Mountain Stream Teas

This baozhong isn’t the most nuanced but it makes for a good cup of tea. Its got a lot of sweetness and a thick, syrupy mouthfeel. The usual baozhong lilacs are there as well as violets, gardenia, and a touch of melon. I steeped this 4 times in a gaiwan with steep times of 1m, 20s, 50s, and 2m.

I’ve switched back to gongfu’ing my baozhongs and I’m starting to enjoy them again. It’s richer and the flavors are clearer than grandpa steeping which is probably better suited for the more expensive competition grade teas.

I’m bumping up the rating as I’ve discovered its potential in Western and tumbler brewing. I’ve gotten headier florals like osmanthus and a little bit more pineapple in the finish, and more cucumber in the body. I was impressed with how much sweeter it was despite losing some viscosity. I used a simple french press, which I never press with actual tea giving me a huge cup, and then I finished it off today with a new tumbler with a removable cup and a large chamber for leaves. It was magical and sweet tonight, with the iris, osmanthus, and other floral hints ending with a sweet finish, again like cucumber or perhaps pineapple, but then better described at the moment like green grapes. It was refreshing to say the least, and thickened out in the next four rebrews reclaming its general floral fruity and fresh body combo. If you get this tea, it might be better suited for tumblers with open space or western sessions. It surprised me that I did not enjoy it as much gong fu, but I have a bit of a sweet craving tongue when it comes to my gaoshans.

I had a little bit of a hard time with this one. The first brew was gong fu a while back, and I got generally squashy and corn impressions with a body that was so thick that the body almost rounded about my mouth in a green bubble. I got some fruity hints, but they were not pronounced until the third steep. I got eight brews last time in my shiboridashi, but the flavor was overall green, floral, vegetal, creamy, and herbaceaous.

The same could be said for the grey today, as it was crispy cool and rainy. A tangerine scented buttery broth and florals named the first long steep of 36 sec, and more flavor was obvious in the second brew. I got something like stronger cilantro and weaker pineapple in flavor, and hyacinth in the faint scent. The third steep had a iris like smell, and the body was much the same, iris, and cilantro. I did a short 30 second next steep, and it was just light, green and vaguely citrusy. The next one was better at about a minute and a half, having more tangerine, pineapple, squash, and a continually fresh herbaceous character. The current steep is thinning out back to the cilantro pineapple combo I described earlier.

This tea can have a great mouthfeel and subtle character, but it has not yielded a particularly powerful cup yet and does not have the staying power of the winter pick or the fall. I have to admit that I need to experiment more with its parameters, but it has not wowed me yet. There were days that I thought it was better than the spring, and days like today that I thought the 2018 batch was better. It’s certainly a good tea, but it is on the subtler end and I think that Mountain Stream has better batches.

Gone western, 3g, 8oz, 195F, 2/3/4m. Spring 2017 harvest.

Dry leaf smells of wintergreen, hay and light earth. Golden hay-colored liquor smells sweet and herbal-licorice with some hay. Starts of lightly sweet-minty with hay, minerals and some tartness that reminds me of quince or fresh loquats off the tree at my old apartment. Very light aftertaste of licorice-mint and white peach. Faint malt shows up in the mouth second steep and the mintiness continues to grow and exudes from my chest and ears. It’s not strong enough for me to consider it menthol but it’s definitely noticeable. The tastes and light-medium bodied mouthfeel remain relatively unchanging throughout all three steeps. I’m sweating and have the impression of stepping out of a sauna into some Canadian polar air.

I previously brewed 4 grams and the sweet, herbal-licorice of the aroma became pronounced in taste, along with more of an earthy flavor.

I really enjoy ruby whites but this is pretty expensive and I fight buying more.

Meh, this tasted like a generic Chinese green with soup/broth like characteristics. Its thin, spindly leaves closely resemble a mao feng in appearance and also in the way it steeps. Dry leaf has an incense like aroma. I detected notes of stir fried bok choy, okra, and wood. The wet leaf smelled medicinal and camphor like. This one steeps slower than a typical green tea. It needs hotter water and longer steeping times otherwise it tastes like hot water. After some experimentation, I settled on 190 F and 2.5 minutes. Despite the long steep the flavor was fairly subtle. The first steep produced an almost colorless liquor, vegetable broth like taste with a light sweetness. On the second steep I bumped up the temperature to 200 F and doubled the steep time. This infusion brought out more vegetal character from the tea including notes of zucchini, artichoke, and okra.

Despite the name, there’s little resemblance to a Jin Xuan oolong nor is there any milkiness to the tea. I like my greens grassy and robust. The just wasn’t to my taste and not unique or interesting in flavor.

I’ve had this one for a while and I could not decide how to write about it. I am very happy with it, but I’ll admit that I liked the others a hair more in the sampler.

Lucky Me hit the notes pretty hard western. It starts out vegetal, fresh, sunny and springy like a Mao Feng, and gets fruitier in the subsequent steeps. My style was a little longer, using 2.5 min in the first steep and 5 grams for 10 fluid oz. The first steep was lemony, but very fresh like corn (somewhat), green beans and squash with a rounded finish. Second steep at 3.5 min was more lemony with some florals in the smell. Actually, more was going on in the smell. Orange blossom, clover, and creamy lilac hints were popping up. The body was still green, but more juicy with a drier finish. Third was more citrusy and fuller in the mouthfeel. I’d say it was somewhat viscous, but creamy more than anything else without too much thickness. It does not coat your throat like the Snow Pick or the Fall one does, but it does have honey notes just before the finish. I’ll add more about what I get western later.

As for gong fu in my 20, 15, 20, 35….method , I personally get more pronounced florals using this style, namely more lilac and honeysuckle notes in steeps two and three. The body is otherwise thinner, but still very sunny, yellow and clean with the same pleasantly dry finish.

This tea was not as pronounced as its counterparts from Mountain Tea, or nearly as powerful as Tillerman’s Lishans, but it is very easy to drink for a decent price. It is a little bit too pricy for the taste since I can get a similar or better profile for cheaper in another Li Shan or even a Four Seasons. That is not to say it was a mediocre tea, just something for an above average daily drinker…at least it will be in my possession. I’d recommend checking out the other seasons in the sampler, namely the Fall. On the other hand, this is great for people who like green teas, and it does have the notes I like in my greens anyway.

I normally don’t like orange flavoring in tea but is this is a very nice blend as far as flavored teas go. While it does have a citrus kitchen cleaner like smell, the floral orange taste is subtle and natural. The tea starts off citrusy and slight sour before transitioning to an orange blossom honey like sweetness. It reminds me of an earl grey with its bergamot like flavor and dried orange flowers sprinkled throughout the tea leaves. I grandpa steeped this using slightly less than a gram of tea in an 8 oz glass.

Spring 2019 harvest.

This was kind of a ho-hum tea. Thin-bodied and mostly vegetal with some milkiness and hints of osmanthus and pear. Mild aromas of sweet cream, oranges, and flowers in the wet leaf.

I initially brewed it following Mountain Stream Tea’s instructions which call for boiling water. The tea had some dryness and peaked early, around the 4th steep. Dropping the temperature down to the 185-190 F range got me more steeps but also made the tea taste like hot water.

I tried brewing this multiple different ways including western and cold brew but this just seemed to lack any distinctive flavor.

Second tea from my Mountain Stream Teas sampler. This was a lighter Li Shan than I’ve had before. It’s described as having “clear beginnings to a sweet and sour stone fruit finish.” Tasting it, there is indeed a nice interplay of green apple tartness and sweeter, fruity notes. Slight herbaceous notes kick in in the finish. This tea is less flowery than your typical high mountain oolong. The florals appeared briefly around the 3rd steeping but faded rather quickly to vegetal notes.

It began like a green tea, peaked quickly and then flattened out as it settled back into a green tea. It didn’t have the viscous body nor the rich mouthfeel I’ve come to expect from this kind of tea. There were lots of enticing smells coming from it – custard cream, tangerine, clover honey, etc – but unfortunately very little of it came through in the taste. Overall, a passable Li Shan but far from extraordinary.

It’s been a while, and I do have a few back logs for this company. This was given as a generous sample, and thank you!

I’ve had this kind of tea a few times before, and it’s name gives you what you should expect: a viscous smooth and honeyed black tea. It is on the softer side of blacks having a slight chocolate note followed by a dry middle to a sticky, honey ending. Earlier notes had some minerals in the thick texture, and some passionfruit hints going into the honey notes. I’d say there is a little bit of fruitiness to the tea, but since it has a honey fragrance, the honey note can always have a fructose like profile so fruitiness is but an akin descriptor. The earlier notes also were a little bit bittersweet; however, I would not describe the tea as astringent of fundamentally bitter. Middle notes were a little bit more malty, albeit light. Some raisin and wood hints, but something like apricot or plum in steeps four and five. And yes, I did this gong fu beginning 30, 45, 50, 60, 80 with 190 F water.

I would recommend this tea as an easy goer for those who like lighter blacks or want to try honey profiled teas as this one is typical. It is also a decent example of Taiwanese blacks since they are equally viscous and malty, and this does have the benefit of having a nice aroma when brewing. I might not reach for this in the future only due to my oolong preference, but I would otherwise not say no to this tea if offered. The price is also decent at $28 for 100 grams.

I was really excited when I saw this tea online. TTC once carried a pomelo flower scented oolong that was out of this world good. It’s still one of my top 10 Taiwanese oolongs of all time. I was hoping this could match the TTC tea but sadly it pales in comparison. The pomelo fragrance is just barely there and tastes like it faded a long time ago. Some unexpected bitterness was encountered when cold brewed and grandpa steeped. It was a little better when gongfued but still had a very faint pomelo flavor. The underlying Jin Xuan is thin-bodied and doesn’t contribute much to taste either.

I just saw that this tea was discounted on Mountain Stream’s website with a note explaining that it was now past its shelf life. That’s a little surprising considering it was harvested only a few months and sealed but would explain my experience. I do appreciate the vendor’s honesty though. May consider trying it again in the future if I can get my hands on a fresh batch.

I think this is the right tea…

All the reviews for this tea since my experience with it 4 years ago are lukewarm at best. How does it fair now that I’ve had 4 years to appreciate so many more teas?

There is a multitude of tastes however they are a bit watery-soft at first and almost overshadowed by aging oolong sourness, though at this point in time, pleasant to me like tieguanyin. Steeping for longer to concentrate the flavors only brings out an overwhelming barky tannic texture. Difficult to brew well. Overall, the mix of flavors is typical of a summer bug-bitten oolong with woody and citrusy character, honey sweetness, autumn fruits and baking spices. I did not find the roast distracting. This is gongfu. Western steeping had a more syrupy texture and a tinge of vegetal taste. Nowhere near as complex.

Good to revisit a tea had in my early days of Steepster (thanks to Leafhopper!) but not one I’d purchase again nor one I would recommend. Sorry if I led people astray :P

I’d give this harvest a 60; the first one was 90. Average 75

Received as a freebie with my order, thanks!

I have to preface this review by stating I… don’t really care for honey blacks. :$

Real-time review. I’m preparing this according to MST’s gong fu guidelines. About 4.5 g, 100mL, 195F, steeps of 30/45/60/+5-10.

MST be throwing me off. Nothing says this is roasted but that’s what I taste.

Dry leaf smells like, well, imagine Honeycomb cereal. Rinsed leaf scent is hard to pick out because it seems perfumey above all else but hiding in there is roast, wood, and a mix of citrus-red cherry-rose. The brew starts out very light in the first steep and gets successively stronger in aroma, taste and texture. It moves from light roast and sweet into a progressively darker but light-bodied liquor with notes of citrus-cherry-honey. The light roast flavor underpins it all. It’s a bright tasting tea considering it tastes roasted, with a long and brilliant citrus and honey aftertaste. The bottom of the cup is retaining a scent of honeycomb. There’s an incredible body buzz that comes with it, too. I feel like I’m puddling, spreading out, then sucking parts of myself back in. Imagine the movement of an amoeba. A grinning tea-stoned amoebaaaah.

Oof. Don’t drink this before a work meeting or a test. I can’t even finish my review.

Edit: Got 6 steeps by letting the last one sit for 5+ minutes. There’s also a very strong tangerine zest feeling throughout my whole mouth. Added a rating.

I got the Four Seasons pack from Pear Mountain, and I am enjoying all of them. However, I am going to have to constantly rewrite notes as I crank them out and backlog, and likely talk about the samples in unison.

I tried this tea out first and foremost as I gong fu brewed it. The first 20 sec steep was milky and sweet like spices and brown sugar amidst a faintly green background, and the second 15 steep was like milk soaked in cinnamon toast crunch, hitting a high sugary note that enveloped the back of my throat, and then my sinuses. The cinnamon and brown sugar notes kept going steeps 3-5, but then faded out into osmanthus ever so gradually. I got some slight stonefruit notes that I’ll have to pick a part when I drink it again, but the sugary notes and the spice accents were the most prominent.

That said, it was vegetal, but more viscous than herbacious. The vegetal notes were otherwise very faint and light like coriander since the texture dominated the steeps with the sweeter flavors. The greener notes showed up in the later steeps, developing a more citrus like edge into steep ten. It’s a tie between this tea and the snow pick so far, but I will say this is a very good Li Shan at a great price for $25 for 100 grams. I’d be interested to see how my next visit with this gem changes. I noticed a difference in the vessels for drinking the snow pick, so I’m curious what it has to offer.

Summer Vacation! I’m onto Taiwan now, and while I don’t have a lot of Taiwanese teas in my collection, they usually bode well for me (I really like Taiwanese oolongs!) Depending on how this last week of August goes, if I run out I may make a vacation stop in Thailand or Vietnam… we’ll see!

First up is this sampler that was gifted by derk! Thank you derk! I have never tried anything pomelo-flavored (or eaten anything pomelo for that matter) which is what made me curious about this one. I like trying “exotic” (to me, anyway) fruits. I’m attempting this gong fu style since it is my day off and I have some more time this morning, but we’ll see how it goes. I don’t have a lot of practice with it. I’m doing the 4g in about half the volume of my shiboridashi, which comes out to 75ml, because the full 150ml per infusion is just too much tea for me over the course of several infusions of a session. Still waiting on that tiny 50ml gaiwan from China… shipping woes.

Gong Fu [Shiboridashi] / 4g / 75ml / 200F / 10s rinse / 30s|45s|60s|65s|70s|80s

The aroma is very floral, but citrusy… like orange blossoms and citrus oil. It comes off slightly perfumy when the tea is still very warm and steamy, but I find that settles a bit as the tea cools. The flavor is certainly something unique; I’ve had teas with a natural fruity/floralness before (sakura), but that soft cherry note is very different than this citrus note from the pomelo flowers. It tastes like a light mandarin orange flavor mixed with jasmine flowers, and below that is a fresh green watery vegetal note from the oolong, along the lines of lettuce/celery/cucumber. The pomelo flavor leaves an aftertaste on the tongue, and there is a very mild astringency left after the sip. In the second steep the pomelo flavor was much fuller and I got a grape note beneath the florals that was very pleasant, but the astringent drying on my tongue in the finish was also a bit stronger. The increased steep time by the third steep seemed to help a lot with the astringency in the finish, and the floral became very smooth and flowery, and the tea quite sweet with some new sugarcane and pear notes. I went for six steeps and at that point the flavor was starting to give out and become quite mineral-like.

A very pleasant oolong and unlike anything I’ve tried before. A bit drying (some accompanying water is a must) but the citrusy floral note produces a very unique flavor. Thanks for letting me try this, derk!

Finished up the remaining 4g of my 10g pouch this afternoon. I didn’t follow exactly MST’s guidelines for gong fu. 4g to 100mL in a covered glass mason jar. The last time I brewed this, I experienced an almost distracting dryness at 190-195F which is the recommended temperature, so I kept all steeps today at 185F. That definitely helped. I did a flash rinse followed by 6 steeps at 30/45/60/70/80/90s.

Reaction: I think this tea shines when doing shorter steeps that allow for the crispness and distinct flavors to come out. Following MST’s steep times and using 185F water, the brew was very smooth and thick but after the first steep, it became thick with spinach which detracted from the fruity, floral, citrus, creamy and light vegetal qualities. If I were to buy this again, I would definitely stick to shorter steeps at 185F. I think it would be best that way. Plus I picked up ripe pineapple in one steep. Don’t come across that very often. I mentioned in the other log that this could be a good daily drinker (gong fu) and I still hold to that, but only for somebody with fat stacks.

As a learning experience, I wanted to compare Old Master Baozhong, a spring harvest, to a different company’s winter (November) harvest that I drank yesterday. Unfortunately, I screwed up with this tea and ended up overbrewing the sixth steep by about 5 minutes while I was rushing around getting ready to head out for a game of tennis. And while it was still a fine steep, I decided to end the session. I’m kind of bummed I didn’t get to play this session out in a respectable fashion.

That said. Gone gaiwan, 6g, 150mL, 185-195F, flash rinse/10/12/15/20/25s/:(

Dry leaf looks very much hand-processed and is a mix of shapes with shades of green and some yellowish leaf. The scent is intoxicating, heavy with sweet pea floral, vanilla custard and violet. The flavors were strongest in the first 2 steeps with golden delicious apple, bartlett pear, sweet lemon, mineral, floral sweet pea, cream, custard, white peach, was that pineapple?!?, lilac, vegetal sweet pea, raw green bean, spinach. The liquor was a light yellow-green, very smooth but drying and slightly numbing on my tastebuds. Aroma was lilac, custard, peach and spinach. Persistent floral and fruity aftertaste.

Third through fifth steeps lightened in aroma, taste and texture and the liquor darkened into a yellow-gold. In addition to the above flavors, the apple pushed forward, then moved into a strong peach/apricot/mango/nectarine and the fifth steep had an addition of wet green hay with a very strong white peach aftertaste. The mouthfeel almost became distractingly drying so I played around with temperatures in these steeps but that didn’t change anything. The sixth steep at 5+ minutes was not a wash but I decided to end the session there as I didn’t think there would be anything left to give. Spent leaf was lined with red along its serrated edges and had some more oxidation on the petioles.

For what this tea was missing in depth and richness in comparison to yesterday’s winter harvest, it produced a wonderful crispness, clearness in taste and a very pronounced peach aftertaste that could easily make this tea a daily-drinker. They’re different and respectable teas in their own rights. I have 4 grams left so I’ll try MST’s recommended brewing parameters for gong fu and rate it after that.

I think I’m falling for baozhong.

Thank you for the sample Mountain Stream!

Derk, I gotta say, I was not a huge fan. It was a good tea, but it overwhelmed me despite it being on the lighter side. The pomelo was pronounced, floral, and a little funky. Yes, I brewed it gong fu, but every time, I kept on getting a watercress note, and then the weird yeastiness that you described. The citric acidity coupled with the savoriness reminded me of a tortilla chip. Steep three, and more tortilla citrus flavor and watercress midsip and body. Steep four, heady and slightly bitter jasmine with a citrus finish. Steep five-green jin xuan ness. I can get the coriander in its herby profile, although it is still green and milky in texture. Not thick enough to be like spinach as Jin Xuans tend to be…which was kinda a relief.

Okay, back to my assertion. The yeasty citrus combo was a little too much for me. I think the florals gave me the buzz more than the caffeine, and yeah, I was a little tea drunk from this one. It might grow on me, but a little too much.

A third iteration of this pomelo flower scented oolong and the best of the three years!

Previous harvests were unbalanced in retrospect — more drying, bitter and/or yeasty. The March 2022 harvest is more delicate and well balanced without a trace of bitterness unless left to stew in shallow waters grandpa style.

The oolong strikes me as a Cui Yu jade oolong rather than a Jin Xuan milk oolong. I get not a hint of milky mouthfeel or taste. The mouthfeel is glassy, oily and crisp with a papery drying quality after swallowing. Overall character is much like a Sauvignon Blanc wine. The main body is a mix of citrusy tangy-sweet pomelo with black grapes and white grape juice, green plums, pear and sweetgrass. Top notes of faintly yeasty pomelo blossom with fruity jasmine; light bottom notes of sweet lettuce, bitter greens, parsley, tarragon, lavender, warm celery root and buttermilk biscuit. The aftertaste doesn’t last long but it’s fruity like the main body of the tea. Steeps out after many infusions with a balanced astringency and juicy swallow. Light bitterness creeps in, a cool spearmint mouthfeel is noticed.

I like this better with short steeps gongfu than grandpa style – but not by much – and leafed a little more than my usual.

This is the first harvest I can recommend!

relaxed remembrance
the warm breeze moves as sunshine,
illuminating

ephemeral love
she sings from the branch — come close!
a blossom returned

we sway, a fond touch
tumbled by swirls of sweet breath
the warm scent of spring

the moment is soft
as we’re blown away, linger
we will dance again

Yes, haiku day was yesterday but I can’t force inspiration.

Finally a cloudless, ambient temperature morning. I’ve been awake for a few hours now and still haven’t eaten. Good combination for drinking a floral oolong. I picked up this Pomelo Fragrance Oolong because I am a total sucker for citrus blossoms. This reminds me I need to buy a porcelain gaiwan.

Dry leaf has a light but persistent fragrance with that pomelo flower, I want to say jasmine, fresh linens.

6 grams into the unwarmed 150mL glass gaiwan. Following MST’s temperature and time guidelines of 212F and 30/45/60/+5-10.

First steep, the leaf is strongly pomelo flower, lemon blossom, sweet pea, bittersweet with a touch of yeast. The light green-yellow liquor smells like a lemon with earthy notes (hard to describe), very floral, green leaf lettuce, buttermilk biscuit. The liquor is drying on the tongue, light yet viscous. Taste is strong, sweet citrus florals with a with a pleasant very light mustiness, mineral, golden delicious apple, sugar cookie, citrus pith and an unplaced vegetal green.

Second steep, the leaf is again strongly floral pomelo, lemon and jasmine with notes of water cracker, milkiness and green pear. Liquor a darker green-yellow and smelled of pomelo flower, golden delicious apple, jasmine, lactose. Taste is divine: the jin xuan cultivar came out in full force with its milkiness, again strong citrus florals, sugarcane and mineral. The liquor is soft, still a drying tongue that plays with bitterness and a lingering strong sweetness in the back of the mouth.

Third steep, the florals in the leaf lightened up with pear and a dark vegetal coming through, like sweetened collard greens. Liquor smells like pear, florals, lemon water and buttermilk biscuit made a return. The liquor first hit that bitter, drying note on the front half of the tongue then glides over the rest with a lovely velvety, thickness. Taste is pear, floral, butter, sugarcane, orange blossom and collards.

At this point I need to take a break to eat something light. A leftover hamburger bun from the weekend bbq. Tasting ability is numbed where the drying bitterness was on my tongue.

Fourth steep is still strong, more drying but velvety, less citrus floral, more butter. Butter and citrus blossom persist in the mouth. At first I thought there was no cha qi but now I’m very sleepy, eyelids drooping, a narcotic buzz in my body. Tea drunk. …And she’s down.

I suppose I’ll finish this session a few hours from now. I’ll give it a rating after I finish the remaining 4 grams of my sample using a different brewing technique.

Update: Decided to call it quits after the fifth steep, ending on a pleasant sour and mineral note.

Dry leaf smells remarkably of raisin toast with a muted cinnamon :)

Teapot time: 5g, 100mL porcelain, 195F. Rinse plus 10 steeps, starting at 10s.

The Spring 2018 harvest is a little different than 2017. Honestly, I can’t remember if it was 2017… I’m pretty dang sure. The 2018 tea is lighter in taste and darker in character like it was more oxidized. There’s also some astringency to this batch that shows up early and fades after a few steeps. I think most of the flavor of this tea comes from the aroma; there are never penetrating flavors on the tongue. The tea’s strong points are its round, fruity fragrance; medium-thick, pectic mouthfeel; a blossoming almost floral grape finish and an inability to be oversteeped once you get past the first several slightly drying infusions. It also performs well western and grandpa.

The taste is less pronounced but still fruity. Straightforward notes of plump, pliable purple raisin mingle with sweet red grapes, butter (sometimes funky), light brown sugar, that GABA bright tartness, minerals and a tone of baked bread. The fruitiness most closely reminds me of warm, rehydrated raisins in a curry — like when they pop in your mouth. Wood presents if I do a little swish. Like other GABA oolong, the tastes don’t exactly evolve. This one does move out into the sweet potato realm but not until the end, and even then it’s still raisin-grape in taste. Steeps out sooner than the 2017.

Giving the Spring 2018 harvest a 90. 2017 I had rated at 98 because it tickled me and had great longevity. Averaging the two gives 94.

I finished up the 10g pouch of this yesterday since nobody took me up on my offer and it was beckoning me. I just dumped the remaining 5g of balls into my 20oz thermos with unknown temp water from the cafe (I should have asked them by now) and sipped on it for several hours. Never got bitter or astringent and was wonderfully full-bodied. It has a different flavor profile this way, mostly tasting and smelling of overripe strawberries and really good sweet fruitiness. The funkiness came out but it melded perfectly with the flavors. At the end, there was a faint cooling sensation in my mouth. The energy was never overwhelming. Probably could’ve gotten another 20oz out of the leaf but I didn’t have access to a hot water refill.

This tea jives with me and is versatile. Sticking with the 98.

This review makes me feel like such a dork.

Thinking about grapes… The fog has been lifted from San Francisco for the past few days so we had a barbecue in the city close to the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge. The corkscrew, along with half our silverware, somehow managed to get tossed in the trash when someone in the group got clean-up happy.

I’m home now, sunburned and spent but in the mood for tea. Reached for this Wild Garden GABA Oolong sample. Mountain Stream Teas says it’s sweet, large black raisins. Does not require corkscrew. Great.

I’ve read that GABA-processed teas can bring quite the funk in terms of taste and smell. I admit I’ve been trying not to anticipate disappointment with the few GABA oolong samples I recently acquired even after falling hard for What-Cha’s Taiwan Amber GABA Oolong which possesses no funk.

First a sniff of the leaves while still in the pouch. Hit first with the oh-so-lovely scent of fresh durian in Vietnam. Smelling durian every time is like an assault to the senses. But it’s so complex beyond that weird tropical fruit custard rot that I find my nose going in for more. The durian funk of the dry leaves was thankfully fleeting and out came a faint roast well complemented by champagne or wine grapes or even a little bit of those black concords. Let’s just say super sweet and floral grapes. Is this tea even roasted? I don’t know. Damn, this is pleasant.

5 grams into my warm grape-colored clay gaiwan. Wow. Quick 10-15 second rinse at 195F. Wow. Then followed the suggested timing of 20/30/30/etc.

First and second steeps were light in flavor but very aromatic. A little bit of sweet-tart at the top back of the mouth and drying grape skin tannins at the front. Wet leaf smelled amazing. Third steep was stronger in flavor, revealing the champagne grape with peach emerging and a hint of vanilla sugar. Minerals and salivation at the end of the cup. Fourth steep, aroma of the liquor was so sweet and delicately intoxicating. Tastes about the same as the third, more peach. Fifth steep again produced the same aroma and taste with the addition of a VERY light cooling along my lips and some kind of berry I’m sure exists that tastes like a soft, white, sweet strawberry. Subsequent brews remained consistent with growing mintyness going down the throat. Spent leaves are a beautiful mix of green with red oxidation.

MST says this lasts 5-6 steeps but I lost track. More longevity than expected, though it might be less with 3-4 grams.

I now only have 5 grams left and would love to try it out in a porcelain gaiwan but I don’t have one. So I’m debating between the glass one or doing a western steep. Too bad it’s out of stock, otherwise I’d also try grandpa.

Overall, the Wild Garden GABA Oolong delivers a consistent, well flowing profile reminiscent of an ice wine (without the booze) or fruity gummies and an undeniable strength in aroma and sweetness, a lingering fruity taste and drying yet quenching mouthfeel. Pleasing energy. Everything is in its place.