Phoenix Mountain Oolong (#25)

I decided to do a little nice thing for myself and join the Insider Tea Club at Golden Moon Tea. You get a delivery each month of a rare, not usually imported to the USA tea. It’s a surprise (fun!) and I also thought it would expand my horizons a bit — left to my own devices I tend to choose black, black, and more black tea, and the previous selections for the club were of a great variety.

This may have been the best decision I made in 2013! I am drinking the second selection today (the first is a beautiful looking Tie Guan Yin that I’m saving for slightly warmer weather) and it is astonishingly good. Pale greenish yellow. Slightly floral. Gorgeously present mouthfeel. Buttery. nutty. I’m brewing it Western style and am on the second steep — rumor has it that it is wonderful through steep 12 Western Style (through steep 20 gong fu!) so I have quite a day ahead of me! Next time I’ll try it gong fu and bring in a glass cup because the color is truly something to behold.

I also must give kudos for the packaging (screw top tin), informational postcard with brewing instructions, and just general all around attention to detail. My little $20 a month spurge is making me feel like a millionaire! An INSIDER millionaire! ;)

These are crazy sturdy leaves! Long and winding, stiff and artistic-looking. It’s a lovely Oolong. Somewhat floral-sweet, nutty, a little buttery. The end sip is somewhat like a gentle Jasmine in comparison to give you an idea of flavor.

Delightful!

This was fantastic. I will resteep to give it a proper review later, however, for starters, this was amazing. I am very upset that there isn’t a lot of this to go around, this is something I could drink every day for the rest of my life.

The scent of the leaves is slight floral, a little nutty, smells divine. The liquor is a pale yellow with similar aroma. The taste is delicious.