Ali Shan

You ever have so many teas that you want to try that you do not remember them by name? Yea, me too. Anyway, this one was a sample from Ricky, thank you (!) and I have to say that I will DEFINITELY be purchasing this with my next Adagio order.

The leaves are tightly curled oolong, they are dark green but brew a pale slightly golden liquor. The aroma of the leaves is plain, simple, not complicated, almost a faint green tea smell. An interesting note is that I usually pour hot near-boiling water into a smaller teapot that I carry with me around the house, immediately after pouring water into the infusion basket and over the tea, a sweet, almost minty aroma was released. Now ecstatic, I let the tea infuse for four minutes (no additives). Unfortunately, by the end of my brew, that minty sweet aroma was gone and replaced with a mellow vegetal note.

The flavor is surprising, it is gentle, a bit vegetal, a little buttery, with a tiny hint of sweetness at the very end and the cool mouth-feel of a minty tea. Delicious.

Second infusion, two minutes, no additives. I did not get the minty smell again, but it was more pronounced in the tea itself. Still buttery, light, vegetal with slightly more mint. Overall, very enjoyable tea.

After a 10.5 hour drive, I needed a little tea to decompress. I shared with the husband and his father but didn’t know what size the cups were or the teapot was so I really just sort of guesstimated everything about this tea experience and did it a little more Western-style than I normally do. It was all guess-work so it wasn’t the best cup of this I’ve ever had but it was pretty darn good and enjoyable. Got 3 nice steeps out of it and it hit the spot.

Man, my rating system is a real mess now.

I really, really love the way this tea smells after it brews. It’s such a rich smell. I couldn’t stop sniffing my cup after the first brewing.

On the first brew, I didn’t really feel like the taste was particularly floral. Buttery plantlife, mellow, rich greenery…that was the taste to me. Deliciously so, and smooth to drink, but still very much a ‘green and growing things’ taste. The second steeping has surprised me…I found the smell far more floral. It hit me unexpectedly, out of the blue, and I thought…oh! That’s what they were talking about! Strangely enough, the taste of this second cup manages to combine that slightly floral taste with an even more pronounced ‘this was a plant’ taste — grassy and brighter, this time — though I wonder if that’s a result of not steeping it quite long enough to give it a fuller body, as I was wary of oversteeping.

These pretty, richly-hued bundles of leaves really make me glad that I decided to buy an infuser cup with a ton of room for them to expand…and it’s glass, so I get a free show, too. Fun.

This is a nice florally and buttery tasting oolong but it simply doesn’t hold a candle to my formosa silk oolong by Te’House of Tea. I’ll rerate the second steep if it is better than the first as is the case with my other oolongs.

Taken Plain.
Flavorful for a lightly fermented Oolong.
The interesting thing about this tea is the mix of buttery and floral tones. Usually I think of those two kinds of flavors fighting for dominance but in this blend they compliment each other nicely.
That’s why I keep coming back to this Oolong. Great Flavor and balance while remaining light.

Another light oolong to continue my oolong odyssey! Smells pretty mild, slightly of grass but honestly does not hit me in the nose like some teas do. Very light aromas nothing pungent by any means. Some slight notes of pleasant vegetables maybe… Very smooth tasting with a crisp finish after swallowing and just a slight subtle hint of bitter at the back of my tongue. The kind of bitter that is good if you understand my meaning.

Color is pale yellow, I think I am going to steep the next one more and try a little more than the suggested amount of tea to see if it makes things bolder. Having also gotten a sample of Adagio’s Ti Kuan Yin and having drank that earlier today, I think I prefer that to this. However that doesn’t mean this is bad by any means at all.

Further tasting and testing will be needed to see where it will finally fall. Right now it goes on my “buy as a substitute if they are out of Ti Kuan Yin oolong tea list” laughs

Yes I do like this, but I probably should try more tea on this with my next fresh “steeping session” for this tea. Probably later this week…. I also need to log a Ti Kuan Yin session when I get a chance… Until then happy steeping folks!

I picked up a sample of this one with my last order and although it was satisfactory there really wasn’t anything that stood out for me. It is vegetal and slighty sweet. The tea itself is beautiful and even a little heavy in weight. I am however glad I had the chance to try it.

Ali Shan is one of my favorite oolongs, and this one from Adagio doesn’t disappoint. Vegetal, minty, light, buttery, complex, a bit grassy, and a little sweet, the flavors of this tea just keep you guessing. Each infusion brings something a little different out from the leaf. One of the most beautiful things about this tea is comparing the dry leaf to the infused leaf. Because of how tightly it is packed it really goes through quite the transformation as it unfurls. In my cup today there is even a stem with two leaves intact. It just goes to show how much care the growers are putting into this tea.

I have a couple different brewing methods I suggest you try.

For more vegetal, grassy taste: 205º-212º for 5 minutes
For sweet, buttery taste: 185º-190º for 3-5 minutes

As Adagio notes, this tea is good for many infusions. I’ve been able to steep this tea 8-10 times before noticing a decline in complex flavor.

Helloooo oooolong!!!!!

I had my first non-flavored unscented oolong right before work and was devestated to only get two steeps in before I began my commute. Plus the whole “getting ready” lessened my chance to fully appreciate the cups. I shoulda skipped the makeup today. That second steep made it into a travel mug and actually made the trip more enjoyable (that and a good audio book).

I’m not a big fan of the straight-up smell of neither the dry leaf nor the tea. But what can I say? I became a temporary vegetarian for two years JUST to try to gain a love for that which is veggie. The love never did happen, but I now don’t hate vegetables. But the smell of…asparagus?…well, it didn’t excite me.

I remembered to do the little flushie-flush of the cute little pearly-pearled leaves and was very impressed with the size of the post-steeped leaves. They’re the biggest ones that I’ve seen from Adagio thus far.

First cup was pretty veggie and I was concerned that me and oolong weren’t meant to be. And then the second steep: a buttery-veggie cup of yum. I can’t even quite describe it as of yet. It was just…nomaliscious. And yes, I’m on a kick of adding “liscious” to words. I’m dying to spend a day in appreciation of oolongs and steep my brains out. TG

I don’t drink as much oolong as I would like, because I feel as if I really ought to savor it. And usually I don’t have a lot of time for savoring. This tea is amazing. It has wonderful tropical & floral notes. I even oversteeped it (ha not unusual) but it is fabulous. A little strong, maybe, but very good. And I love how my teapot looks like a kelp forest when I’m brewing it. From prior experience I will say that steeps 2 and 3 will be the best… assuming I don’t forget about it and leave it for 30 minutes. Ahem.

I just realized I have quite a bit of this tea (by “quite a bit” I mean probably enough for at least 5 more sessions). And I’ve had it for a little over two years now, still in its little sample tin (remember those? Oh I have so, so many of those cute little Adagio sample tins). So naturally it’s a little stale and lost a bit of flavor, but it’s still very comforting right now.

I remember when I was first really, really getting into tea and wanting to show it off to everyone I knew, this was one of my favorites to demonstrate because the leaves are so tightly packed and then unfurl throughout the steepings into nice clusters of big leaves and stems, sometimes four or five whole leaves attached to one stem. It’s pretty impressive and gets a nice reaction from the onlookers. I love taking the leaves out of the gaiwan once they’re spent, and spreading them out on the tray. One of those teas that’s just a lot of fun to play with. I remember in particular a few people asking, after the demonstration, if they could take one of the leaf clusters home. No idea what they planned on doing with them, but it was a good sign they enjoyed the whole experience.

Ah, it’s been a long time since I’ve done a tea brewing demonstration for other people. Good times.

You definitely get your money’s worth out of this tea as it holds up to multiple infusions.

In the tin, the tea has a strong melon (honeydew and cantaloupe) fragrance. The leaves are tightly rolled and are gravel-like in appearance and they have a very bright green color.

After the first infusion, the tea had not completely unfurled. In taste and smell, the fruit characteristics of the tea hold up. There was, however, a very slight astringency, almost like vinegar, in the first few sips. This diminished over time. The tea leaves a lingering sweetness like a light, floral honey.

On the second pass, the tea had completely unfurled. This resulted in leavings of mainly partial leaves and approximately 25-30% stem material. It’s possible that this was the cause of the very subtle initial bitter spike.

As the number of infusions increased, the fruit profile began to wane. You do reach a point where that bitterness returns and the cups are no longer enjoyable. This was somewhere between the fifth and sixth for me.

Oh, my. I was craving this and didn’t even know it. Pale, greeny-gold liquid, a sweet, fresh and vegetal taste, a richly sensual aroma like asparagus cooking in butter, and so very thirst-quenching.

Mmmmm, very nice. Just the smell of it pulls me in. There is a nice sweetness that comes with it. The first infusion is remarkable, complex, lovely, I can’t wait for the 2nd steep which to me, is always better and has more pronounced flavor. Great aftertaste still lingers at the back of the throat, almost floral- like.

As an oolong, it’s great. For the Oolongs I’ve had from Adagio, I’d probably put this at the top of the list. Definitely had the mountain peak taste, and rates above your average Dong Ding, or other Taiwanese leaf. Good, bright color, and had that light, buttery taste that’s characteristic of the higher teas.
But again, I’ve had better teas from the same category.

While this tea was able… to lift me, it didn’t transcend me as much as other Ali Shans have. By that, I mean… I did EXPERIENCE the tea, as you can only really do with the finer ones, but it didn’t take me away from the real world. I will give it credit for moving me, though.

Less abstractly, now…
Good leaf color, not too many stems, and a nice smell. I will note, though, that the leaves’ fragrance seemed to weaken as I brewed, where it usually gets stronger for me. Also, post brew, as I played with the leaves, I wasn’t impressed. While it seemed to be more or less all whole leaf, the leaves weren’t in the best quality, and they’re not quite as aesthetically pleasing as the leaves I’ve had from finer Taiwanese teas. I know there’s something…off in them, but I’m not tea-educated enough to be able to pick it out precisely, or put it into adequate words.

So, I’ll leave it at this. If you like oolongs, this is a nice tea. I’m sure I’ll brew it again, and use it as a “fancy tea” for guests. For my personal tastes, I’ve been a bit blessed in my tea experiences, and this doesn’t quite meet my expectations, and thus doesn’t completely satisfy. In the end though – a good tea, worth buying, especially if you haven’t tried finer oolongs before.

It’s about a 823 out of 1000 I suppose. I wish I had a little bit hotter water to brew it. Seems like whatever temp the insta-boil device on the alhambra thing is just slightly under what it needs to be (probly 190) for this tea. I’ll try it again for a full review another day.

HOLY CRAP THIS IS SUCH A CLEAN AND DELICIOUS OOLONG. WHY IS IT SO EXPENSIVE NOOO!!! I totally want to get some of this someday though, it’s super great. Such a light colour!

Single cip, Honey

A bit better this time around. Still a flavor in there that makes my nose wrinkle a bit.

Previously I’ve brewed this western style, with good results. Today I tried 5g in my 100ml gaiwan. 10 second rinse. THEN: I got distracted by the election results on TV (first time I voted today, yay!) and completely overbrewed it. _ I was trying to go for [20, 15, 20, 30, 45 etc], but ended up doing something like [30, 20, 35, 55, 70?, 3 mins??]. You know what I’m not even sure. I was counting silently in my head then it got all jumbled when those heavily hairsprayed people with extremely white teeth on TV started rattling out other numbers.

But thankfully this tea still came out alright, despite my mishandling. I drank all steeps, shared some with my mom, and she even asked for seconds. I did manage to pull together enough attentiveness to get one fantastic brew though, I think it was the third. Now if only I could repeat that…

{_falls on knees_} I’m so sorry Alishan! Next time I promise to accord you the mindful brewing you deserve! ;_;

I tried to like it. I wanted to like it. BUT…I don’t. This tea smells musty, tastes sharp at first then turns super dry. It’s almost like a dry white wine but without the promise of a little buzz. Does anyone want my sample tin? I’ll trade ya!