Wenshan Baozhong

This tea was absolutely delicious. I got off work a little early yesterday. It’s eerie when you’re the only one left in the office at 3:30. So I thought I’d make a little excursion to SoHo to use the ScoutMob coupon someone posted on a discussion thread.

I get there and these all sorts of noisy construction going on right outside. Then you enter a quiet, dimly lit interior filled with the smells of baked goods and tea canisters all around the walls. Is this heaven? :)

While I’ve always been a fan of Harney’s teas, I rarely ever bought from them because I always felt they were a bit over-priced. Maybe the flavored blacks were decently priced, but I’m not a fan of blacks so it wasn’t for me. But this coupon for 50% off makes it all worthwhile! Figuring I’d make the most of the coupon, I asked to look at three of the more expensive oolongs they have. Ali san, Li shan, and Wenshan Baozhong. The first two smelled amazing. I was pretty sure I’d love it even though I haven’t tried it yet. This Baozhong however…very intriguing scent. Like savory herbs and vegetables. Yet, my experience with baozhong (also called pouchong (?)) has always been creamy and sweet. Since they only let you sample one tea from the shelf, I picked the one I wasn’t sure about.

Let me tell you, this tea tastes nothing like it smells. It’s creamy and sweet with light fruity/floral notes. yummy first infusion. They made a second infusion for me upon request and that one was also wonderful. More creamy, less fruity/floral and more vegetal.

If I ever get another chance to buy a fancy expensive oolong from Harney, I’d get this one. But yesterday, I bought the Li Shan, the most expensive option. I’ll be writing a review for that one when I get to drinking it. :)

Excellent green oolong, with a strong buttery component and a wonderful flower-sweet aftertaste. The smell of the cup is sweetness, kind of like honey and bananas (?) and just barely gardenia/jasmine-y. Perhaps this all, combined, is what honeysuckle smells like?

I was expecting the flavor to be like a green Tie Guan Yin, but this pouchong is more alike buttered sweet vegetables than the magnolia and gardenia bouquet of TGY. The sweetness of this cup is amazing…it’s making me think of honey drizzled on french bread, for some reason.

Harney day! I’m sitting here at the Soho tasting room, and I ordered a pot of his tea because I couldn’t resist the description. This tea definitely smells floral in a very oolongy way… Not like true florals or scented teas, but light, vegetal florals. I agree with others that the flavor is buttery and vegetal, but I think it definitely retains some of the florals. It doesn’t have that sweet note at the end of the sip really, but as it cools the florals come out a bit more. A very smooth and tasty tea, definitely!

As a side note, I got some of their tea-flavored macarons, and they are delicious. Not quite as technically good as Laduree in Paris, but the flavors are great. Jasmine, rose, and sencha with raspberry today.

My eternal gratitude to ASHMANRA for introducing me to this tea by sending me a beautifully packaged sample.

It has all of the spring-like vegetal qualities of the best green teas, but the spicy quality is the one that most captures and enraptures me. It’s almost as if somebody has grated a touch of fresh cinnamon and nutmeg into this tea. This is the kind of tea that has launched a thousand ships! It’s meditative and wise, if that makes any sense. It’s like the wise uncle of a capricious little Buddha child.

This is not a tea to just slurp up and run with; it’s a tea to gaze at and to swirl around in your mouth, and to sit still and appreciate it.

Thank you!

Thank you, ashmanra for this lovely tea!

I am an oolong lover, so when I received this tea in a swap, I was thrilled! It’s scent when dry is very much like that of a lilac in full bloom. It smells very floral.

Once steeped, the floral scent is still there, but it is deeper and richer. The taste, while slightly floral, tastes much more vegetal, like steeped vegetables more than flowers. It’s a deceiving tea. Your nose tells you to expect one thing and your mouth receives another. This is not a floral tasting tea. Moving on… the taste, in addition to being vegetal, has a very nice, grounded oolong base. It’s ever so slightly earthy, yet smooth. There’s a touch of a roasted flavor in this one.

Thank you, ashmanra!

The aroma is extremely complex. While descriptions give it lilac I certainly note it’s gardenia counterpart. There’s a buttery sweetness to the aroma here as well as a hint of stewed chard.

The flavor is creamy, coating the tongue and mouth. A slight astringent bite when you breathe in is left to tease the senses. This tea certainly knows how to play!

While not very bold, this tea’s subtle pleasures and unique aromas and textures provide for a very interesting brew. I’d recommend this tea for Oolong fans of all kinds, enthusiasts of darker green teas such as Gyokuro or lighter ones such as Pi Lo Chun should find this an equally pleasing brew.

A very nice oolong. This one has been sitting in my desk drawer for awhile at work and this morning seemed like the day to sample. It is light and buttery and floral with the first steep. Even on a busy morning when the tea has grown cold it continues to have a lovely flavor. I think I even abused it with using a water temp that should have been too hot. I must thank Ashmanra for sending me this sample.

So glad I bought this one! The scent is delightful – I drank this from a gaiwan and I think I sniffed the lid as often as I sipped the tea. The aroma is light and lovely gardenia, so worth taking the time to slow down and appreciate this light, floral aroma! The taste is very creamy, buttery, and lightly vegetal. I detect the flowers as a light aftertaste – it isn’t a strong floral taste to me, just floral in the aroma. Some teas will irritate my reflux. Not this one. Smooth and lovely. Will try resteeping this one and learn more about this “lovely seriousness” Harney and Sons talks about!

Wenshan Baozhong is one of the most fragrant Taiwanese oolongs. It’s full of honeysuckle and gardenia notes, with a butter viscosity.

This is a really nice oolong. Very well balanced and understated. Although I did detect slight floral aromas while brewing, the taste is more vegetal and buttery. Very enjoyable.

Beautiful. The leaves smell almost spicy, and when steeped give off a pale green liquor, with a flowery character and a buttery smoothness. The first oolong that really impressed me.