Da Yu Ling Oolong

Just added this to our website. I always like to drink the teas while I write the descriptions for our website, even though I have already written full tasting notes. It gets me in the mood to write about the tea.

I love this oolong. Our Anxi Tie Guan Yin and this one are my 2 favorite oolongs. I definitely recommend this to any oolong fanatics. This is a winter harvest and the leaves were plucked just a couple months ago, so it is very fresh. The leaves are very sturdy. Here is a picture after the 3rd infusion: http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i446/butikiteas/3rdinfusionleavesdayuling_zpsb70e1a64.jpg. That’s from my mini glass pot that I use for gongfu sessions. I love being able to see the leaves brew. This is just such an interesting tea. Here’s a short breakdown of the infusions I’ve done so far:

1st infusion: Very floral, notes of orchids and lilac mingle with bosc pear followed by light spearmint notes. Buttery. Light spinach notes.

2nd infusion: very very vegetal.

3rd infusion: vegetal but fading.

4th infusion: The floral notes are back and even stronger now! The spearmint notes are also pretty strong and lingers long after the sip. Nice sweetness and deliciously buttery. This was one of my favorite infusions this session.

5th infusion: Floral, vegetal with strong spearmint notes. Delicious!

This tea has a few more infusions left, but I need a break at the moment.

I strongly recommend giving this one a try but also recommend taking some time to spend with it.

Thank you so much Stacy for letting me try this jewel of the mountains!

On this beautiful Easter Sunday morning, I needed the perfect tea. Time to open this coveted oolong sample.

Over the past year, I have developed a profound love for Oolongs. It has emancipated my palate by offering me an infinite range of variety and possibilities.

One thing I love the most, is the anticipation it creates each time I try a new one. Oolongs are so different from one another, on so many levels. (I realize this is fact for most teas, but I find it to be particularly true for Oolongs.)

It goes from the % of oxidization, the roasting process with the aged ones, the way it is rolled, the way the leaf unfurls, the climate it is grown in, all the way to the insect that will ignite the sweetest defence mechanism. No surprise that Oolong is on my list of this world’s greatest wonders!

Gungu brew will allow me to experience all its subtleties.

The look: beautiful unbroken leaves that unfurled rapidly. The infusion is bright yellow, almost phosphorescent, it is worth pouring in clear glass to appreciate all its nuances.

The taste is so sweet and delicate. The fragrance brings the image of a rare and fragile flower, a unique gem timidly revealing its splendour. One sip and I’m transported in altitude, at the top of the highest unattainable mountain peak. If I could take a bite out of a mellow fluffy cloud, I’d imagine it would taste just like this tea.

It is slightly vegetal, fresh notes of flowers and citrus. It is exquisitely balanced by a sweet buttery mouthfeel that lingers for a long time.

Not long enough though, cause I feel sadness when it’s all over after 6 steeps…

The fact that Mr. Right unapologetically salivated all over it (sorry for the mental image, it happens on very rare occasions) helped in my decision to immediately place an order with Butiki!

Happy Easter everyone!

I made this up in a mug a couple of times and got bored two steeps in (too vegetal too quickly for me), but this sipdown gongfu session is turning out to be great!

The first steep is very floral, with a slightly fruity sweet finish and lingering taste (favourite oolong things). Richness is on the heavy side here too. I think I’m starting to get well acquainted with orchid notes. It’s one of the few floral notes where I go “yeah, I totally recognize this and can give it a name.”

The second an third steep are little more vegetal, like how the first two mugs of western brewing tasted. There’s still a sweetness to the finish, but the orchid notes are no longer there and it tastes like steamed greens with a very light slathering of butter or oil.

I butchered my fourth and fifth steep and I ended up combining the two together. It worked out somehow though, and the floral notes are back, alongside a zippy green note. This combo cup and the first one are my favourites so far.

I think I’ll end it there because I’m starting to feel uncommitted to this note. I still love Organic Sparrow Tongue most of all but this oolong is up there in the ranks with some of the tieguanyin oolongs I’ve tried.

I have extra time today and have decided to make this Gongfu style which is my preferred method for oolongs. To prepare it, I rinse the leaves first. The liquor is light yellow with a greenish cast. The wet leaves smell very vegetal. The 1st infusion tastes very buttery and has light spinach notes. The second infusion has a more floral fragrance and taste, with light vegetal notes in the background. After 5 infusions, I can sum up my impression with the words buttery, light, smooth, and creamy, with a lingering sweetness-it reminds me of what I appreciate in a good Tieguanyin. Each infusion is a little different, but all of these aspects are there to some degree, and the first four infusions are very flavorful, though not aggressive. The 5th infusion is pushing it, but I think next time, I might use a little more leaf, higher temp, and shorter steeping times as an experiment. If you’re an oolong fan, this is worth trying, especially if you like Tieguanyin.

This was the first tea to grace my new (and first) gaiwan! I was able to do 5 steeps. I think next time I need to adjust my steeping times. I was unsure of what to do with the gaiwan, and I think I may have used times that were a little too long to get the most out of this oolong. Now I know to use shorter steeps in order to get a little more out of this tea!
First I did a quick rinse. I tasted it, of course, because I was curious. Even the rinse was tasty! But let’s get down to the “real” tasting steeps.

1st Steep:
-Smell: Vegetal, almost creamy scent. Also present was a floral scent, which my little sister described excitedly as “lilac”. There may be hope for this kid yet!
-Taste: This first steep was mainly vegetal, almost asparagus-like, though not as pungent. Maybe more like spinach. I’m also detecting a sweetness to the cup. It has a smooth, creamy mouth-feel and a floral aftertaste. Overall, a nice cuppa.
2nd Steep:
-Smell: Floral smell is front and center, with a light vegetal smell. I find this so interesting, as the wet leaves in the gaiwan smell VERY vegetal. Strange how that works. I’m also detecting a bit of a mint scent in the brew, but it’s very faint.
-Taste: Taste wise, this cup brings forth a bit more of the floral aspects of the tea (lilacs!). There are also some spinach-y, asparagus-y aspects, but the floral is definitely the most prominent. The very end of the sip holds a surprising minty kick, which was very refreshing! This cup was both sweet and smooth. Even smoother than the first steep.
3rd Steep:
-Smell: This cup smells very floral, and I’m detecting very little of the vegetal aspects.
-Taste: Suprisingly enough, though very floral in scent, this cup is very vegetal! Interesting. The vegetal aspect of this cup is very spinach-like. That being said, the spinach taste I’m getting is not only vegetal, but sweet! This cup is also smooth/creamy, and the mint aspect is still going strong. The lilac I got in the previous steep isn’t discernible in this cup. May be my favorite steep yet!
4th Steep:
-Smell: The vegetal scent is back, but it’s about a 50/50 mix with the floral scent.
-Taste: This steep is still vegetal, but the spinach-like taste is lighter. Aspects of the floral taste are coming back. The mint aspect is not present. Sweet, light, smooth cup.
5th Steep:
-Smell: Smells like spinach, with only slight floral aspects.
-Taste: Very light. Slightly sweet. Vegetal taste and floral taste are both present, but neither is really standing out more than the other. This steeping is still good, but will be the last, as I 1)have to do some homework and 2) think I may be close to exhausting this one. Next time I’ll use shorter steeps in order to keep this tea going. I had a lot of suggestions from people, so I’ll experiment a little to get the most out of this delicious oolong!

Overall, I love this oolong! It’s on the vegetal side, but isn’t grassy like greens can be. It’s floral, but not in a bitter, overpowering way. It was a perfect choice for my new gaiwan, and I can’t wait to try this one again now that I know a little bit more about brewing with the gaiwan and have a framework of steeping times in mind.