I don’t believe I’ve had a Huang Guan Yin before, but I like wuyi oolongs and was looking forward to trying this. Because I was at home today, I decided to do more of a gong fu preparation.
I used my little yixing teapot devoted to wuyi oolongs and did a quick rinse of the leaves.
Steep #1: 30 seconds. I got a very sweet, honey-like tea liquor that’s a medium yellow. I feel like there are some peachy notes in here as well as a slight roastedness. Definitely has a nice lingering aftertaste. Norbu compares it to a graham crackers but it reminds me more of toast with a bit of marmalade. Definitely liking it so far!
Steep #2: 20 seconds. Now the graham cracker flavor is definitely coming to the forefront. Definitely much less mineral-y and plummy than other wuyi teas I’ve had in the past. Still getting lots of honey and orange marmalade notes. Not a trace of bitterness in sight, which is great! I have to say I am finding this quite delicious.
Steep #3: 10 seconds. The lighter steep has brought out some lighter, fruitier notes, more peaches and apples seem to be present as well as a bit of butter. This is one non finicky tea.
Steep #4: Still insanely good although getting a bit lighter in flavor. Like a honey drizzled peach over a graham cracker crust. Heavenly! Flavor is still great.
I happen to like light to medium roasted oolongs and this was definitely a surprise. I was expecting something quite different but the result was great. Gets high marks from me for flavor, resteepability and non-astringent/bitterness.
I did like this quite a bit better than the Fenghuang oolong I had a few days ago. This isn’t as aromatic and flowery, but you can’t have everything in life. I have been fairly impressed with Norbu tea so far.
Final verdict: YUMMM! I’m not sure how this could get any better for me personally, so I’m just going to ahead and give it 100 points.
