75
drank Formosa Bai Hao by Adagio Teas
2036 tasting notes

Wow, is this really my third oolong in three days? My BF took no. 2 to do some crafts and no. 1 is off at an event until 7:30 so I have some TIME to enjoy an oolong. Woo hoo!

Using the gaiwan (not very adeptly) for this, and starting with short steeps.

The dry leaves are shortish and varicolored, mostly a medium green with silver streaks. They have a champagne-y smell, but not as piquant as some oolongs, and there’s also a really interesting peachy smell.

The steeped aroma carries through that peachy note, which is very nice. Liquor color is a sort of dark beige.

There’s a toastiness to the flavor and a really remarkable peach note. I didn’t expect to taste it when I read in the in the description, but yes, it’s there. Not just a generic “stonefruit” either. Definitely peach, surrounded by toasty nuttiness and a little wood.

Steep 2. 45 seconds. More nuts, less peach, and something a tad bitter has crept in, a little like the tartness of champagne

Steep 3 1 minute More peach, less bitter, a little astringency and I discover it goes pretty nicely with a chocolate almond biscotti ;-)

Steep 4 1:15 minutes This steep seems a little meh? There is some woodiness, and some stonefruit but not the peachy note.

Steep 5 1:30 minutes Not much left to the leaves, it appears

The steeped leaves didn’t expand nearly as much as the Ali Shan leaves did. In fact, they looked rather forlorn in the gaiwan, like chopped up grass and pine needles. Not sure whether that’s just a feature of this tea or whether there was something wrong in my preparation, or perhaps the leaves were showing their age.

Still I got a nice couple of steeps out of this, enough to make me look forward to finishing up the sample (which will likely take a while….)

ETA: The reason to try this is the interesting peach note. If it wasn’t for that I’d rate it lower because I think it really ought to hold its flavor better through more short steeps.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 0 min, 30 sec
keychange

omg I read the note to say something like “my bf took no. 2 to do a crap” and I was like…???? gotta love screenreading technology!

__Morgana__

Hahahaha!

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Comments

keychange

omg I read the note to say something like “my bf took no. 2 to do a crap” and I was like…???? gotta love screenreading technology!

__Morgana__

Hahahaha!

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Bio

I got obsessed with tea in 2010 for a while, then other things intruded, then I cycled back to it. I seem to be continuing that in for a while, out for a while cycle. I have a short attention span, but no shortage of tea.

I’m a mom, writer, gamer, lawyer, reader, runner, traveler, and enjoyer of life, literature, art, music, thought and kindness, in no particular order. I write fantasy and science fiction under the name J. J. Roth.

Personal biases: I drink tea without additives. If a tea needs milk or sugar to improve its flavor, its unlikely I’ll rate it high. The exception is chai, which I drink with milk/sugar or substitute. Rooibos and honeybush were my gateway drugs, but as my tastes developed they became less appealing — I still enjoy nicely done blends. I do not mix well with tulsi or yerba mate, and savory teas are more often a miss than a hit with me. I used to hate hibiscus, but I’ve turned that corner. Licorice, not so much.

Since I find others’ rating legends helpful, I added my own. But I don’t really find myself hating most things I try.

I try to rate teas in relation to others of the same type, for example, Earl Greys against other Earl Greys. But if a tea rates very high with me, it’s a stand out against all other teas I’ve tried.

95-100 A once in a lifetime experience; the best there is

90-94 Excellent; first rate; top notch; really terrific; will definitely buy more

80-89 Very good; will likely buy more

70-79 Good; would enjoy again, might buy again

60-69 Okay; wouldn’t pass up if offered, but likely won’t buy again

Below 60 Meh, so-so, iffy, or ick. The lower the number, the closer to ick.

I don’t swap. It’s nothing personal, it’s just that I have way more tea than any one person needs and am not lacking for new things to try. Also, I have way too much going on already in daily life and the additional commitment to get packages to people adds to my already high stress level. (Maybe it shouldn’t, but it does.)

That said, I enjoy reading folks’ notes, talking about what I drink, and getting to “know” people virtually here on Steepster so I can get ideas of other things I might want to try if I can ever again justify buying more tea. I also like keeping track of what I drink and what I thought about it.

My current process for tea note generation is described in my note on this tea: https://steepster.com/teas/mariage-freres/6990-the-des-impressionnistes

Location

Bay Area, California

Website

http://www.jjroth.net

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