Iron Goddess, Monkey Picked

On first steeping, it was really light and there didn’t seem to be much discernible flavor. There was some left in the pot, so I iced that, left the tea leaves out over night and rebrewed it this morning, let it steep for longer. Mmm, good strong cup of tea with a smooth flavor and that beautiful gold color I like to see in my oolongs. Very good tea for morning or night.

While I don’t think this is a 100 like some others who have rated it, I agree that it’s a really special tea.

In the packet, it smells like roasted peanuts or cashews. In any case a legume-nut roasted smell. The leaves look like a typical green oolong rolled green leaves, and they unfurl to a volume that is significantly greater than their dry volume. But that’s where the comparison stops to other green oolongs I have had.

Gaiwan. 195F. Rinse, then steeped starting at 15 seconds and adding 5 to each subsequent steep.

The roasted nut smell is primarily the smell of the steeped tea, except for a very strong, sweet, floral note. The tea is more golden-amber in color than a typical green oolong, but not as dark as a dark oolong.

The taste is also roasted nuts (heavier on the nuts than the roasting) and sweet flowers, with a bit of a fruity note around the edges. I wouldn’t call it peach though I can’t pin it down. The flavor isn’t heavily stonefruit in the way of some dark oolongs. No cream, no butter, no milk in the way of some green oolongs.

Basically, it has a flavor that is different than a lot of other oolongs I’ve had. Not as different as the Hawaiian one I had earlier today, but also very tasty.

Untasted, un-noted cupboard update:

Pu erh: 6
Oolong: 5
Herbal (rooibos): 1
Blooming single servings: 5

I’m going to remove the blooming ones from the cupboard. I think they’re more like samples since they are one of each.

Which means 12 teas left to taste and write notes about, not including the tea bag samples, the blooming teas, and the sample pu erhs.

I don’t think I’m going to be writing more notes today since it is after 11:30. But at this rate, I should be through my cupboard by the end of the month (or before).

It may take longer to get through the pu erh samples.

A friend shared some of this tea with me, and it has since become my favorite. I usually don’t go a day without it.

I got a free sample of this tea with my last purchase from their website, which is clever and even more so when it’s pretty good! The tea tastes great!