In the warm gaiwan, the dry leaves smell like honey and flowers, a little bit like jasmine, but softer. The wet leaves smell quite similar.
The first infusion of this tea is so light on aroma, quite light in taste as well. I’ve been noticing with some of Tea Ave’s scented oolongs, you can use a little more tea than I’m accustomed to using. It’s hard for me to describe the flavor of this first infusion, other than to say a little similar to jasmine, so I’ll move on.
The second infusion is still a bit subtle to me. It’s a nice floral flavor, somewhat similar to jasmine. Third infusion, more of the same. It’s difficult to describe how this differs from Jasmine. There’s a bit of a flavor that leans it more toward a spice/savory kind of floral taste, sort of like saffron. It’s not as aromatic as I’m used to in most floral teas. It took about four infusions for me to taste the creamy butteryness of the Jin Xuan in this one. Not sure why. I think it’s just a lighter tea and took me a few infusions to brew it more strong. I have been brewing my oolong teas a bit lighter lately in attempt not to overpower them.
Not a bad tea, but so far the least compelling to me of the Tea Ave scented oolongs. I imagine those who have nostalgic memories of gardenias (a.k.a. cape jasmine) may enjoy this more than I did.
I must admit the instructions on the tea said to use substantially more leaf than I did, and to steep it longer than I did. I may have to try it that way and see if it yields more interesting results for me.
On the other hand, I brewed this exactly the same way I did all the other Tea Ave teas I’ve tried, and some of those got perfect 100 scores from me… so hmm.
UPDATE
I brewed this again using more leaf per water and the flavor is much more pronounced. It isn’t particularly different than what I had mentioned, but tastes stronger and is more enjoyable this way. :3
Flavors: Creamy, Flowers, Saffron
