GABA Oolong

Tea of the afternoon here… an oolong from the Jasmine Pearl.

GABA is supposed to have a calming effect and who couldn’t use more of that?

I decided to use the gaiwan to steep this and put in about 1 tsp of tea, steeped for 30 seconds. The wet leaf smells very much like fresh corn to me.

1st steep is a light yellowish infusion. I am getting the sweet starchy quality that gets compared to bananas & yams. For me it is still reminiscent of corn since it has a slightly vegetal quality. The overall flavor is quite pleasant.

The 2nd steep I did for around 30 seconds and it is a bit darker. Now that the leaves are starting to open up, there is a definite buttery flavor coming up in this tea.

3rd steep is much like the first. I think I am detecting some subtle notes of vanilla. It’s difficult to say whether or not I feel any calmer from drinking this, although I am inspired to do some meditation right now.

Tea on nitro. Wow. I had already made my frivolous tea purchase for the month, but a discussion on Twitter between me and three others caused my curiosity to swell. I had heard of GABA teas before, never understood the fuss of it all, and chalked up the health benefits claims to “hooey”…like biodynamics.

For instant gratification, I went to The Jasmine Pearl HQ to test drive the stuff. The host and hostess politely humored my request, and steeped it gongfu-style three times. Each time, the flavor profile was pretty much the same; creamy, fruit-like, mildly leafy, and zero oolong “chalkboard-on-tongue” feeling. And it packed a wallop of strength each steep.

I’m not sure if it did anything to my…uh…“neurotransmitters”. I was still hurling expletives at rush hour traffic on the way home. But I felt good while do it, if that says something.