My second tasting of the day is a high fired roasted oolong, Da Hong Pao. I started this off with a quick rinse of about 2 seconds, just letting it open up the leaves and wash off tea dust. There was almost no tea dust and I decided a second rinse wasnt needed.
The first infusion was done for about 5-10 seconds at 200 degrees and produced a light clear brown liquor, and the first thing that strikes me is a smokey vanilla aroma. Tasting it produced much the same with a slight bit of char and a hint of mint at the end. A slight cooling sensation.
The second infusion produced a slightly stronger version with a bit more sweet notes, and a slight aroma of fruity sweetness. The intense smokey vanilla sensations stuck with it. This left a long linger sweet and slightly minty aftertaste, that was absolutely wonderful.
The third infusion I did for just slightly longer at like 20 seconds and was by far the best one. Strong and bold with a mineral flavor and aroma that was just amazing. The aftertaste lasted a lot longer as well. Providing a nice cooling sensation on the back of the tongue.
I infused it another 3 or so times after that to finish the tea. I wanted to get every last drop out of this wonderful tea. It slightly got weaker, but I played with increasing temp and time to bring out a little more flavor with some excellent results. Oolong is incredibly well suited to long multiple steeps.
This is as of right now my favorite tea, and the best tea ive tasted yet. I cant highly recommend this one enough, before trying this I didnt even know I liked oolong this much.
Flavors: Char, Mineral, Smoke, Sweet, Vanilla
