New Tasting Notes
One of the 5 rarest and most famous Wu Yi Oolongs and it’s easy to see why.
Online, it’s described as being the rarest, because the process requires such high skill that most people won’t even attempt to create it.
I don’t know what brand or what year this Oolong was harvested, but I will ask my friend who gave it to me.
(It’s pricey and rare, so he only spared me 3 grams of it, but that 3 grams was little enough to get upwards of 8 infusions, in a small Yi Xing teapot)
The complexity of this tea makes it hard to describe, but that’s also is what makes it such a treasure. Unlike most Wu Yi’s, the leaf is not a deep dark brown.
Dry Leaf:
This Bai Ji Guan was a medium brown, almost cherry like color with spots of olive green. A truly beautiful and distinct leaf, unlike any I’ve ever seen. The leaf style is typical Wu Yi, large curly, these were not particular long and wiry, but shorter and wider.
Dry leaf aroma: Smoky, hint of some kind of wild fruit.
After rinse aroma: Passion fruit, floral, soap-ish (good in this tea)
First infusion: 15 seconds. WOW. The flavor is incredible, it might have been even slightly over-steeped at 15s, but the initial fruitiness is unmistakable. Followed by a slight smokiness. And then comes the sweet finish, and what a lingering sweet finish. I noticed that 5 minutes after, it was still there and you only really realize it after you forget that it’s there-if that makes sense.
I won’t bore you guys with the details but I went on to steep this tea many times for my friends and each time, something unique, different, distinct and most of all, delicious.
We don’t currently carry this Oolong (but we do have 2 grades of Da Hong Pao) but we might in the future. So if you ever get your hands on some, savor it and treasure it…and send me a few grams ;)
This is one of my everyday teas. I don’t buy many bagged teas, but when I do (mostly for convenience/travel/work) it’s often Republic of Tea. This turns the prettiest purple color, and it doesn’t have the artificial taste that many fruity teas have. I always have a tin of this on hand.
On first tasting, I found the pistachio overwhelming. After a few sips though, it seemed to balance a little better. The rooibos is nice. After brewing it a bit stronger than usual, the apple flavor came through. However, I wish there were more apple pie spice flavor to the tea! Nonetheless, it’s a very drinkable rooibos.
I think this tea has the best of Japanese strains and growing conditions, while benefiting the subtleties that a Chinese process gives. There’s some fantastic straw, chestnut, and dried berry characters in there, while finishing with a strong hint of that kelpy green the Japanese so adore.
