Fu Shou Shan

Sipdown 2020! 28/365

Sad sipdown, because this is absolutely my favourite type of green oolong (alongside pouchong). Just so creamy and perfectly balanced. The good news is that since this is a straight tea, I should be able to get it elsewhere once the world sorts itself out. Until then, I will drink other things…

GUESS WHO SUBMITTED HER ESSAY!!!!! I’M FREEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! :D

Drank my resteeped cold brew while I was working, and it was way way better. Melon flavour definitely came through much more, and no bitterness. Definitely have to remember to use less leaf next time I cold brew this one.

I reopened my bag of this oolong today, as I was really craving a vegetal, green oolong whilst I was revising anatomy. Though this didn’t turn out to be the vegetal tea (I think, really, I’d confused it with a Tieguanyin or Li/Ali Shan jade oolong) I’d confused it with, it was still really delicious.

Anyway, this tea was lovely! Refreshing and floral, with definite fruity notes. I’m only four or five steeps in, so this’ll deffo go on for a good bit longer, but it hasn’t let me down yet! I’m on to steeps of around 45 seconds, so I’m guessing I’ll get another three, maybe four infusions.

(Incidentally, I think I’ll use more leaf next time. The first steep, post-rinse, was surprisingly mild. No steep since then has been overly strong, either.)

cavocorax sent this one my way and it’s just not working for me. Mostly, it’s a mouthful of floral for me..not the delicious buttery spinach flavour that i prefer in a green oolong…you know, when i actually drink those :) Still though, super glad i got the chance to try it…happy i didn’t fall in love with it since butiki is no more. thanks Cavo!

Held off on this review until I drank it all :)
With that being said, it is the tea on the right: https://instagram.com/p/4fn1JRxYIY/

What I really enjoyed about this tea, which made me drink it in the mornings, was the thickness that came about from brewing it. Very buttery with what I would call a mixture of stone and flower in there. It’s not often that I come across a stone like oolong, let alone one with floral notes that has a buttery texture. All of that combined together provide a tea that was more of an experience than a quick morning drink. What was odd about this tea is that it literally had no smell before it was brewed, not sure what that was about… but I don’t care, it did its job :)

Bukiti TTB. A nice refreshing oolong. Smooth flavors. A bit vegetal, I’m not picking up as much asparagus as others but maybe that will come with more steeps.’s a bit floral but only for the first few seconds; then its…. sweet grass, slight cream, maybe very lightly fruity?

Second steep just as good. Kinda over steeped it but it’s still good. No bitterness. A bit more vegetal a little less fruity.

I found a packet of this (along with the other remnants of a Butiki order) hiding under a bunch of GoldenTeaTips packages.

It’s certainly a lovely floral green oolong. I’m afraid I’ve been not brewing it to it’s potential. The weather here has been so crazy this past week. I’ve been brewing big pots of it in the evenings, and letting them cool overnight, then pouring then over ice in the morning. The effect is diluted, and I’m sure some of the more subtle notes are lost this way. Mostly I’m just enjoying it. =)

This was one from the mystery box. Two ounces of this one leaves it pretty pricy! I didn’t really want to follow Butiki’s brewing instructions with this one since I’m used to using boiling water/ short steep times on oolongs these days. But I’ll try it their way and then my way another day. Should I mention I’ve been using a Finum basket I bought from Butiki! I love having two brew baskets so I can leave tea in both and not worry about cramming a second tea in one of the infusers that only holds a teaspoon. Before it was tough to figure out a second tea to have because it needed room for more than one teaspoon.

Steep #1 // 1 1/2 tsp // 25 min after boiling // 3 min steep
The dry leaves have a very fresh sweet scent to them. The flavor to me is very light, like I should have steeped it my way. At least I didn’t make it bitter! The flavor is a little milky, fruity, fresh, buttery, floral — not savory as much. Not as magical as I thought, considering the price.

Steep #2 // 7 min after boiling // 2 min
This cup certainly wasn’t ruined with these parameters, but it doesn’t seem like it was steeped perfectly. There was a hint of too-hot-temp flavor. But otherwise it’s more butter. Seems to be bordering on savory. I wish there was more depth to this one.

Steep #3 // just boiled // 2-3 min
This cup wasn’t ruined either, less oversteeped flavor than the last cup unless you count a little bit of a tanginess. Very tasty, almost addicting. Very buttery, just like the color of the cup. I think this one could keep going for many steeps. It’s a great oolong but not my favorite. If I knew the exact parameters to use for my tastes, it might help. I’ll try it again soon!

Edited to add: Another steep session: Tried again with one teaspoon, and it turned out much different, though I can’t say how. Also very consistent three steeps. There wasn’t any oversteeped flavor, even at boiling.
1 tsp // rinse // pretty close to boiling each time // 1 min // 1 1/2 min // 3 min

This may be the only oolong, at least with Stacy’s steeping parameters, where I enjoy the first steep the most. Usually it takes somewhere between the 2nd-4th.

I’m getting quite a bit of melon and floral butter in this cup- it’s as good of a send off as I could’ve hoped for!

I would say this is a fairly vegetal, grassy tasting oolong. I like it a lot more than I would have just a year ago. A year ago this would have been way too vegetal. It also has an undercurrent of a buttery note there too.

I brewed this once in an 18oz teapot with 3 tsp leaf and 175 degree water for 4 min.