Pear Mountain Oolong (Winter Pick)

Winter 2020 picking.

Another Mountain Stream Teas oolong that had tremendous promise but didn’t quite deliver. The aroma of the tea enchants the senses with a fruity fragrance of papaya and granny Smith apple followed by buttered flowers when the leaves are placed in a warmed gaiwan. A rinse reveals more complex aromas of custard, coconut cream pie, and meadow flowers.

The brewed tea though is a pale shadow of it’s aroma. Fairly light and nondescript, with vague florals and a little fruitiness here and there. There are echos of the heady aroma but they are faint and not much if any of it comes through in the tea itself. I haven’t tried cold brewing it yet, but I suspect that like the other Mountain Stream oolongs, this too will taste better cold brewed.

I ordered the whole Pear Mountain sampler with 4 different harvest times and drank them all today. This one is my least favourite I’d say. The dry leaf smell is very similar to the fall pick, but I find it sweeter and greener. The wet leaf has more of an artificial, sweet gum aroma. Taste is kind of like a green tea, but more floral. Overall, it is not too interesting though. Aftertaste is more intriguing. There are notes of cinnamon, cream cheese, nuts and minerals. The mouthfeel is quite thin, buttery, watery and slightly drying.

I’m bumping up the rating as I’ve discovered its potential in Western and tumbler brewing. I’ve gotten headier florals like osmanthus and a little bit more pineapple in the finish, and more cucumber in the body. I was impressed with how much sweeter it was despite losing some viscosity. I used a simple french press, which I never press with actual tea giving me a huge cup, and then I finished it off today with a new tumbler with a removable cup and a large chamber for leaves. It was magical and sweet tonight, with the iris, osmanthus, and other floral hints ending with a sweet finish, again like cucumber or perhaps pineapple, but then better described at the moment like green grapes. It was refreshing to say the least, and thickened out in the next four rebrews reclaming its general floral fruity and fresh body combo. If you get this tea, it might be better suited for tumblers with open space or western sessions. It surprised me that I did not enjoy it as much gong fu, but I have a bit of a sweet craving tongue when it comes to my gaoshans.