Shan Ling Xi Forest Oolong Tea

Finally opened my bag. This one had HUUUUGE leaves, and I brewed it in my fancy Chufunyu Eclipse Thermo…more on that later.

Tasting this out, I did semi western with a lot of leaves-maybe 5 grams. I preferred this tea over the Lishan Glory because it had a much rounder body and taste. It’s a little bit more vegetal, but really well balanced and easy to drink even in earlier steeps when it was more or less a rinse of 45 sec.

I basically sipped the tea at different intervals in a nearly Grandpa sort of way. It’s hard to explain since I’m brewing my tea in the Eclipse, which gives me a lot more control of how much the leaves are stewing. Sometimes, I let the leaves just sit, then I would cut off the water flow at different times, but I didn’t time it. Here’s a guesstimate: 45 sec sip, 1 min 20 sec sip, 2 minute brew-cut off leaves. Put in hot water again, 1 minute sip, 3 minute, then cut off the leaves. Pour hot water again, and more or less…grandpa style.

Tasting notes of what I got: Cream, Honey, Wood, Pine, Lemon Zest, Lilac, Coconut hints, Ample Butter, and Spinach. Overall, the tea had a heathered honey and milk/wood kind of taste. Sometimes, I though “forest dew” because there’s something misty and earthy about the tea. It was really pleasant, and fruitier notes immerged more mid brew and a little bit towards the end. The vegetal bitterness took over a little bit in later steeps, but adding more water improved it.

I need to try this again using more traditional methods gong fu or western, but I was able to push a lot of flavor out of it. The tea is also extremely flexible. It doesn’t change too much in terms of flavor and notes, but it yields a good experience every time-so I’m not complaining. I enjoyed it highly, and know I’m going to drink it again soon.