Zealong Aromatic 2011/12

My very first and favourite wulong. Magnificent!
I bought this tea a while ago, as my first foray into good quality teas. Every tea I’ve bought since hasn’t compared to it.
Floral, fruity and sweet, with a beautiful golden liquor and an intoxicating aroma.
And it’s grown right here in New Zealand!
The dry leaves are a deep green, tightly coiled into little bundles of goodness. At first it looks like a lot of stem matter is included, but upon steeping, the leaves unfurl to a phenomenal size. And they’re beautiful – hardly any bruising, tearing or dust.
The flavour peaks around the third steep, but it doesn’t by any means drop off after this – the tea is of such a quality that it can be steeped up to eight times. (Or more if, like me, you use a (very) heaped teaspoon).
The first few steeps (after an initial rinsing, of course) are best at 30ish seconds (this tea is strong!), increasing bit by bit until they’re about 2-2.5 minutes towards the end of its life.
I didn’t realise how good this tea was when I got it. All the teas I’ve had since then (2008 jade Tieguanyin, Taiwan high mountain wulong…), while nice, just don’t stand up to it.
It’s now my “special occasion” tea – I dread the day that I run out!
Time for me to stop rambling and go to bed.

Oh my gosh, I didn’t have the Aromatic when I first ordered Zealong, and now I’m so sad I didn’t. I’ve been missing out!

I feel the Aromatic is more on the Pure side than the Dark side, and it has a floral fragrance and taste. Like a jasmine, which is of course my favorite, but paired with this oolong’s natural sweetness, it’s a whole new dimension of floral tea for me!

I’ve been drinking this one for two days now, and it puts a smile on my face with every inhale and every sip!

Pure and smooth and strong. Lovely.