From the aged oolong group buy.
I am starting to love aged oolong. I usually steep oolongs with 3 grams in 6 oz with 1-minute steeps, but started out with a 20 second steep after Liquid Proust’s warning about the strength of the tea. I didn’t find it at all strong and after this first steep went back to my usual 1 minute steeps. I think it’s just that LP is a green tea drinker and I prefer blacks, though we both love puerh and oolongs.
The first steep started toasty, ended grassy, with a very long finish. 2nd (60 s): Back to my normal steep routine. Not at all overpowering. Nutty aroma, medium roast flavor with hints of nut and tropical fruit. Good finish. As the tea cooled it became much less interesting. Just a plain medium roast. 3rd (60s): This time the roast is a bit too powerful, smothering the fruit. Later steeps smoothed out, showing rich, complex flavors without the roasted component (other than a bit in the nose).
Usually oolongs peak for me in the second or third steep, but this tea just kept getting better. The early steeps had sharply defined flavors that sometimes seemed at odds with each other. The later steeps were much more integrated, with the rough edges all smoothed off. I drank this over a period of two days, with other teas in between, so lost track of the number of steeps. I think i’m on about the 6th or 7th steep and the tea shows no sign of fading, even though I’m still only doing 60 second steeps. It is just a pleasure to drink.
