I am using my new little gongfu pot and small glass cups for an extended gongfu tea experience.
2 rinses. Each steep was around 4 seconds but it probably ended up being longer than that because my little gongfu pot pours out quite slowly.
Mostly I am getting a woodsy citrus aroma from the dry and steeped leaf
Steepings 1-4: Woodsy, sweet buttery oolong with some citrus notes in the end of the sip and in the aftertaste
Steepings 5-7: Less buttery and citrus. Now, smooth and nutty qualities are coming through
Steepings 8-10: Fruity notes are starting to come out—citrus is still there, along with a little hint of berry (maybe the elderberry they mention on the website), and a hint of apple
11-14 Getting some muted buttery flavours, and some tanginess (where did that come from?)
15-18: I increased the steep time to 10seconds, now I am getting mellow peppery notes like the website mentioned
I preferred the first 9 steepings of this tea. However, as I mentioned before, my “4 second steepings” were maybe too long so perhaps I didn’t get as many steepings in as I should have.
This was a very interesting experience of brewing tea for me, this gongfu technique. I liked experiencing the tea in small quantities, tasting the subtle differences of a tea’s character as I went along.
