The dry leaves are forest green and darker. The coconut shreds are tinted a bright shade of green in my sample. The aroma of the dry leaves is a sweet, chewy, buttery coconut; if you smelled the tea with your eyes closed, you could convince yourself you had opened a tin of coconut butter cookies. I’m excited to taste what this tea will be like.
The aroma over the steeped leaves is like steamed spinach and some coconut.
The liquor is slightly cloudy and a light green-yellow. It has a tangible and savory coconut aroma and has plenty of tea oil floating on top.
The taste is as expected from the smell. There is a buttery coconut flavor, a very (very) light astringency and a light sweetness that comes in moments later. There is a bitterness I notice at the very end or after a sip, and this is very faint. Where is the tea? Violent swishing around my mouth brings out a vegetal flavor and some oolong flavor — aha — there it is! This also brings a delicate, piney aftertaste.
A second steeping at 205F for 4 minutes gives a greener liquor with less tea oil. The coconut flavor is still produced at the same strength, and the vegetal tea flavor is stronger. The aftertaste is sweet with coconut.
I would call this very smooth and delicate, but not as complex as other oolongs I’ve tried. Overall the flavors are light. I may need to try this first steep again with a longer steep or with more tea to get the full flavor I expect from an oolong.
