This is my first time tasting a Wuyi and it was fairly obvious even to me how different it was from the other oolongs I’ve tasted.
I did 7 steeps. The first was 15 seconds, the second was 10, the third was 15 and after that they got longer. The 6th and 7th steep were 30 and 60 seconds and neither was especially satisfying but they weren’t horrible. I ended up heating fresh water after then 4th steep.
The first steep was a bit astringent though not bitter. It dried my mouth out a bit. The second was also a bit astringent but the 3rd and 4th were quite smooth without any astringency.
The dry leaf smelled somewhat chocolatey, I guess from the way the tea was roasted but this was almost undetectable in the tea. Even in the wet leaf it was not strong. The wet leaf mostly had the spinachy vegetal smell but not as strong as other oolongs I’ve tried.
That “rock” taste was definitely present. It wasn’t unpleasant but it was an unusual flavor to my palate.
Overall, perhaps because I’ve been tasting many new teas over the last few weeks, this was the tea from which I got the most complexity in taste and aroma. I can’t say if it was the tea or me just starting to become more familiar with the scent and taste vocabulary of tea. Whatever the cause, it was fun to experience.
I’m not sure I’d want to drink this every day but I definitely enjoyed it and could see myself ordering more of it after the samples run out.
Flavors: Astringent, Chocolate, Mineral, Spinach
