Taiwan "Shui Shan" Oolong Tea

This was my second mystery oolong from the Black Friday sale. As someone who’s not a fan of roasted oolongs, I did not approach this tea with the same enthusiasm as I did the Jade Oolong. Hoping to minimize the roast, I steeped it as I would a wuyi oolong: 6 g in a 120 ml teapot at 200F for 7, 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds.

The dry aroma is of chocolate, honey, smoke, and roast. The first steep reveals that the roast is not as pronounced as I feared. I get honey, toasted grain, roast, chicory, smoke, and faint flowers. A mineral note appears in steep two, but sadly, no chocolate. I get a muddled dark chocolate note in the next couple steeps, along with wood, more roast, and lots of honey and grain. There’s also a floral and grassy aftertaste. The next four rounds offer consistent flavours of honey, cereal, nuts, mild roast, and grass, along with a slick body. The last few steeps are full of roast and minerals.

This is a solid, comforting tea that does not display much flavour variation. To be honest, I found it a bit boring, although its profile is not one I gravitate toward. This is pretty inoffensive and does show some characteristics I associate with Wuyi oolongs, but I won’t be sad to see it go.