“Backlog. Another FLT oolong that I wanted to like but didn’t quite work for me. It had some nice floral elements for sure, but was affected by an underlying stale taste. A frustratingly common...” Read full tasting note
Story
When we tasted the high mountain offerings from our usual sources this Winter season, we could only find one that we thought was up to Floating Leaves standard. That was Hehuan Shan. It was a little scary, but we knew that we needed to search for something cleaner and with more going on. It was also very exciting.
It was lucky that we got in touch with this tea, because it has redefined for us what high mountain oolong can do. This Alishan is a small plot tea, and the farmer’s skill is phenomenal.
Description
It’s honestly a bit hard to describe what this tea does in the mouth and nose. At first, the only tangible descriptor I could come up with was “I want to drink more of it!” It feels very comfortable, soft and gentle, both in the mouth and as it glides into the body.
The flavor is not all that different from our regular line up of high mountain oolongs. It has notes of citrus, flowers, and a creamy feeling. But instead of busting out big and bold, like bright sunshine, in this tea these same notes are integrated into one singular point. It’s like the sunshine is veiled in mist. The broth is incredibly soft and beautiful, and it reaches deeply into the body. If one flavor really stands out, I have to say it’s creamy. This tea is seriously creamy. Maybe even profoundly creamy!
Aftertaste is delicate but substantial. After swallowing, the flavor returns with a delicious sweetness and lingers for a long, long time.
This is a really exciting step for us. We’ve wanted to find high mountain oolong at this level for a few years now. This teaching has returned to us again and again this year, that good luck brings bad luck, and bad luck brings good luck (故福之為禍, 禍之為福). So now, because of a poor performance from our usual sources for high mountain oolong, we have the chance to look for smaller farmers producing special reserve quality teas!
Facts
Harvest Location : Shi Zuo, Alishan, Taiwan
Harvest Date : November, 2020
Cultivar : Qing Xin
Altitude : 1200 Meters
Brewing Notes
We don’t usually include brewing notes, as you can see from scrolling around our site. But with this one, we’ve found we really don’t need too many leaves to brew a pot. If you just barely cover the bottom of your pot or gaiwan, with a little bit of the ceramic poking through, it should be plenty.
Company description not available.