A Li Shan

This is really a wonderful A Li Shan in my opinion…

It’s a bit floral-y but also very buttery, exceptionally creamy, smooth, rich. One taste of this and my mouth feels like it’s on vacation. I’m picking up some other things too, like a slight mango and perhaps a bit of vanilla. Not as light as some other A Li Shans I’ve had.

I seem to like this the best when it’s steeped at around 180F for 2 minutes but I would like to do some gong fu sessions with my remaining sample. If you’re looking for a good A Li Shan you might try this one. I would certainly buy this again. :)

Wow, I’m the first one to log this tea? Along with the infused tea sampler set I got black friday weekend, I also ordered the high altitude sampler set because the teas sounded interesting but were not teas I’d ever had before. So this is my first A Li Shan/Ali Shan Oolong! Obviously the only thing I have to compare it to is the Tieguanyins I’ve had, but I do have an Ali Shan sample from thepuriTea to try later as well.

Steeped the western way… all these oolongs do make me want a gaiwan, though. The dry leaf on this one smelled the most floral of all the high altitude set, so I decided to try it first (yup, I’m a floral junkie). The steeped tea smells really really good. That warm, buttery, sweet, floral aroma… yum.

Mm, I’m enjoying this one. Nicely floral, nicely sweet, nicely leafy/vegetal. I’m afraid I’m not really able to pick out subtle differences of this varietal compared to other green oolongs, but maybe if I had them back to back. I also feel like though my western-style brew is delicious, I’m missing out on the subtle flavors that change from short steeping to short steeping. In any case, this is a really delicious tea, and I can say I definitely also enjoy Ali Shans!