Nepal Jun Chiyabari 'Himalayan Bouquet' Oolong Tea

From derk!    Thanks so much!  Had this a few days ago. Jun Chiyabari is UP THERE on the list of stellar teas IMO.  I’m very thrilled to try a couple more, due to derk’s generosity!  I tried to use delicate parameters on this one, in the hopes of not oversteeping it.  And whoa what a unique flavor profile this one is.  I guess I used fairly close to the suggested parameters, without checking first.  The brew is golden.  The steeped leaves have a ridiculously sweet fragrance — almost like maple syrup!  The flavor is like white grapes with even that dry mouth feel that a quality white grape juice might have (not that I’ve really tried white grape juice?)  But then there is also a flavor to the tea like it’s a much lighter version of Premium Taiwanese Assam.  It’s definitely a fruity profile – featuring many fruits – white grape, strawberry that I’m usually getting from fresh PTA and maybe even a hint of a sweeter lemon.  All around unique!!  The third steep was a bit overdone and flat — which is what I was trying to prevent with my delicate steeping.  But maybe the leaves were toast by then. Next time, I will try a much cooler temp on the third steep.  The first two steeps though – the quality of a fine white wine in a mug! derk describes this as SUNNY and I agree!
Steep #1  // 2 loose teaspoons for full mug // 31 minutes after boiling  // 1 minute steep
Steep #2  // 26 minutes after boiling //  2 min
Steep #3 // 16 minutes after boiling // 2 min

[Winter 2017 harvest]

The tasting notes for this tea have been more or less covered. It is a very floral, dry tea that seems to have a lot in common with the more floral of Dan Congs. In fact, I think it is too floral for me, there’s not that many occasions I imagine craving this tea. Or more precisely, the issue I have with it is that there doesn’t seem to be all that much beyond the floral notes.

The dry leaf aroma seems to be a mix of cookies, star anise, chocolate, and wood; while wet leaves smell mostly of malt, citrus, and honey. Furthermore, there is an elderberry flower scent rising from the empty cha hai. The taste is savoury, bitter, and floral, with dominant notes such as honeysuckle, walnut, dandelion, all of which were already mentioned by other reviewers. Aftertaste is then sweeter and quite dry. This is where the advertised orange blossom seems to appear as well. Body is medium to light and the mouthfeel is very coating.

I was more than a little stressed out by the end of work today. Come home, vent to my housemate, put on pajamas, open the kettle. Teatender, give me an oolong, something floral and sunny that’ll knock me down for a few hours. Himalayan Bouquet? Okay.

November 2017 harvest.

I went through my notes then perused the reviews. Daylon R Thomas’s grandpa brew (see the second of his three notes for this tea) was very similar to my experience gongfu. I don’t have anything new to offer when it comes to brewing it hot besides some additional tastes listed below. Cold-brewed, though, was such a floral blast it gave me a headache. Tread lightly if you enjoy floral oolong but are sensitive to them like me. I’ll stick to hot infusions. Good stuff. Beautiful oxidized green-brown-red leaf to boot.

This is a good mood tea. Some teacher blues, and this made my night a little sunnier. I like this both Western and Gong Fu, and the orange blossom, green grape, mid sip grain note, honeysuckle, and violet combo is making love the crap out of this one. Also love the walnut and mega heavy dandelion notes.It pretty much has most of the qualities that I like in a greener oolong without being too green. I am tempted to get more, but I honestly want to savor this one over splerging on masses amount of it.

Keeping the Nepalese tea train going, I spent last night working my way through a sample pouch of this delicious oolong. At this point, I only have 4 grams left and I intend to use those for a multi-step Western session either later today or sometime tomorrow. I will be sad to see this tea go. I have enjoyed it greatly, finding it to be a truly exceptional tea.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a very quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in a 4 ounce gaiwan filled with 185 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 14 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 10 seconds, 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, and 5 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of fresh flowers, butter, and wood. After the rinse, I was able to pick out distinct impressions of daisy, marigold, dandelion, chrysanthemum, and violet, as well as grass and straw. The first infusion brought all of previously mentioned bouquet components together, though I also began to pick up on a hint of rose. In the mouth, the tea emphasized a melange of well-integrated floral flavors balanced by grass, straw, butter, and wood. Subsequent infusions allowed the floral flavors to separate in the mouth as the notes of grass, straw, butter, and wood strengthened. Impressions of minerals, vanilla, malt, honey, lemon zest, orange, and herbs also appeared. The later infusions were dominated by mineral, grass, straw, wood, and herb notes, though I could still detect touches of dandelion, violet, and butter lurking in the background.

As oolongs go, this one was very straightforward, but the aromas and flavors on display worked beautifully together. Those violet and rose impressions were particularly impressive. There were times when I felt like I was consuming the liquid equivalent of a violet pastille, yet I was reminded of rosewater Turkish delights at others. It was simply breathtaking. This one is definitely deserving of a recommendation to fans of intensely floral teas.