I usually gong fu my oolongs, as of late, but some truly do shine brighter when brewed Western style. I chose to follow the directions on the sample package I received from 3 Leaf, which gave the steeping directions in Western style.
The dry leaf, small balls of emerald green, didn’t smell like much, as often green oolongs are wont to. Maybe a slight sweetness. Brewing, the steam reminded me of Teavivre’s unflavored milk oolong in that it smells like a slightly sweet, green spring day, which at this point is almost a ‘generic high mountain oolong’ smell to me (can you tell that I’ve left off drinking low quality tea? LOL). The leaves unfurled into mostly whole leaves, some looking a bit ragged and a few in pieces.
The liquid is a straw yellow, smooth, and lightly floral. This is not a knock-your-socks-off lilac, like Verdant’s Spring TGY, but it has that light essence of high mountain wildflower-like floral, with a light minerality like a cool snow melt mountain stream. A light sweetness and minerality lingers on the tongue.
To me, the tea is not as floral as many high mountain oolongs, not buttery like a TGY, and not cloyingly sweet like many milk oolongs. This tea would be labelled a high mountain green oolong in a blind taste test, and it very much embodies it’s name.
This is a good every day drinker, when you’re feeling like green oolong but don’t want to be knocked around by powerful flavors. This instead is a good, peaceful drinker.
EDIT: I got a second steep out of this that was much sweeter and a bit buttery; brewed for 4 minutes.
*Note: this tea was provided as a free sample for review from 3 Leaf Tea.
Flavors: Floral, Mineral
