After hearing so many great things about Floating Leaves, I finally got around to trying them this year. I generally favor Taiwan Tea Crafts for the value and quality, but at this point I’ve tried every single green oolong in their lineup and was ready for something new. I ordered the Winter High Mountain sampler pack and this was the first tea to go into the gaiwan.
I steeped about 3.5g of tea in a 80ml gaiwan. The dry leaves had a light orchid aroma. A rinse intensified the orchid and brought out notes of lilies, custard, and cream. The first steep was a little light, probably because my water temperature wasn’t high enough. On the second steep, I was able to taste the flowery notes in the aroma and some honeycomb in the finish that was very nice. The next two steeps were juicier with crisp florals, sugarcane, snap pea, and a hint of cucumber. Mouthfeel wasn’t as full as other high mountain teas but very clean and refreshing. I was able to push this to 10 steeps in total and despite fading a little, it maintained a pleasant orchid/lilac profile throughout.
This was the first Ali Shan in a long time that’s really wowed me. A bright, fresh, and flowery tea with some serious staying power. And a great start to trying out my samples. Hoping the other teas in the sampler are as impressive as this one was.
Flavors: Cream, Cucumber, Custard, Flowers, Orchid, Peas, Sugarcane
