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Very delicious Oolong. No harshness, bitterness, or astringency. This is lightly roasted so it has a great balance of cream, floral, and lots of natural sweet notes.
The leaves do open up to look like a hairy crab as the tea is named after :)

Gong Fu
Quick rinse – 45"-55"
Creamy vanilla wafer scent and flavor to the dry leaves and liquor; thick mouthfeel. No bitter or astringency and naturally sweet. Very good quality Oolong!

Origin: Wen Shan District, Taiwain
Dry Leaf: Scent is nutty, buttery and leaves are deep forest/spinach green color. They are thick, twisted threads.
Method: 4 oz porcelain gaiwan 200F 45" then 55" steep
Wet Leaf: Floral, buttery, tangerine scent. Medium to large size leaves that had been twisted. All the leaves have carefully had the large part of the stem removed. Very precise and uniform leaves.
Liquor: Light, clear, golden pineapple color. Smells fruity and sweet. Subtly floral.
Flavor: (45") Creamy mouthfeel, subtly floral, buttery. Absolutely no astringency or bitterness. Very high quality Oolong.
(55") Still buttery and very good. Even after the leaves have opened up fully there is no astringency or bitterness. Very smooth Oolong.

Pouchong=
baozhong (Bao1 Zhong3) = very lightly oxidized tea (formerly?) wrapped in paper during drying, literally the Wrapped Kind (包种 or 包種) – in Taiwan this word is often applied to any oolong

Origin: Nantou, Taiwan
Dry Leaf: very woody scent and smells like shu Puerh. It does have the multi-colored leaves like Formosa though,,,,creams, dark browns, forest greens, moss greens, very pretty.
Method: 1 tsp tea for 12 oz water—190F for two minutes
Wet Leaf: Chopped leaves with stems. Sweet brine scent like stewed peaches with spices.
Liquor: Deep golden color,,scent of spiced peaches
Flavor: A touch of honey sweet but not as sweet as it smells. Woody notes. This is an ok, one-note tea as a hot tea and that note is woody.
But as an iced tea, it is very light and the woodiness mellows into a very subtle note and sweetness comes thru as it’s chilled with a larger honey note.
Refreshing and not too bold or strong-flavored which I like in an iced tea.

From the Steepster Select Box, July 2014

The dry mix smells like candy and an herbal that I’ve tasted at Teavana a long time ago but I can’t remember its name. There are large currants, apple pieces, dark pink pieces of the hibiscus.
The water turns bubble gum pink as soon as you pour. Then it gets a bit darker pink but not super dark. The liquid is very pretty and smells like cherry hard candy.
I took one sip hot and it is sweet cherry candy then I pour onto ice. Wouldn’t drink this one hot though it’s a fine flavor that way—just not my kind of hot tea.
Quite tasty and love the pink color.
As an iced tea,,, it is orange, light cherry candy, and it does have a fruit punch flavor to it. It’s sort of like really really watered-down Hawaiian Punch.
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Left some of this in the fridge for later in the afternoon and as this tea sits,,,the citrus notes really come out and give it a tangier punch. I will keep this in mind if I order some because I will drink it immediately with ice bc I like the Hawaiian Punch flavor with subtle citrus but it was great both ways. (There is actually no citrus in this mix so it must be the sour cherry that is becoming dominant)

From the Steepster Select Box, July 2014

7/24/14
Made another glass of this today,,,really tasty and will probably buy some.

Origin: Zhejiang, China
Dry Leaf: Fresh-scented mint—smells like my gum that I get at the health food store. I love spearmint. The tea is shiny and rolled into little “wads”,,not balls bc they’re oval knot shapes. Dried mint is still green and fresh.
Method: Large infuser basket Western style,,,1 tsp tea for 12 oz,,,,185F for 2 minutes
Wet Leaf: Minty scented leaves unravel to be somewhat chopped young leaves with stems and chopped mint.
Liquor: bright golden champagne color with a nice minty scent.
Flavor: As a hot tea, this is very nice and soothing. Tastes only of light mint, no tea taste coming thru. I could see drinking this hot when you don’t feel well as it is very soothing. It tastes like you steeped fresh mint leaves from your garden.
As an iced tea, it is VERy refreshing!!!! I love Moroccan Mint and this one is a very good quality! It is nicely mint and a hint of cream in the flavor and mouthfeel.

From the Steepster Select Box, July 2014

Origin: Taiwan/China/USA
Dry Leaf: Whoa!!!!! Smells like lavender and tea tree oil type cleansers that I’ve sniffed in the health food store. It is a very pretty mix of large, twisted dark green leaves; orange peel, and dried lemongrass blades.
Method: Large Western style brew basket, 1 tsp tea per 8 oz water,,, 212F for 4 minutes
Wet Leaf: They are calling this an herbal but there is Oolong tea in it so I will note there are some buds and the tea looks very nice in this blend.
Liquor: Light champagne yellow color, a little cloudy. Definitely smells herbal, like an herbal medicine. I can smell the tea too and it is very vegetal green- tea-smelling.
Flavor: Herbal, medicinal, not my thing but very pretty dry leaf. This was in the Steepster Select Box for July with a focus on Iced Tea. I did not make it to iced tea and was tasting this hot. I chose not to chill it because if I don’t really care for a tea that is hot, I don’t care for it chilled either. So this might change in flavor as a chilled tea but I will wait for other reviewers to see what they came up with :)

From the Steepster Select Box, July 2014

Origin: Tamil Nadu, India
Dry Leaf: Very finely chopped, dark mahogany brown,,,almost large coffee ground size leaves with scents of dried fruit.
Method: Western teapot with 1 tsp tea and 12 oz water. 212F for 2.5 minutes.
Wet Leaf: The cute little chopped pieces have reconstituted now and they have a good sweet raisin scent.
Liquor: Clear, light reddish amber. Smells very sweet like apple, raisin, and citrus
Flavor: Clean and smooth, not harsh or bitter. No astringency at all. Slightly creamy mouthfeel at the finish. Notes of apple peel, apple fruit, and a bit of black fig. Very enjoyable cup!! Was in the Steepster Select box that was entitled ‘Iced Iced Baby’ ,,for it would make a great iced tea but I never got to iced tea because it was an excellent hot cup of tea!!!!!!!!!!

From the Steepster Select Box, July 2014.

Origin: Logu, Nantou Co.; Taiwan
dong ding (Dong Ding) = mountainous oolong producing area of Nantou county, Taiwan, literally Frozen Summit (冻顶 or 凍頂)
Dry Leaf: Buttery, daffodil-scented yellowish-green tightly rolled pellets on stems.
Method: 4oz Porcelain Gong Fu pot 5grams tea 3oz water 200F No rinse
45 seconds first steeping then 55 seconds for the second steeping
Wet Leaf: Mostly 2 leaves on a stem. Honey and daffodil-scented. Leaves dark forest green now.
Liquor: Light spring green color, scent of the daffodil and honey.
Flavor: First infusion – Buttery flavor and mouthfeel. Not too floral in flavor, it is more on the nose—which is perfect.
Second infusion brought a touch of balancing bitter (but not harsh) and the liquor is a darker spring green color. Very good floral Oolong.

This is the last of the teas that I picked up on vacay to Seattle. I am a sucker for anything Fruits of the Forest, Fruits de Alsace, etc. lol.
The dry teabag smells like strawberry the most and also has some other berry scents to it.
I usually cut the tea contents out of teabags and use my own infuser but maybe I shouldn’t have done that with this one bc it is very bitter. I taste the fruits but the tea base is pretty yuccky tasting. Oh well, the package sure is cute so that’s one good thing lol.
I will try this again another day, maybe I will brew it way less time and that will help it.