This was one of my most recent sipdowns as I finished what I had of this tea a couple days ago. What-Cha advertised it as being a good inexpensive baozhong, and I have to echo that sentiment. Actually, I would go a step further and say that I found it to be a very good inexpensive baozhong, one that would be perfect for regular consumption.
I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a brief rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 7 seconds. This infusion was chased by 16 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.
Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves produced aromas of cream, butter, custard, vanilla, gardenia, baked bread, and parsley. After the rinse, I noted new aromas of honeysuckle, orange blossom, sugarcane, grass, and watercress. The first infusion introduced an oat scent along with some hints of cinnamon and honeydew. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of cream, butter, grass, watercress, baked bread, oats, and sugarcane that were backed by custard, parsley, and orange blossom hints. The subsequent infusions introduced scents of violet, coriander, cucumber, and spinach. Cinnamon, vanilla, gardenia, honeysuckle, and honeydew notes came out in the mouth alongside stronger orange blossom impressions and new notes of minerals, coriander, cucumber, spinach, green apple, violet, pear, umami, and honey. By the end of the session, I could still pick up notes of minerals, grass, honey, vanilla, baked bread, sugarcane, cream, butter, pear, and orange blossom that were underscored by hints of spinach, grass, and umami.
Given the price and origin of this tea, I was not expecting something so complex and resilient. Honestly, this tea actually beat some of the supposedly premium Wenshan baozhongs I have tried in recent years. If you happen to be looking for an affordable baozhong with a lot to offer or a quality introduction to oolongs of this type, this will very likely be the tea for you.
Flavors: Bread, Butter, Cinnamon, Coriander, Cream, Cucumber, Custard, Gardenias, Grass, Green Apple, Honey, Honeydew, Honeysuckle, Mineral, Oats, Orange Blossom, Parsley, Pear, Spinach, Sugarcane, Umami, Vanilla, Vegetal, Violet
