Another one from the Canton Tea Co sampler – as their description notes, although it’s called a green tea, it’s actually an oolong, and I think that comes through in the flavor. But I’m getting ahead of myself – the dry leaves are twisted but not as tightly rolled as gunpowder tea, and are a deep green in color. The scent is vegetal and fresh.
I gave the first steep one minute at 190 degrees, and got a much bigger burst of the vegetal scent right off the bat. There is also a sweetness mixed in, and I’d have to agree with the previous description of it as apricot – it’s a nice highlight. The flavor is walking the line between green and oolong; we’ve got the seaweed/buttered vegetables thing going on, but I’m also getting the sweet, juice-like flavor of a good oolong in there as well.
The second steep went for two minutes, but I found the flavor surprisingly muted this time. The vegetables got a little deeper, but the sweetness has receded into the background. It still has a pleasant amount of substance in the mouth feel though. Overall, a nice tea, but I’m wondering if my sensing it as neither fully green nor fully oolong might make it less than satisfying in the long run.
