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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.