What a nice tea.
Despite being a year old and stored neglectfully in a (thick) plastic sandwich bag, this tea still has a fresh and focused (credit to Togo) character.
It’s very floral. After 4 or so years of picking apart tea aromas and flavors, I still have difficulty identifying floral notes that aren’t the typical tea ‘rose’. The floral note is intense yet gentle and sweet, not so perfumey. I want to ascribe to it daffodil, lily, magnolia, orange blossom, orchid, others… Other aromas in the dry leaf are cooked pineapple, yellow cherry, nutmeg and bitter cooked greens. The florality rises high after the sip.
The taste is consistent throughout the steeps. It is crisp, like fresh spring rain. Sweet, creamy spinach (without being overly vegetal), sturdy young grass, sugarcane, yellow cherry, green apple, citrus, pine, nutmeg.
The texture is of thick, smooth spring water with a mineral, mouth-watering finish.
The only shifting quality of this tea is found in the aftertaste which moves from gentle creaminess and peach and grass to osmanthus then closer to that of the first cup with peach skin and tulip leaf. The tea is a little drying but that lets the creamy impression and rising florals linger.
I looked back at my old note for the June 2018 harvest and this June 2020 harvest fits my impression back then. This tea is a great pick for newer oolong drinkers and seasoned alike. It can’t be oversteeped and in fact, my favorite preparation method thus far is bowl brewing, same as what’s called grandpa style. I happen to like sipping out of a bowl better than a large cup as I find I can more easily get lost in the aroma with my face that much closer to the tea. The leaves of this tea also expand with great fervor; a bowl accommodates this unfurling easily!
As for seasoned drinkers, the tea offers a ton of complexity in flavor and aroma if you’re the type to go searching. If your the type to not focus on such, it offers a smooth, consistent delivery in flavor, strength of character, structural balance.
Oh – this tea handles water off the boil beautifully. It needs the heat to bring out the deep sweetness that balances the florality.
Flavors: Cherry, Citrus, Cookie, Cream, Creamy, Drying, Floral, Flowers, Grass, Green Apple, Jasmine, Mineral, Narcissus, Nutmeg, Orange Blossom, Orchid, Osmanthus, Peach, Pine, Pineapple, Plants, Smooth, Spinach, Spring Water, Sugarcane
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I did one session with this tea before my flood of spring 2021 oolongs arrived and I felt about the same, though my ability to detect flavours was less refined. Those floral and peachy notes are what I look for in green oolongs! Thanks for reminding me to finish this up, and sorry about the sandwich bags. I should really find aluminum pouches for my swaps.
I haven’t really explored teas from Li Shan since Shan Lin Xi swooped me up early on. Do you have a preference? And, haha, I don’t care about the bag at all! I have plenty of jars that can hold 50g of leaf. My laziness knows no bounds!
I’m no saint with swap packaging myself ;P
I also fell in love with Shan Lin Xi oolongs early and prefer them to Li Shans because they often provide similar flavours for less of an investment. From my limited experience, Li Shans offer more complex floral aromas and very similar stonefruit notes, while Shan Lin Xis have sappy and herbaceous notes I rarely find higher up the mountain. Li Shans also tend to be a little smoother and more refined, though it depends on the tea. I’ve had fantastic teas from Shan Lin Xi, Li Shan, Da Yu Ling, and even Alishan, as well as mediocre ones from all these regions, so it’s really a gamble whatever you buy. That’s why for me, SLX is the best bet in the oolong lottery.
“Can’t be oversteeped.” Automatic win.
I remember this was really good when I tried it a few years ago. It’s always sold out on What-Cha whenever I check.
And I feel you about identifying flavors in gaoshan. By and large, Taiwanese oolongs have the same basic taste with a few subtle but profound variations that are tricky to pinpoint.
LuckyMe, I agree that the flavours in gaoshan can be hard to identify and describe. Sometimes I feel like I’m writing the same tasting note for all of them. :)
Dido. I can use the words green, floral, viscous, orchid, and orange blossom over and over again. What-Cha’s Lishan was always my favorite because it’s one of the most reliable teas I’ve had for the price. I was going to get the 2021 one season when it comes out if it is alright. And I second Leafhopper, derk. Shanlinxi won me early on, but I went through a phase where SLX were too grassy and vegetal for me preferring the more delicate florals of the Lishan. I was personally not to crazy about the 2019 Lishans as I was with earlier seasons. I’ve tried a lot of gaoshan from different companies, but some of the companies wouldn’t last long enough for me to return to them, like Teaful for example. I always go back to what-Cha because one, Alistair is awesome, and two, you know what you’re getting, and if there are any changes to the season, Alistair and co usually write about it or let you know.
I did one session with this tea before my flood of spring 2021 oolongs arrived and I felt about the same, though my ability to detect flavours was less refined. Those floral and peachy notes are what I look for in green oolongs! Thanks for reminding me to finish this up, and sorry about the sandwich bags. I should really find aluminum pouches for my swaps.
I haven’t really explored teas from Li Shan since Shan Lin Xi swooped me up early on. Do you have a preference? And, haha, I don’t care about the bag at all! I have plenty of jars that can hold 50g of leaf. My laziness knows no bounds!
I’m no saint with swap packaging myself ;P
I also fell in love with Shan Lin Xi oolongs early and prefer them to Li Shans because they often provide similar flavours for less of an investment. From my limited experience, Li Shans offer more complex floral aromas and very similar stonefruit notes, while Shan Lin Xis have sappy and herbaceous notes I rarely find higher up the mountain. Li Shans also tend to be a little smoother and more refined, though it depends on the tea. I’ve had fantastic teas from Shan Lin Xi, Li Shan, Da Yu Ling, and even Alishan, as well as mediocre ones from all these regions, so it’s really a gamble whatever you buy. That’s why for me, SLX is the best bet in the oolong lottery.
“Can’t be oversteeped.” Automatic win.
I remember this was really good when I tried it a few years ago. It’s always sold out on What-Cha whenever I check.
And I feel you about identifying flavors in gaoshan. By and large, Taiwanese oolongs have the same basic taste with a few subtle but profound variations that are tricky to pinpoint.
LuckyMe, I agree that the flavours in gaoshan can be hard to identify and describe. Sometimes I feel like I’m writing the same tasting note for all of them. :)
Dido. I can use the words green, floral, viscous, orchid, and orange blossom over and over again. What-Cha’s Lishan was always my favorite because it’s one of the most reliable teas I’ve had for the price. I was going to get the 2021 one season when it comes out if it is alright. And I second Leafhopper, derk. Shanlinxi won me early on, but I went through a phase where SLX were too grassy and vegetal for me preferring the more delicate florals of the Lishan. I was personally not to crazy about the 2019 Lishans as I was with earlier seasons. I’ve tried a lot of gaoshan from different companies, but some of the companies wouldn’t last long enough for me to return to them, like Teaful for example. I always go back to what-Cha because one, Alistair is awesome, and two, you know what you’re getting, and if there are any changes to the season, Alistair and co usually write about it or let you know.