Setup:
Glass teapot (250 ml)
Leaf – 7 grams (2 tsp.)
Water – 100 Celsius 250 ml
Time – 1 min, 2 min, 3 min
Leaf & Infusion:
Dry leaf – Leaf is tightly rolled with distinctive, fat stalks with medium to dark emerald green tone and an impression of oversized Dong Ding oolong. Aroma is similar to TGY with its orchid-flower notes. Aside that, there can be sensed some subtle buttery aroma in the background.
Wet leaf – Wet leaf is big and fat, airing with flowery freshness. There are up to three leafs on a stalk with various thickness ranging up to the wooden texture. Some of the leaves are slightly oxidized on the edges and there are some that are wrinkled.
Infusion(1st) – First steep results in clear light golden liquor that airs of condensed milk with flowery notes in the background. With light body and refreshing mouthfeel it has an initial dash of astringency that quickly disperses under the adaptation of palate. Buttery and milky notes appear after swallowing in upper palate, moving through the nostrils. Halfway in the cup some vegetal and grassy aspect starts to appear. Milky profile settles down and entwines with refreshing orchid notes as the liquor cools , making it more enjoyable.
Infusion(2nd) – Liquor color shifts to a green hue with consistent milky and less notable flowery notes. At this point vegetal note shifts to grassy aspect.
Infusion(3rd) – With third steep milky notes seem to have already reached their climax in previous steep and leaving space for grassy aspect to take the lead. Aside that, there’s some bitterness involved, but still in the pleasant range, with a hint of astringency that lingers for a short time
Conclusion – I got this tea some three months ago and drank it in slow progression. It reminds me of other Taiwanese rolled oolongs with similar buttery notes and less stable liquor output when compared to Jin Xuan. I could complain that it’s instructed to use 7 grams of tea per 8 Oz pot, which is too much for my routine (and pocket), but then I can use 3 grams and enjoy two consistent brews (3 min, 5 min).
All in all I’m satisfied with this tea, but I don’t drink it often and keep it for my occasional undesired rice pudding craves.
P.S.
Here is a blog review for two of Teavivre’s Jin Xuan Milk Oolongs. Just copy-paste the link on Google Translate using Croatian to English setting.
