32 Tasting Notes

73

I drank this yesterday – about 7g brewed in 500ml of water at 95C in an unglazed terracotta clay teapot for 5 minutes per infusion for 3 infusions. The teapot has a little stand with a tealight to keep the tea hot so that I can sip it all day long; I was expecting, but didn’t find, that standing candle-warmed for an hour or two significantly altered the flavour – it deepened and softened it a little, but I found that quite enjoyable.

I usually use a gaiwan or glass jug to brew my teas, but a friend suggested using clay for oolongs because I get a very bitter taste with a lot of them (though looking at the other reviews here, bitterness doesn’t seem to be an issue with this tea, so I might try brewing it in a gaiwan the next time I drink it).

With so much water, even with fairly long steeping times, I was expecting this to be quite weak, but even on the third infusion it had a delicate but full flavour, floral with a vanilla-ish hint, and a rich, sweet and quite heavy scent.

A subtle but nicely flavoured tea that’s very pleasant.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 0 sec
TeaVivre

Thanks for your review. Gaiwan is also suitable to brew Oolong tea, as for the bitter taste, it maybe you brewed it longer,you can try to keep it shorter per infusion.

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100

I received some samples of Taiwan oolongs from Angel at TeaVivre this morning, and this was the first one I tried. I made it in a gaiwan with the whole of the sample pack (5g or 7g, I think; the weight wasn’t on the packet), and steeped for just half a minute or so each time with water of about 90C.

I haven’t had a lot of oolong before, and I’ve always found them a bit bitter for my taste, but this one was incredible – it’s been elevated to my favourite tea of the moment. It has a warm and very distinct sweet flavour that has a gentle spicy hint, and an addictive aroma of sweet-mellow autumny grasses.

I got about eight full-flavoured infusions out of the leaves before the flavour started to weaken, and I was tempted to try to squeeze a couple more out. Will definitely be buying a stock of this, I’m smitten with it.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 0 min, 30 sec

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The argument had raged for months and years; he would say something hurtful and cruel, and then I would shoot back a likewise response. The good cups and a beautiful clay teapot were in shards all over the kitchen floor; tomato ketchup dripped from the balustrades, and the cat, named in honour of the great Richard ‘Kinky’ Friedman, was making a mew of distaste. And so, after wrestling with the mathematics of it for many, many sleepless nights, I realised that no-one would, in fact, be able to qualify or quantify the difference between an 87-rated tea and an 86, so I stopped rating tea.

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