I got this as a sampler in a very long ago teaware order from teaware.house back in 2018. I figured from the name that this would be a floral-leaning oolong, so I decided to brew this gong fu style this morning for the March prompt “a floral tea.”
180ml (mini pot) | 7.5g | 205F | Rinse/20s/25s/30s/35s/40s/45s
The leaves after the rinse smell strong of bitter melon and lilac flowers, and the rinse liquor smelled similar, with a stronger floral/muscatel presence. On the first steep I’m getting aromas of wildflower honey, stewed fruits, and a mix of a raisiny musctatel smell with bitter melon. The first infusion tastes strongly of medicinal bitter melon, with a pungent and biting bitter aftertaste. The aroma was already smelling more mellow by the second infusion, with a nuttiness coming forward. The tea tasted of syrupy floral honey, raisins, nuts, and stewed fruits, with the edges mostly smoothed out now and none of the face-scrunching bitterness of the first steep. As the tea cooled, a soft lilac florality settled into the aftertaste. The floral notes were more pronounced in the third steep: mostly lilac, but also a bit of that “grapey” jasmine note and an aftertaste of lavender. The last few infusions were quite mineral and floral. Steeped a total of 6 infusions. Plenty of floral, never got any butter. As far as oolongs go, I found this one not unpleasant, but a little meh.
Flavors: Biting, Bitter, Bitter Melon, Floral, Fruity, Honey, Jasmine, Lavender, Lilac, Mineral, Muscatel, Nutty, Raisins, Smooth, Stewed Fruits
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Based off of those darker fruit notes, sounds like this has oxidized further over the years. I was indifferent to this one, too.
No butter?! That’s a tragedy with a name like that. The flavour list order of “biting, bitter, bitter melon” drive the point home further though, lol.
Well, the flavor list always arranges all the inputs in alphabetical order, which maybe makes those things seem more prominant than they were. I had a really awful first infusion, and the rest was fine.
Yeah, the alphabetical order doesn’t do a great job capturing what’s actually most prominent (wasn’t changing this, or the ingredients list, in the works?). In this unique instance, it conveys (by chance) the tea profile’s evolution throughout the session, mirroring your detailed tasting note well. :)
Based off of those darker fruit notes, sounds like this has oxidized further over the years. I was indifferent to this one, too.
No butter?! That’s a tragedy with a name like that. The flavour list order of “biting, bitter, bitter melon” drive the point home further though, lol.
Well, the flavor list always arranges all the inputs in alphabetical order, which maybe makes those things seem more prominant than they were. I had a really awful first infusion, and the rest was fine.
Yeah, the alphabetical order doesn’t do a great job capturing what’s actually most prominent (wasn’t changing this, or the ingredients list, in the works?). In this unique instance, it conveys (by chance) the tea profile’s evolution throughout the session, mirroring your detailed tasting note well. :)