Taiwan Highest Collection

Decided to give this another try

Didn’t give a diddly about parameters. It was full rolling boil for who knows how long because I was way too busy to time anything.

Verdict, I didn’t notice as much this time around. Likely because I just haven’t had time to pay any attention to any of it. Passable drink. Not bad, not amazing.

It does seem to meet my “I’m at work and don’t have time to fiddle with crap” need. :)

Coworker brought this back for me from a recent trip to Taiwan. I was thrilled after some searches and Google Translate to realize this was a real milk oolong and not a green tea.

A very green oolong.
Dry leaf has very little scent to it.
Wet leaf almost reminds me of cooked spinach. Leaves have some breakage, but overall are whole or nearly whole.

Water temp was not quite boiling but I did not measure.

Hot, flavor is light with a wonderful creamy mouth feel. As it cools, flavor becomes more pronounced. I’m not sure how to describe it however.

Doesn’t have any grassy notes that I dislike about a lot of greens. As it cools, it does have a bit of a vegetal note, but this is mild and does not make me feel like I’m trying to drink the water brussles sprouts were over boiled in.

Second steep the vegetal notes in the taste and smell are more pronounced, but not unpleasant. Mouth feel still has that creamy texture, coats the mouth nicely. There’s almost a kind of tang in the back end of the sip. Unsure if this is some bitterness (my perception of bitter is messed up) or something else. Its a little drying on the mouth and tongue, but again not unpleasantly so. Let it really cool and there is a bit of astringency.

Third steep and the vegetal smell is more pronounced, but not so in flavor. Reminds me more of the first steep,

What I haven’t seen hide nor hair of is any hint of the sweetness described. I did at one point seem to detect almost a light floral-ish aftertaste.

The downside is this is just not the kind of tea I tend to crave. Just finished lunch and what I am thinking right now is that I wish I had something else to drink this afternoon.