Vashon Tea Shop

Small, semi-beaded oolong. The dry leaves have a somewhat vegetal, slightly bitter aroma. They’re a pretty mix of light and dark greens.

Steeping #1 (1m @ 175F/79C)
The liquor is a very light hay-ish green, with a grassy, vegetal odor. (I don’t particularly care for it.) It’s a very classic tieguanyin flavor that seems to linger in the bridge of the nose.

Steeping #2 (45s @ 175F/79C)
Brighter yellow than before- the grassy is gone from the smell and it is now very much just vegetal with a new and very, very faint touch of floral.
The flavor is quite vegetal and somewhat more floral than many tieguanyins, but very strong on the vegetal.

Steeping #3 (45s @ 175F/79C)
Much greener liquor than before. The smell is more floral and less vegetal, now. I enjoy this steeping the most, as the planty flavor has backed off some, and it’s intriguingly sweet and floral. The leaves are about as open as they’ll get, and the flavor is barely there, so no #4.

Leaves were from the bottom of the can, but the tea normally has pretty, yellow tips. It has a beautiful, slightly smoked odor.

45s @ 208F/97C
The liquor is a deep red-brown color. Not quite as dark or ruby as pu-erh, but almost. Smell nearly the same as the dry leaves, but nuttier. The flavor is astringent, but not bitter, like slightly tangy nuts. Really delightful, toasty black tea. I could drink this all day, but not for the price of a premium tea.

The smell of the dry tea is very strong and interesting, like a black tea. Somewhat like keemun, but with no smoky or roasty aspect. The leaves are beautiful, long and twisted with lots of white tips. Same color profile as Bai Hao, but with less rich brown.

Steeping #1 (45s @ 175F/79C)
Toasty golden brown liquor. Smells like a rock oolong. Very nutty and pleasant. Somewhat two-dimensional in flavor, and not very lingering, but very drinkable and nice.

Steeping #2 (45s @ 175F/79C)
Darker golden brown liquor, like chestnut wood. The aroma is almost sweet, and less nutty.

The flavor is uncannily like roasted nuts. No smokiness, but there is also an enjoyable and slight astringency and some sweetness, which is interesting. The very first moment of the sip is strongest, with a very slight and toasty aftertaste. I’m not going to invest in a third steeping, but it’s a nice tea.

This is a very small beaded oolong
Aroma of dry tea is at once floral, vegetal, and slightly bitter, but many good oolongs smell that way. It’s sort of a refreshing smell.

Steeping #1 (45s @ 175F/79C)
Greenish gold color, surprisingly faint floral odor.
Pleasant, light floral tastes with a hint of astringency, but one inherent to the tea and not from heat or time. Very faint- this probably wanted to be steeped a little longer.

Steeping #2 (45s @ 175F/79C)
The leaves are awake, but still rather tightly curled.
The color is a cheerful, fruity light green.
The flavor is really blossoming now. The astringency is barely perceptible and it is delightfully floral.
There is a clear possibility of a rich, heady floral-ness with some time/temperature tinkering. Really wonderful. It’s rather close to the flavor of San Lin Xi, my favorite, but without the strong impression of gardenias. I’m hoping for something even better from steeping #3.

Steeping #3 (1m @ 175F/79C)
Green-gold liquor with a strong floral scent.
(I absentmindedly ate a sweet cookie that had broken in the case at work, and a customer came in, so my mouth is probably being stupid, in addition to the tea having sat a bit.)
Much less floral than #2, but possibly chocolate-cookie-addled mouth betraying me, particularly as the smell was quite floral at the start, which seems to now be absent.
After some more sips, the slight floral-ness is back. The cookie was clearly interfering.

Steeping #4 (1m 30s @ 175f/79C)
The tea is still a greenish color. Floral, now slightly vegetal aroma. The flavor is mild and somewhat vegetal, and neeeearly astringent, but not quite. I’ll probably stop after #3, next time.

This tea was really great at the second steeping, but even a third steep isn’t that great.

I prepared this tea at work in a porcelain gaiwan.

This is a beautiful, twisted green tea of forest green and dark emerald. Aroma is heavy, but not thick. It smells of a green, light oolong and portends of a grassy or vegetal liquor.

Steeping #1 (45s @ 175F/79C)
The leaves are awake, but not open.
Very light, cheery green liquor. Its aroma is floral, with some grassiness, though nothing like a grassy green tea.
The flavor is surprisingly wonderful. Floral, not grassy, with a hint of creaminess on the tongue, like an authentic Jin Xuan. It’s really very good, and I’m looking forward to the second steeping.

Steeping #2 (45s @ 175F/79C)
The leaves are somewhat open at theis point. The color is perhaps slightly greener, but barely. The aroma is more floral and really clear, despite my having painted my nails this morning and can still smell them this evening.
The flavor is rich and stronger than #1, with no astringency at all. Creaminess is somewhat more present.

Steeping #3 (45s @ 175F/79C)
Some of the leaves are now fully open. The color is nearly the same, but just starting to be more yellow than green. The aroma is now rather faint. The flavor is still much more than the smell suggests. The creaminess is gone- I believe the tea peaked at the second steeping. It’s still very drinkable, but getting pretty faint.

I prepared this tea at work in a porcelain gaiwan.

Steeping #1 (1m @ 175F/79C)
Very light, greenish-gold with a mild aroma. It’s very nutty, particularly in the back of the palate. Tastes almost like a very light charcoal-fired gaoshan oolong.

Steeping #2 (45s @ 175F/79C)
Straw shade of gold this time. Much nuttier, very pleasant and a stronger flavor than the first steeping. Tastes surprisingly like a light Da Hong Pao. The nuttiness really lingers in the back of the nostrils and soft palate after sipping. It’s a not a particularly deep or complicated flavor, but very pleasant. I find this tea superior to that I’ve purchased from TeaVivre, which is also pleasant.

Steeping #3 (45s @ 175F/79C)
Slightly darker than steeping #2. The nuttiness is a little more astringent in odor, but also slightly fainter. The flavor is still there, with no real development, but is much lighter than #2, and not worth steeping a fourth time.

The second steeping was, by far, the best.