wild forest oolong

Many many thanks to ashmanra for sending me some of this very precious tea to try!

This is one of the most interesting teas I’ve ever tasted! I think it’s called “wild forest” because it tastes a bit like those fresh pine needles that I had in that pine tisane! That piney/menthol/lemonyness… but fine delicious tea too! It’s a great combination and addictive! My taste buds are curious and keep nudging me to take another sip because they can’t quite place these flavors…together!

I’m looking forward to many many steeps today, and will post a comment later on how they evolved!

I am not sure if I should thank Ashmanra for sending me a sample of this. It is fabulous but now I am an addict to a $200 a pound tea. This tea is worth though, it is that amazing. Just to look at it you think much of this little tea. It is nonuniform, some big chunks some tiny leaves, a nice shade of green but nothing special. The smell of the wet leaves was like toasted pine nuts or maybe sunflower seeds to me. The truly amazing thing is the transformative taste of this tea. It first hits your tongue as a mineral, nutty roundness and the as you swallow becomes some and citrusy and lingers on the back of your palate. As you inahle after you still have those lingering notes. It is so amazing that you simply want to meditate on this tea and the sensory experience that you have just had. I am quite simply hooked.

I have only had one other oolong tea, and that was quite some time ago. I don’t even know if I steeped it properly! But I wanted to give oolongs a try and see what all the hubbub is about. The young man at the shop said to wash the leaves and steep for 3 minutes, so that is what I did. Also, the Harney Tea book said to resteep adding about 30 seconds each time, so subsequent cups follow that rule.

Oh…my…..goodness. I don’t know what to say. Is this how oolongs taste? I am confused. I feel just like I felt after the first time my husband kissed me – first, WOW! followed by, “I want to do that again!” The first sip was…. very light in taste at first. Then the aftertaste – AMAZING! Being new to oolongs I am at a loss to describe this. It doesn’t taste like any tea I have ever had. After the first sip, it gets stronger and stronger. Each cup gets darker, oddly enough. One would think it would be lighter. By the fourth steep, it is starting to get lighter. There is such a sweetness here. It is almost like when you pull honeysuckle flowers off the vine and drink the nectar, but closely followed by a mineral coating that stays with you. Each time I inhale, I REALLY taste this tea, and I mean for several breaths AFTER the sip. This one is a keeper, really amazing. Now I have to try even more oolongs!