eastkyteaguy Send Message

I’m still making progress toward cleaning out my hoard of oolongs. I was able to finish the last of the Tieguanyin Deep Roasted Wednesday, and have been working on this one ever since. This was another Tealyra oolong that I first sampled in a gongfu session last month and didn’t get around to reviewing prior to the end of the month. I’m rectifying that now.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. My rinse ended up being several seconds longer than I planned because it was kind of late and I zoned out. Fortunately, this little misstep did not significantly impact the remainder of the session. Following the rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 195 F water for 10 seconds. This infusion was followed by 10 additional infusions with an increase of 2 seconds per infusion. Steep times ranged from 10-30 seconds.

Prior to the rinse, I noticed that the long, twisted leaves produced a mild aroma that was simultaneously vegetal and floral. Following my unintentionally long rinse, I noticed that the floral aroma was more pronounced. To me, it was very reminiscent of lilac, magnolia, and violet. The first infusion saw creamy and buttery qualities merge with the floral scents on the nose. In the mouth, I picked up delicate, surprisingly well-integrated notes of magnolia, lilac, violet, lily, orchid, sweetgrass, cream, and butter. The next 4 infusions saw a slight breadiness emerge on the nose and in the mouth. It was most pronounced on the finish where it was joined by slightly stronger vegetal notes and minerality. The final series of infusions saw the floral aromas and flavors fade a little quicker than I would have liked, while mineral, bread, cream, butter, and sweetgrass remained. I should note, however, that the floral aromas and flavors did not completely disappear during these infusions-I could still just barely detect them under everything else.

Okay, let me just state for the record that I highly doubt this tea would compete favorably over a lengthy session with many of the premier competition grade Baozhongs offered by some other vendors. I do think, however, that this is a very solid, approachable, and consistent Baozhong for the money. If you are a fan of greener oolongs, I could see this making a good daily drinker.