80
drank Ti Kuan Yin by Adagio Teas
158 tasting notes

Still absolutely, without a doubt completely delicious.

And yes, it still smells like baked potato to me. I realize that’s the ‘nutty’ note, but something about it just screams ‘I am full of delicious starches’ to my nose, and it makes my palate incredibly happy. I’m backlogging this from earlier today. Presently, my teapot is full of Adagio’s Ali Shan, and I enjoy both of these so much (and they share enough qualities between them, in my mind) that I thought it was probably worthwhile for me to do another tasting note here despite the hour contributing to a total lack of brainpower or interest in being clever.

I think I’m torn between the two. On the one hand, the Ali Shan produces a cup of tea with an aroma that is utterly to die for. Buttery and fruity and floral, it’s leaving me with a strong sweetness and very faint, tingly coolness on the finish that I can’t remember getting from it before, which means one of two things:

a) my palate is still hinkey from my wisdom-teeth extractions or
b) my palate is improving.

Equal odds on that, really. But the Ali Shan seems to have a dryness and astringency that the Ti Kuan Yin really does not…and that baked-potato nutty smell almost makes me salivate. It’s not as ‘omg what is that I can only remove my nose from my cup long enough to take a sip’ as this Ali Shan, but the flavor is a little bit smoother. Maybe the long steep time is responsible for the dryness?

Regardless of my nitpicks between the two, they’re both so good that I’m eager to try more oolongs similar to them…full-bodied and chewy ones. If any of you oolong pros have recommendations, I could use them right about now. I’m running low on both of these and would prefer to branch out rather than just reordering from Adagio again, at least for now.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 0 sec

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Ohhh, I dunno. I like tea but I’m kind of a tea newbie. At this point I can say with authority that I may never be anything else, no matter how many teas I try…there is always something new out there.

I write a lot.

I also play way too many video games.

Ratings! (Bout time, wot?) This is a new arrangement, so…subject to change!

1-10: Not potable. First-sip disasters.

11-30: Intensely unpleasant…won’t catch me finishing the cup.

31-50: I really don’t like it…but maybe somebody else out there would.

51-70: Drinkable, but probably not the first thing I’m going to reach for.

71-90: Pretty good tea, and stuff that there’s a good chance I’ll have on-hand. Will do in a pinch at the low end, all the way up to regular visitors to my infuser on the high end.

91-100: Teas I really do not want to be without.

Location

Boston/Cambridge

Website

http://sophistre.tumblr.com/

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