Sunday sample sipdown!
This was a swap either from VariaTEA or Dex – I think VariaTEA. I’ve heard various hymns about Mandala, and about the high quality of this oolong in particular, so I thought I’d see what the fuss was about.
Man, this tea was wasted on me. I waited too long to sip it, so it probably absorbed the flavours of the other teas sitting nearby. In addition, I know myself well enough by now to know that green floral oolongs are not my favourite, and this was very floral. Third, I didn’t get much of a taste of cream or milk at all in this.
I tried brewing this gong-fu style with my gaiwan, but I got only about 3 or 4 steeps in before I decided that this tea just wasn’t working for me. I did a quick 10 second rinse, and my steeps ranged from 15-25 seconds. The leaves had started to unfurl quite nicely inside the gaiwan and the liquor was generally a pale golden colour, but the flavour still wasn’t compelling for me.
At least I have another data point to add to my observations about (my general dislike of) green oolongs.
I don’t think this was from me since I don’t usually keep oolongs around.
Hm, I guess it was Dex, then.