Shan Lin Xi High Mountain Oolong 2022 Winter

I received this sample as a gift from Derk, thank you!

I kept putting off having this due to my belief tea like this “has to be brewed gong fu,” and I just never have the time for gong fu, so I finally decided to be a heathen and brew it western. 3.25g to 350ml 205F water, steeped for 3 minutes.

The liquor is a lovely pale yellow with just a tinge of a green hue. The brewed tea smells beautiful, like a spring garden full of lilac bushes and fresh greens. There is also a hint of cream on the nose. The smell alone is reminding me how long it has been since I’ve dipped into a Taiwanese oolong, one of my favorite tea types.

The mouthfeel is very silky, with a strong floral note… orchids, lilacs, gardenias. Beneath that is a bright citrusy note mixed with fresh greens… sweet grass, wildflowers, garden peas. Ashmanra mentioned “baby powder” and I totally get that. Has a very relaxing energy, and the bright floral and vegetal flavor fits for a spring day (usually we are well into summer in this area by now, but our winter lasted into April, so now our Spring has been pushed all the way into June… Summer might finally start rearing its head by next week. I’m not looking forward to it!)

Thank you, Derk!

Ever since the packet from derk arrived, I have been waiting for the right time to have this. We no longer gong fu at night as we have become more sensitive to caffeine. Getting an afternoon when Ashman is home and we don’t have something to do or somewhere to go has been tricky, but today was the day. We got Sam’s weigh in out of the way early and settled in for a session on the living room floor.

Given a choice of chocolate, nuts, or other to accompany the tea, Ashman chose chocolate. Kuhflecken for me, Milka Strawberry for him.

Aroma in pouch – fresh cut grass on a farm, sweet, thick grass, not the usual neighborhood variety. Smells exactly the way the farm where my son lives smelled last Sunday when we visited and the scent of the grass (being mowed about an acre away) was thick and heavy on the air.

Aroma in warmed, steamy pot before steeping and before rinse – mid-summer blazing hot stone or pavement and the aroma of popcorn, plain with no butter, fresh off of a skillet.

The leaves didn’t open up immediately so I made a quick call to do a rinse instead of drinking the first water that hit the leaves.

First steep – 25 seconds and the leaves have really opened. Ashman likened it to the smell of the motor of the little slot cars we played with as kids. He looked at me squinty like he thought he had made a bad comparison until I told him I had thought of hot pavement, hot stone or slate in summer sun too hot to touch.

Second steep – always his favorite with oolongs, this time he said, “Big change!” Slot car and stone are gone, vegetal and floral notes have come. Lightly mineral.

Third steep – creamy, light baby powder, and soft grass but no sour grassy taste. A little floral, light vegetal. One of my favorite steeps because I loved the creaminess.

Remaining steeps were similar to steep three and we are both relaxed and sleepy.

We have had summer muggy weather in early spring – mid to high 80’s, but today is cool and cloudy, windows open, windchimes adamant in their song. Time to nap.