Roast GaoShan

I plan on spending my weekend crafting! Making stars, melting perler beads, drawing, you know the usual crafty things. Of course while I am crafting I will have my eyes glued to the livestreams for Final Round 17 held in my home town of Atlanta. For those not in the know, Final Round is the Southeast’s biggest fighting game tournament and part of the Road to Evo. It is not too much of a surprise that I am a huge fan of fighting games.

Today we are looking at Roast Gao Shan tea no.8 in the Red Leaf Tea sampler, Gao Shan Oolong is from Taiwan and is also known as High Mountain Oolong and is from the alpine tea zone, or above 1,000 feet. Usually these teas are only very lightly roasted, if at all, so this oolong being roasted could be an unusual treat. The aroma is certainly roasted and deliciously so, a mix of sweetness and an almost popcorn like aroma. There is also a hint of vegetal, specifically that of green beans.

The steeped leaves still have a strong roasted aroma that the dry leaves did, retaining the sweetness and popcorn like aroma, but the vegetal notes have gone to more of a spinach tone and there is a very light floral note at the finish. The liquid is surprisingly heady with strong orchid notes mixing with rich nuttiness and roasted aromas.

The taste is deliciously roasted with a mild orchid taste that mixes quite well with the roasted taste. The roasted taste still reminds me a bit of popcorn (without the salt and butter of course) and a bit of chestnuts. As the tea cools the taste becomes sweeter, adding a burnt sugar taste which is quite yummy. The flavors that are present are quite mild and subtle, it is quite a tasty tea but not one that inspires poetry and song.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/03/red-leaf-tea-roast-gao-shan-tea-tea.html