Gosh darn it… I was taking my notes in the review box and absentmindedly clicked away…
I’m up to steep 13 or 14 on this, and frankly I’m just getting ready to move on, but this tea is extremely long-lasting and just keeps giving.
I really wish I had all my steep notes, but I’ll simplify them as I can remember them.
First steep, and all steeps, poured a deep caramel brown. I am just now starting to see a decrease in color, which is astounding to me.
First steep was SO SMOOTH, with brown sugar, brown bread, and cooked fruit, like fruitcake in a cup. Later steeps produced some spices — nutmeg was the first one I noticed, then the following steep brought cinnamon and clove. A steep later I found some ginger. Plum.
There was a steep where I got green grapes and the brown fruitcake turned more to a yellow coffee cake.
Some astringency in later steeps, but nothing offensive or terribly drying. Right after the pour, wet leaves and toast reign; as the liquor cools, the spices and malt absolutely stick around.
The dry pearls of this oolong are tiny; as the leaves open up, they have the look of a nice black tea. I assume this oolong is on the more-oxidized end of the spectrum.
I have had quite a few cups of this western-style; while I enjoyed it quite a bit, this gong fu session really brought out some fantastic stuff. It’s not necessarily my absolute favorite flavors and scents, but wowza, it’s good fun.
Flavors: Brown Sugar, Cake, Caramel, Cinnamon, Clove, Ginger, Nutmeg, Plum, Red Fruits, Toast, White Grapes
Sounds like an amazing tea!
It’s worth picking up, for sure!