As usual, I brewed this with a gaiwan with shorter steeps the first tasting. The dry leaf is fragrant and to me it smells quite fresh and vegetal, with the fruit and floral aromas being more subtle here. That changed with brewing.
I used approximately 2g of leaf for the gaiwan, giving them a rinse before steeping. Using shorter steeps, I opted to begin with a 15 second infusion time for the first, then added 5 seconds with each following infusion for a pattern of 15, 20, 25, etc. I used 30ml of water to begin, adding to that amount in 15ml increments as the leaves opened up. The water I used was hot, but not boiling, approximately 85 degrees Celsius. The liquor first appeared a very pale sunny golden yellow and gained a little more colour as infusions progressed. The aroma was sweet and grassy, quintessentially green oolong.
I found the mouthfeel of this tea was quite smooth, a little bit squeaky, and had just a hint of astringency I found more at the back of my throat with the lingering green aftertaste. There is definitely fruity and floral flavours here, more so fruity. There’s sweetness but also an interesting tartness, sometimes reminding me of cherries, sometimes goji berries, even sometimes citrus – a little bit hard to put a definitive finger on, because the flavours are complex and shifting slightly from infusion to infusion. I’m loving this! With that fruitiness is floral notes with butter and legumes, a verdant grassy note. This tea definitely tastes spring-like. I carried on for 9 infusions this way, before wrapping up with a final long steep that brought out that familiar foggy mountain air note.
Flavors: Butter, Floral, Vegetal
