsp leaves, 4 seconds steep
Slightly contaminated from the other scented teas it was pushed up against. I’ll have to rearrange my teas/re-bag them so they don’t transfer smells.

Steep 2: 10 second steep
A nice light oolong taste, slightly toasty, a bit creamy, this oolong is both floral and fruity, but less so on the floral side

Steep 3: 10 second steep
It could have been stored near a coconut scented tea, but I find this oolong really captures coconut well. The cream + tropical fruity + a bit toasty + a bit of sweetness. I really like how smooth milk oolongs are. The milk scent seems to round out any astringency or extreme in the leaf.

Steep 4 (25sec), steep 5 (25sec), steep 6 (25 sec),and steep 7 (50sec)
Creamy, base is getting fruitier and continues to lose the coconut flavour in favour of milk/cream and that classic Anxi oolong taste. The mouthfeel is getting a bit drying, but the flavours and aromas are still great.

Steep 8: I forgot about it for like…3 minutes. Don’t care, drinking it anyway.
But at least the leaves have unfurled completely! Quite drying/astringent, but not bitter. Base is notably fruity but no specific fruits. There is a lot of sweetness, too. The floral notes are gone now.

Steeps 9, 10, 11, and 12 (30 sec each)
I never noted how think this brews. It is a similar taste and consistency to adding skim milk to your tea. it is definitely thicker than water, but not fatty/whole milk/cream in flavour.

This could keep going for 5 more steeps, but I’m done with the flavour now. I highly recommend this for those who like milk oolongs!

The smell left in my cup after I drank the tea is strong honey, sweet, and cream. It is really, really distinctly honey scented. How odd. I taste no honey in the actual brew.