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Dinosara

260 Followers / 214 Following

Jasmine Oolong Spring 2011 from DeRen Tea

Dinosara drank Jasmine Oolong Spring 2011 by DeRen Tea

Ugh, still sneezing, but better than before. And finishing up a sample, yay! I do have to remind myself that I want to save samples of most of my oolongs to try once I get a gaiwan or a gong-fu teapot.

I steeped this one at a slightly lower temp for a shorter time because last time it was a hint bitter. I might have over compensated, but the resulting brew is still a nice yellow and smells pretty strong. One thing I don’t think I got from the aroma last time is another floral hiding underneath the jasmine… it’s that oolongy floral, that green, fresh floral that green oolongs often have. This is plenty flavorful with these parameters, though it still mostly reminds me of a good jasmine green. I definitely still very much enjoy the cup!

2012-01-31 17:12:57 -0500

180 °F / 82 °C

2 min 0 sec

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Amy oh 2012-01-31 17:47:56 -0500

I love my gaiwans, just sayin’ :)

Spoonvonstup 2012-01-31 19:03:43 -0500

Hope you feel better soon! Also hope you get to have fun trying out a gaiwan or itty-bitty pot. Especially with your oolong-love. What are you looking for in a gaiwan, by the way? I’ll keep my eye out for one.

Dinosara 2012-01-31 20:15:55 -0500

Thanks! I actually haven’t looked at too many gaiwans so far because I am planning to get one in China! Gotta leave lots of room in my suitcase for teaware and tea. :D

Spoonvonstup 2012-01-31 20:28:57 -0500

Oh yeah!! That is so true. When my husband and I were working in China, we realized that our salary would be worthless if we saved it and changed it back to USD… so we just turned it into tea and teawares! Definitely a good decision.

Roughage 2012-02-01 12:12:50 -0500

We honeymooned in China and had to buy a new suitcase for the dinner service that my wife bought while we were out there. Divorce nearly ensued at that point! Now we love it though and laugh about me having to carry it all round China! I would love to go back, if only to stock up on puerh and teaware. I would make my wife carry it now though!!!! ;-)

Hope you are feeling better soon, Dinosara.

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I am tea obsessed, with the stash to match. I tend to really enjoy green oolongs, Chinese blacks, and flavored teas with high quality bases, especially florals, bergamot-based teas, and chocolate teas.

I’m a grad student and in my free time I am a birder, baker, and music/movie/tv addict.

I have an Adagio Teas UtiliTEA kettle and a Tea Forté Kati cup for brewing. I also have a Chinese Ru Kiln tea set for gongfu brewing.

Here are my rating categories, FYI:
100-90: These teas are mind-blowingly good to me.
89-80: I really really like these teas and will keep most of them in the permanent collection, but they’re not quite as spectacular as the top category
79-70: Tasty teas that I enjoy, but definitely won’t rebuy when I run out.
69-65: Teas that I would probably drink again, but wouldn’t seek out. They don’t quite do it for me in one aspect or another; often just not quite my style
64-60: Teas that I don’t really enjoy all that much and wouldn’t drink another cup of.
59-50: Bleh. I usually choose not to finish the cup because life’s too short to drink tea I dislike.
49 and below: Mega yuck. This tea is just disgusting to me.