Alright, here is the final review of the day. I’m clearly still working my way through all of these high mountain oolong samples from Taiwan Tea Crafts. Hopefully I can finish them within the next month. I have to say that the quality of Taiwan Tea Crafts’ offerings has greatly impressed me thus far. Like the vast majority of the other teas I have tried from them, this one was both excellent and unique.
I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of rolled tea leaves in 4 ounces of 195 F water for 8 seconds. This infusion was chased by 13 subsequent infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 10 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, and 3 minutes.
Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of butter, cream, violet, and sugarcane. After the rinse, I found new aromas of custard, vanilla, and honey. The first infusion then revealed aromas of puff pastry and lemon zest. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered notes of cream, butter, custard, and sugarcane that were chased by touches of violet and puff pastry. The honey and lemon zest had yet to reveal themselves on the palate at this point. The following infusions then revealed honey and lemon zest in the mouth while new impressions of grass, spinach, coconut milk, minerals, coriander, almond, lychee, tangerine, seaweed, osmanthus, magnolia, pear, honeysuckle, and green apple emerged. The longer infusions at the tail end of the session offered lingering notes of minerals, cream, butter, and sugarcane underscored by hints of coriander, spinach, pear, seaweed, and green apple.
I’m beginning to get into Longfengxia oolongs and teas like this remind me of why that is. This was an extremely aromatic and flavorful tea with a ton of complexity and great body and texture in the mouth. I’m willing to bet that fans of high mountain oolongs would find a ton to enjoy in this tea. Here’s hoping that the remaining teas in my Longfengxia sampler will rival this one.
Flavors: Almond, Butter, Citrus, Coconut, Coriander, Cream, Floral, Grass, Green Apple, Honey, Honeysuckle, Lemon Zest, Lychee, Milk, Mineral, Osmanthus, Pastries, Pear, Spinach, Sugarcane, Vanilla, Violet
