Jing Xuan

I got this in one of the Steepster select boxes and haven’t written a tasting note on it before now. I have given up on buying a lot of green oolongs just due to their sorter shelf life, but I was really in the mood for this today.

I decided to gong fu this tea – so…

1st steep: 20 seconds. After steeping the leaves I am noticing the floral aromas coming forth. It does have a nice buttery/nutty quality about it but I am not getting much of the peach flavor.

2nd steep: The Lily aroma is getting quite strong now and is very pleasant. A couple of reviewers have mentioned this is a really weak jing xuan but I’m not sure I’ve ever had another one. It reminds me a bit of a milk oolong.

3rd steep: 10 seconds. The leaves are opening up a bit and I think I’m detecting a peaches and cream flavor. Although I am keeping my steeps short, I am detecting a slight vegetal bitterness in the finish.

This is an enjoyable oolong but not destined to be a favorite. I may try cold brewing the rest of this sample to see what happens!

Oh, I do love this. I received this in the last Steepster Select box.

I don’t feel like writing too much now, but it’s beautiful. It’s sweet and buttery and smooth. It has some of my favorite characteristics of the Dragonwell that I love, but with a little bit less of the vegetal.

This just might become my staple oolong.

As far as Jing Xuan Oolong goes, this one is a bit on the tame side. It’s enjoyable, but, it is just a little lackluster. The first two infusions were creamy but on the light side. The next two infusions were brothy but, lacked the creaminess I had hoped for. The final two infusions were a combination of the first two cups, somewhere in between the two… a little lighter than the first, and the flavors had melded to a smoothness that provided an almost creamy effect. Of the three cups, the third was the best, but, sadly, I think that they just sort of … fell short of what I expected from them.

This isn’t a bad tea … just a little lackluster and boring as far as Jing Xuan goes.

I got this from Micah in a tea swap, and I’m not really sure what to say about it.

It was very bland.

I had enough to try a couple of cups, and I did one at the recommended 195F and one at a lower temperature of 165F. I tried resteeping for longer times to no effect. Both of them tasted like pallid reflections of what the I think the tea is supposed to taste like. Barely-there floral, washed out sweetness.

Ultimately, it felt like someone had Scrooged the flavoring in the tea. It felt like I was drinking hot water.

I’m sorry, I can type Scrooge without thinking about Scrooge McDuck. And then I think of Duck Tales. Life is like a hurricaaaaane, here in Duckberg.

And before I go off on a very distracting youtube search for my favorite cartoon theme songs, I will say that I can’t recommend this tea.

OOOH, CHIP N’ DALE RESCUE RANGERS!

I got this in the Steepster Select box. I am very inexperienced with Oolongs but I really like this a lot. It has a very crisp and clean green taste. I especially love how the leaves unfurl during steeping. I am definitely going to look into more Oolongs.

Always love when I follow instructions included with a tea and then when I log in to Steepster I see additional instructions (namely to rinse the tea) have not done that.

Not bad, buttery taste.

Red Blossom’s Jin Xuan had all the characteristics of a Jin Xuan but was very weak in taste. It’s as if it was picked before it was ripe, like a white strawberry.

Overall, unsatisfying.