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I almost decided not to add a tasting note to this, but I am going to despite the fact it may make me look bad. I don’t have a lot of experience with Oolongs but I am incredibly intrigued by them and have been meaning to spend more intimate time with them. I recently sent off a sample of this in a swap and realized I hadn’t tried it myself so what better time than now?

I pulled out my favorite gaiwan and warmed it up with hot water. While I did that I focused on the aroma of the dry leaves and found they smelled sweet and slightly buttery, almost creamy. I covered the bottom of the gaiwan with leaves and poured almost boiling water over them. Covered it up and began counting to 45 which was the amount of time I decided to start with for the 1st steep. Somewhere around 23 I wandered off to the back of the house to help my dog find her ball. If you have an obsessive pet then you know that results could be dire if they don’t get what they need right then. Found the ball in a shoe and we played fetch for a couple of rounds.

All of a sudden I remembered my Oolong steeping away. I figured it had more than likely been between 2 and 3 minutes since I had added the water and so I drank it. I can’t say that I enjoyed it. It was incredibly bitter. So much so that I couldn’t taste anything else. I managed to drink the whole cup, which really wasn’t a whole lot, because I wanted to try and find something exciting about this tea.

I steeped it again for 35 secs focusing intensely on counting and found a much more enjoyable cup. Sweet and creamy describes it well with a hint of something floral in there. I steeped it again for 45 secs and this time found more of a sweet floral taste and less creaminess. I am gonna have to spend more time with this one and try not to get distracted. I have a feeling Oolongs are not a tea you should walk away from during preparation.