Mountain Tea

Tea #21 from the traveling tea box.

Dr Jim put a fair amount of this tea in the box and I could have sat here and drank it all, it was just that good. Don’t worry, I left quite a bit for everyone else to enjoy.

When I saw this in the box I knew I had to save it for last and make sure I had enough uninterrupted time to myself to sit here and enjoy it. I’ve always been in love with oolong tea, although I haven’t had a chance to try many milk oolongs, so this was a real treat and a great way to end a really rotten week. The flavor of this tea is wonderful, the flavors run from sweet and floral to buttery and milky depending on how many times you steep it. This is one tea that resteeps very well, so don’t stop with just one steep.

This is the final tea that I’ll be trying so the box should be moving on tomorrow or Friday at the latest

Hello friends I am here, I could not last very long..of course the dashboard is busted right now. Things still suck A LOT but other than finding a job (hahahahahaha I thought this was going to be easier, I have lost count of applications, have only had one interview, and was turned down for it which I don’t mind because it was 6am-2pm or 2pm-10pm and no thanks..), I’ve done all I can for right now. I still have a lot more tea to let go of. I just still can’t bring myself to do it.

So because I get incredibly hot even with it being 77 in my apartment, I have become a creature of the cold brew. It’s been awhile since I cold brewed an oolong and I thought this one sounded like it’d be a good choice. And it is!

It reminds me a bit of the oolong base of the Lupicia Pineapple Oolong, but maybe much more subtle on the orchid notes, or at least easier to drink. It is overall pretty floral, but not like undrinkably so. It almost reminds me a bit of a white tea, there’s something like sweet hay to it. The sweetness also seems like some kind of light fruit. Pineapple’s in the description on here but it’s something a bit more subtle that I’m getting.

I’m not like a huge, huge fan of it, for some reason I’ve had a falling out with oolongs like this even though they used to be my favorite thing. I was hoping coldbrewing would bring the love back or something.

Just for future reference also since I used probably half this tea and might want to do this again: I steeped it for roughly 18 hours before first drinking, but left the tea in there for another couple of hours. It didn’t make much of a difference, but 18 was good. The other time I cold brewed an oolong I went a full day, but I think this was definitely full of flavor at 18.

Part II
I say part II because I drank the first half of this sample from Alpha kitty on saturday. It was ok, but a little bitter, & after comparing notes with Alpha, I decided to steep the 2nd half of the sample in a Gaiwan. It is MUCH better!! I did the 1st 4 rounds at 10 seconds each, combining them in a little glass pitcher & sipping them out of a 4 oz cup while I’m doing desk work. It is sweet, a little oatmeal-like taste, fruity, & there is a little salinity, & even a little bit of a rocky taste. Very different from the 3 minute steep of 2 days go. Much better! It is not bitter at all, & I made another pitcher full, this time at 20 seconds each. I’ll keep enjoying it until it’s steeped out.
Thanks Alpha! For the sample, & also the suggestions :)

Here’s another tea from the book club trade with Alpha Kitty!

I immediately liked the looks of this tea! It’s dark, rolled up, & visually appealing to me, with a dry smell of sweet apple pipe tobacco with a hint of chocolate! MmmmmMMMMmm!
There were no instructions, so I went with 3 minutes.
The wet leaf does not smell quite so appealing to me. It still smells fruity, but there is a bitterness to the aroma.
The cup of tea smells fruity, malty, & bitter.
Flavorwise, it’s ok. Malty, for sure, roasty, a little bit of a buttery taste, & the aftertaste de apple-like. I drank it straight.
Not bad, but not on my list to purchase. Nice to sample though.

I was going to hold off logging this till I had done a few more steeps, I’m brewing gongfu after all and I’ve only brewed for 5-8 seconds but oh my goodness this tea is blowing my mind and I had to share. First off, thank you to tperez for sending me a big pouch of this, several ounces in fact along with many other delicious teas. When I saw this on the swap board I didn’t look it up, I just thought it was the large rolled balls of black tea. I was surprised and delighted when it arrived and I found out that it was far more unique. I think tperez mentioned it was a Taiwanese oolong processed as a black and described it as tasting similar to Teavivre’s Bailn Gongfu Black, yum! However this says it Sumatran, I once passed on a Sumatran Oolong at TeaGschwender and regretted it. Anywho!

At only five seconds this is rich and dark and sweet. I picked up dark rye, raisins and dark chocolate. Then something happened in my cup that flipped my world upside down. I had never understood how a black tea could be fruity, never experienced it beyond the wine notes or a hint of plum or raisin in Darjeeling and a few high mountain teas. But this, oh my goodness, fruit! There are berries in my cup! Raspberries and strawberries and juicy plums and now that I’m reading it, yes apples!

Mind you I didn’t read any descriptions or tasting notes before drinking my first cup. But now I’m off to brew a second and am very excited. I hope the fruit sticks around for awhile! I should probably also eat something, as my head is swimming, beyond my giddiness.