265 Tasting Notes

100

Backlogging.

This tea arrived in the middle of the latest round of insane busy-ness earlier in the week. I don’t remember my detailed impressions because they’re lost in the blur, but this tea didn’t disappoint even in those circumstances. It’s everything you’d hope – and expect – a high altitude Alishan oolong to be. I’m so relieved that the usually reliable teas.com.au has started stocking this, and that it’s turned out to be just as good as it’s supposed to be, because my previous main source of Alishan is no more.

I couldn’t survive without at least a small supply of this in the house!

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 0 sec
tease

Do you have any preferences about which area in Alishan you get your oolong from? Just curious.

Luthien

Most of the Alishans I’ve had don’t specify much about their origin beyond a description like “high mountain”. This one is from 1500m up, and it’s definitely as good as any others I’ve tried.

tease

nods 阿里山 means basically Ali mountain, but I don’t know much about it, so I was wondering! Most I find cap off at a lower height, but I have never really compared them all…

takgoti

Can I just add that I heart your Santa-fied avatar? [Almost typed Satan. Eep.]

Luthien

@takgoti Thanks! This has been my default icon on my journal since about 2002, and I’ve since used it in several other places. About four or five years ago, a friend put the Santa hat on it around Christmas time, so I’ve brought the santa-fied version out every Christmas since. (Also, I initially read your comment as “Satan-fied”. g)

takgoti

Evil minds think alike!

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90
drank Champagne Mojito Green by 52teas
265 tasting notes

I was so pleased to see this tea arrive. I wasn’t sure whether it would get through Customs, and they did open the package to check it – but they let it through. Double yay, because as it turns out, I’m really glad I got to try this tea.

The description sounded intriguing, so I was really, really hoping the taste wouldn’t be a let-down, as happens to me too often with flavoured teas. First impression was good, though: the dry leaves don’t just smell like mint, they smell like a peppermint cream! And then there was the flavour… I love the blend of the mint and the lime, with that added extra something that must be the hint of champagne. There’s nothing weak or lacking about the flavours, but they’re not too much, either, and all in all I have to say that it’s a really well balanced blend. All of the flavours are present in the aroma, too, so you breathe it in at the same time as you’re drinking it.

Love this tea. I’m so very glad it got here safely!

Preparation
170 °F / 76 °C 2 min, 30 sec
Cofftea

A splash of soda water to make it bubbly?:)

Luthien

Or maybe a splash of actual champagne. Hmmn… g

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87

I felt like something sweeter after the sharp flavour of the Green Darjeeling, so I had some of this. This tea comes closer to being a guilty pleasure than any other in my cupboard, mainly because its slightly creamy, slightly toffee sweetness goes perfectly with a Tim Tam, so that’s what I usually have with it. And that’s what I’m doing tonight.

Mmm-mm.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 2 min, 30 sec

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83
drank Green Darjeeling by Tea Leaves
265 tasting notes

This is a really interesting green tea, mainly because it doesn’t really taste all that much like a green tea. The flavour is more like the lightest of black teas, or perhaps the strongest of white teas. There’s a definite thread of astringency running through it, though, so it’s important to treat it as the green tea that it is when you brew it.

This is a really individual tea. I can’t think of another green tea that’s anything much like it at all.

Preparation
170 °F / 76 °C 2 min, 30 sec

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87
drank Kotobuki by Lupicia
265 tasting notes

I’m still liking this tea a lot. I’d say the plum is mostly in the aroma, except that there’s something about the taste of the tea that makes it feel rich and full in the mouth, a particular sort of texture that’s very distinctive. Great stuff.

Preparation
170 °F / 76 °C 2 min, 30 sec

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93
drank Wenshan Baozhong by Lupicia
265 tasting notes

The first steeping brewed up quite light, a pale green-ish yellow, so I left the second steeping for two minutes instead of one and it worked out much more the sort of flavour that I was after. The colour of the liquor was still quite light compared with other oolongs, which isn’t surprising considering that baozhong/pouchong is the least oxidised of all oolongs.

The smell of this tea right after you pour the water on the leaves is distinctly vegetal, and yet there isn’t a lot of that in the taste. It’s very smooth to the taste at first, almost bland, but the further you get through the cup the stronger the character of this tea, without ever being astringent. The aftertaste is distinctive, quite strong and a not quite sharp mix of floral notes and… not quite sure how to describe the rest. About the best I can do is: strong (proportionally, considering the light nature of this tea) but not bitter.

I was only going to have two cups of this tonight, but writing this review has really put me in the mood for a third, so now I’m going off to put on the kettle!

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 2 min, 0 sec

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92
drank Pai Mutan by The Tea Centre
265 tasting notes

Backlogging. This tea has got me through a lot of hard weeks over the years, and it did that again this week.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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92

A friend of mine had a bad reaction to eating spicy food on an empty stomach when she was visiting me the other day, so we both ended up drinking three or four cups of this. I thought that since the mint dominates the flavour of this it might be gentle to the stomach, and I was right. It’s also just generally a pleasant, easy-drinking sort of tea.

Preparation
170 °F / 76 °C 2 min, 30 sec

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97
drank Pineapple Oolong by Lupicia
265 tasting notes

RL is still busy like a busy thing, and I’m only now coming up for air. I’ve been gulping down my staples the last couple of days, and this one is definitely in that category.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 2 min, 30 sec

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97

Still insanely busy. I seem to be staying up all night tonight, so going with the really good stuff.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 2 min, 30 sec

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