GABA oolong
Tea from taiwan
5.5g, 130mL
190f-198f
Dry leaves smell sweet, a little bit of sweet potato? Having tea with a friend and they mentioned seaweed
First brew 45s: tastes like sweet potato. Slightly thick mouthfeel.
30s 2nd: leaves smell smokey. But also still sweet potato. Tastes similar.
2 min: very very sweet potato leaves smell. A hint of smokey. Sweet potato taste at first. Then a touch of bitter taste, then slightly sweet aftertaste.
2.5, 3, 4min: similar to before
Overall this was very linear, like drinking a sweet potato, but with fluctuating levels of bitterness depending on infusion time and sometimes a note of smoke and sweetness. The reviews for this tea seem to be all over the place (maybe the source has changed over the years?), but anyway. I don’t really like taiwanese oolongs to begin with (most have been pretty linear in my experience), compared to their Chinese counterparts, and GABA oolong is basically just hype marketing, so this was my first GABA oolong and will likely be my last. Will recommend for the novelty, but unless you really like sweet potato, I couldn’t see buying a ton being worth it.
Flavors: Bitter, Smoke, Sweet Potatoes