I have tried to sample a number of aged oolongs recently to expand my horizons. Usually, I find that they don’t offer a sufficient quality/price ratio as compared to most other tea categories. This is the first one that I reordered after trying, which may tell you a bit about my feelings towards it :)
The dry leaf aroma is spicy and nutty with hints of grass and fenugreek seeds, as well as stonefruit pits. When smelling wet leaves, I can imagine biting into an apricot at a grassy meadow after summer rain.
The taste is warming, smooth, and floral. First infusion reminds me of shellfish, summer honey, roasted lemons and popcorn. The second one has even stronger lemon peel flavour. Later I could also taste nettle. The mouthfeel is syrupy and quite thick.
One of the highlights is the pungent and protracted aftertaste with complex florals and nectar flavour. There is also a very interesting mouthfeel after swallowing. It is tempting to describe it as numbing and on the drier side, but in fact it is neither. I feel almost as if my mouth was completely overwhelmed by the sweet florals and therefore sending contradictory signals to the brain.
To top the experince, I have to say that the cha qi is top notch too. It is very grounding and quite chest focused.
Flavors: Apricot, Floral, Grass, Grass Seed, Honey, Lemon, Lemon Zest, Nectar, Petrichor, Popcorn, Shellfish, Smooth, Soil, Stonefruit, Sweet, Thick
