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Alishan (Mount A Li) is one of Taiwan’s legendary Oolong tea-growing regions. The rich soil and cool moist climactic conditions make it ideal for growing tea. Because of the daily mountain mists, the plants grow slowly, producing tender, flavorful leaves and buds.
Our Alishan Oolong is hand-picked and hand-processed in a time-honored method yielding rolled ‘fists’. It has a smooth, fruity, sweet taste and a pleasing bright color. This tea has a complexity that brings out a distinct flavor and character with each brewing.
Bring water to just under boil (185-195)
Number of Infusions – 2-3
Sweetener – Optional
Cream – No
Water Temp (degrees F) – 185
Steep Time – 3-4 Minutes
Caffeine – Moderate
Ali Shan is my favorite Oolong. I love it so much, in fact, that I bought a Yixing mug strictly for my Ali Shan teas.
I took out my gaiwan for this (yes, my gaiwan is becoming less a gadget and more an essential brewing tool). This is a really lovely Ali Shan. The flavor is rich – pleasing mouthfeel, although it’s a little lighter (less) mouthfeel than in some other Ali Shan teas I’ve encountered. It’s still quite nice though. Buttery. Floral. Only a hint of vegetation.
A very nice Ali Shan!
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again (and again!)…I LOVE ME SOME ALISHAN!!!!
This one is screaming multiple infusions…so I am going to put it to the test! For my first trick…I mean…attempt…
It looks like an Alishan SHOULD look…it smells slightly floral-sweet. More floral than sweet. As it infuses I can pick up the slightest hint of a vegetable of some sort…green peppers, maybe!?
On the tongue – it’s smooth and sweet and semi-floral!
I’m not sure why…but I can see myself drinking this from a stylish tea thermos – thru a park – on a foggy night!
Dry tea smells as I’d expect, rich and woodsy. It’s prettily rolled up into little balls of oolong.
185/3 min. The color of the tea is a very light golden yellow. It’s pretty and smells delicate and floral. The taste is the same. For an oolong, it’s very light, with some floral tones, a touch of sweetness, but not much. It’s a little too light for me as I tend to prefer more robust oolongs, but still, this is a very nice one.
This is a good Alishan. Slight vegetal smell with a sweet floral taste. Don’t go beyond 4 minutes especially for the first infusion as it gets bitter. I found subsequent steeps were sweeter then the first which had less astringency.
This makes a nice sweet ice tea too :) Important when you live somewhere hot like me.
