Alishan High Mountain GABA Green Tea - Winter 2016

Another sample courtesy of Togo :)

I didn’t quite know what to do with this tea since I had never had a balled green tea (unless I count gunpowder green) but I think I did ok!

Teapot time :) 5g, 100mL, 195F dropped to 175F for the third+ steeps, 10s rinse followed by 9 steeps at 10/15/20/25/30/40/50/60/75s.

It took me forever to place the dry leaf smell, which wasn’t terribly complex but it was very fragrant – Grape Nuts cereal with something green vegetal and a hint of honey. Some tanginess tickled my nose when I sniffed the warm leaf. The rinse carried the same notes of Grape Nuts, tang and vegetal.

In the first steep, the tea had a very light grainy aroma. I could taste Grape Nuts and citron with a lingering finish of lemon, faint cream, grass and wheat. The liquor was noticeably drying and remained so throughout the session. The tastes were the same for a few more steeps, with the liquor thickening up and producing a really pleasant tart aftertaste. Mid-session turned oily and the grass taste turned vegetal, similar to spinach. At one point, I picked up on unplaced fruit and florals in the aftertaste and an unexpected strong returning sweetness. After this, the tea rode out with it’s oiliness, tartness, and astringency and fading tastes of Grape Nuts and butter. I ended the session at the ninth steep due to the astringency.

Overall, I really enjoyed the flavor profile though the astringency makes a snack a requirement. It didn’t really pull me in but the session was still very enjoyable. I was pleased that this tea didn’t have any of the funk I’ve experienced in other GABA teas. When I’m ready to cry my money away at Taiwan Sourcing, I’ll be looking to try a more recent harvest of this tea.

Even though this tea is already 1 and a half years old, I only opened the vacuum sealed package a few days ago. Right after opening the pack I am hit with a sweet aromas of grass, honey, pear and cookies, which is a little strange since there is no roasting process here. After the wash, the wet leaves also give off some sweet potato smell, which is fairly standard for GABA teas.

The body is too light for my liking though. And when I tried a more aggressive steep, I got a fairly astringent brew. This is often a problem I have with green teas, the window between a very light body and strong astringency either isn’t there or is too narrow. Nevertheless, the character of this tea is kind of what you would expect from a Jin Xuan GABA enhanced tea. It is not too milky, but you get it there. Other notes are mostly grassy and sour ones with just a hint of floral and sweet tones in the aftertaste.

Overall, it is quite a unique tea, although not surprising given the description. I like its scent a lot, as well as the GABA effects which are stronger for me in TS offerings than other GABA teas I have tried. However, since the taste and texture didn’t align with my preferences, I cannot really recommend it. I can definitely imagine other people liking this more than I did though.