Fu Shou Shan

Daylon generously sent me a package full of green oolongs and Fujian black teas, and this is one I’ve been looking forward to trying. I steeped 6 g of leaf in a 120 ml teapot at 195F for 25, 20, 25, 30, 30, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds.

The dry aroma is of honeydew, peach, honeysuckle, and lilac. The first steep is very floral, with notes of lilac, honeysuckle, and sweet pea. I also get butter, spinach, and some honeydew melon. The second steep has lovely peach notes, though I agree with Daylon that they lean toward citrus. I also get melon, pear, grass, that herbaceous note I find in some high mountain oolongs, and stronger vegetal and spinach flavours. The next few steeps have a nice balance between fruit and florals, with tangy peach, pear, melon, lilac, honeysuckle, and a spinach backbone. By the seventh steep, the veggies, including spinach and peas, become more prominent, but that wonderful fruitiness doesn’t quit. The last few steeps are floral and vegetal.

I always fall for sweet, fruity oolongs like this one. The honeydew and pear are more pronounced than the peach for me, and the florals provide a nice balance. I deducted a couple points for the noticeable vegetal flavours, though I think they’re pretty much inevitable in green oolongs. In all, this is a great oolong with good longevity, and I’m grateful to Daylon for the sample.

Backlog/sipdown from last night:

One of my favorite oolongs so far. The Trident oolongs are knockouts.

All their notes are very on point, but I will add on top of clarified butter, melon,lilacs, snap peas, and honeydew, this teas is frickin’ aromatic. I’d also add peachy, but very “orange” and yellow in the fruits. Steep 2 gong fu is it’s high mark, and it goes up in troughs with its notes. It alternates from green and buttery, to densely fruity and floral bordering on dessert or fruity pudding. Most of the notes are the same whether western, gong fu, or even grandpa, but I personally find that the fruit notes are more even grandpa, but there is a lot more depth and variety gong fu. It occasionally gets flat, but it’s high marks make it more worth it.

I’m a sucker for candy like flavor and aroma. I was really sad to see this go as I hoarded it off. I was half tempted to get more…but I have too much tea, and I am a hypocrite. I ended up getting more tea anyway of stuff I haven’t tried yet.

More teas to write down. I thought I added the Darjeeling White Oolong and their Shanllinxi notes, but I could be wrong. Or they may have been deleted. The Darjeeling tastes like Watermelon and grape jollyranchers, and white grape juice. The ShanLinXi was heavy with lavender bordering on flavoring, but it was natural. Oddly, not too vegetal. I know, being quick and swift the backlog.

I hope you enjoy reading this anyway. All the teas I’ve mentioned are sweet ones good for connoisseur and newbie alike.