Taiwan High Mountain Oolong

I need a tea tasting reset – that usually means a gongfu session with my favorite gaiwan and an everyday Taiwanese High Mountain oolong. Since, sadly, I’ve broken my favorite gaiwan, I’ll be using my alternate gaiwan. Seems suitable to brew a different High Mountain, too.

200F+ rinse until the rolled leaves unfurl, 9 infusions starting at 5s, ending at 1min, 195F-208F varying.

The rinse infusion is one of the most pleasant I’ve tried. Light, creamy, sweet, with no harsh taste whatsoever… more reminiscent of a milk oolong to me, as this lacks the floral or savory components I’m used to. That also means there’s no cloying flower or bitter toasty flavors that I dislike in oolong rinses. Surprising.

The first two infusions mostly follow the rinse profile, which is still surprising. It’s definitely still a High Mountain and not a milk oolong, as the creaminess is more buttery than milky and there’s that darker, buttery savory base. That savory flavor takes over for the next few infusions, with a hint of squash, and a mild sweet tapioca aftertaste. In the entire last half, the profile is mildly sweet, with a honeyed tapioca flavor and savory florals. It’s a great profile, but it doesn’t develop into anything else… It’s nice in that it’s pretty consistent at this point, and the infusion strength itself isn’t weakening. And all throughout the session, the liquor was thin-syrupy, like sugar water, and the tea itself was very refreshing despite the 195F-200F temperatures.

I’m willing to guess that this High Mountain oolong from Bird Pick is higher altitude than my everyday version, causing that creaminess I’m not used to. It’s also clear that this leaf is less rolled/oxidized, with larger rolls, more whole leaf, and fewer reddened leaf edges, making this less savory and toasty.

Edit: Very late steeps finally showcase those florals I was expecting, and very pleasantly so in combination with the honey. This resteeps better than usual, ending at 18 infusions.

Definitely a great oolong, and one I’ll look forward to brewing alternately with my current everyday High Mountain!

Somewhat buttery, deliciously fruity. I did 4 infusions and probably could have done more.
I don’t have a lot of experience with Oolongs (especially green/non-roasted ones), but it was very good. I don’t know if I’d buy more, but only because there are so many Oolongs out there to try.

Deliciously sly this one is. It parades itself like any other taiwanese tea, unassuming, docile. But don’t let it fool you.

This is one of the best teas that they carry in the store. A few leaves are all you really need to start since they are so full. The flavor profiling on these have got to be a cross somewhere between butter, pumpkin, spice, and a medium body oolong. It also has a yellow gold brew that looks beautiful after a 5 minute brew. Additionally, the second brew is my favorite, because that’s where the leaves begin to open and really let out the pumpkin notes.

This is such a smooth tea! It’s pretty much exactly what I think of when I think of oolong – lightly floral, good through about four steeps, a nice unchallenging tea that does what it’s supposed to. The leaves are curled so tightly that I use my biggest tea strainer so they can really unfurl fully, which I’d recommend if only so you can marvel over how huge these tea leaves are after several cups.