Tsuei Luan Oolong Tea

The Final Sipdown: Day 4
Decupboarding Total: 6

Yay! I’m ahead my one-a-day goal. Very exciting! (Well, it is to me. You might be less than thrilled.) I might make two-a-day my new goal. How daring do I feel? Hmmm….

This is a really interesting oolong – sweet and fruity and floral and vegetal. It’s got a note of something that is really unusual – it’s like a combo of kettle corn and stewed apples. I’ve been more daring with water temp on green oolongs (normally I do them at 175° since they seem to be easily ‘cooked’) and this one held up well and gives more sparkle than at 175° so thumbs up.

The second steep (1:30) is more ‘normal’. (In other words, not so strong on the kettle apples.) Nicely sweet on the front end and a flash of astringency at the end. It’s a tasty tea. Tasty, I tell you!
3.2g/6oz

yummm. I was really looking forward to trying this sample after reading the description! ;)

I steeped this in an infuser mug at 180 F but I lost track of the time, it might have been 2 or 3 mins. It is buttery, slightly vegetal with a little bit of sweetness in the aftertaste. I believe this is the apple flavor that was referenced in the description?

The second steep was only for about 90 seconds. I think a light touch is paramount with this one. The vegetal notes have backed off a bit and is getting more creamy. I am enjoying it but I don’t think it will go on my “must have” list. Not sure if I need to steep this a third time, oh well. It isn’t really standing out but I’m also feeling kind of nauseated today so that isn’t really helping…

I used 15 pieces, each brew was made with 4oz of hot water (somewhere between 160 and 180* F, i guessed at the temp because that is the temp that usually comes out of the hot side of my water dispenser), each brew was for 1 minute.
Pre infusion- 10 seconds, smells alittle fishy. tastes fishy.
1st infusion- clear, has a strange but interesting flavor.
2nd infusion- very pale clear green, leaves are really starting to unfurl. they are actually pretty big! :D the tea has a stronger smell, tastes a bit like veggies… almost like watery spinach… but its not unpleasant.
3rd infusion- still smells like veggies, tastes like salty veggies now. a slightly perfumy aftertaste.
4th infusion- lost the funny smell, tastes “better” and sweeter, still green liquid, has not lost any color yet.
5th infusion- still green! now it has a jasmine floral smell. less veggie taste and a much more floral taste (but not unpleasant, very soft).
6th infusion- still floral and same as 5th.
7th infusion- same as 5th, no change or weakening of flavor
8th infusion- supposedly last infusion. very floral, sweet very vegetal, and has a faint jasmine flower smell to it but it does not show up in the flavor.
At this point i had run out of hot water as i had been using a very large glass tea pot of o hold the hot water so i would not have to get up to get more water. I refilled the pot with hot water from the water dispenser for this infusion so the water is probably a little hotter than in the last 2-3 infusions.
9th infusion- yep. decided to keep brewing it. the flavor is too strong to give up yet! :D the flavor changed, its very different almost like a completely different tea!! has a floral smell, but it lost its floral flavor. the taste is strong but pleasant, I can’t quite place the flavor though. its familiar yet nothing specific comes to mind.
I brewed a 10th and 11th infusion, but by this point I was sweating profusely and my stomach full of tea.
10th infusion & 11th infusion- I got bored and stopped drinking the tea. It has a new flavor and smell. Its good. but I don’t know what it is….. very very interesting. I ended up dumping both infusions on some plants in my garden. I put my wet tea leaves in a sealed cup in the fridge so that i might try infusing them again this evening. I want to know what that third flavor is!

As an after thought from my notes: I looked at the description for the tea. It says it has a fruity flavor and now that i think about it… that is probably the flavor i was experiencing. that is some freaking good tea. I have never had a tea infuse so many times with out tasting like hot water. why have i never had this type of tea before?

I do not own a gofu set so i used a small english tea pot and cup plus 2 japanese tea cups (4oz each) to measure water and hold the hot tea until it was cool enough for me to drink without getting burned. I left the tea leaves to float freely in the water and only used a strainer to catch the leaves when pouring into my cups. All fallen leaves were replaced into the tea pot for more brewing. The leaves are actually quite big once they fully unfurl. I saw twig pieces attached to the leaves as well. I can identify some of the leaves as being the “three” top leaves (one good sized leaf and 2 smaller bud leaves). very interesting to look at the leaves.

Boy I am ignorant…I keep logging out after moving the sliders, forgetting to add tasting notes. Anyhow…this looked so green coming out of the package that I had to try it the multiple steep “Eastern” style in my Yixing…I think I’ll leave my Japanese Kyusu strictly for Japanese green.

First steep was 50 seconds at 195F with about 6-8 ounces water. Very buttery flavor…creamy too! This must be less oxidized than others I have tried because I can almost detect a vegetal background. I think I may have finally got the water to tea mix right because that first steep went down fast and tasty!

The second steep was 60 seconds at 195F and is predominantly salty and toasty- kind of reminds me of Long Jing (Dragonwell) . What’s going on here? I am beginning to suspect that my Yixing pot, my ignorance, or a mix of both is to blame. I may do the rest of my samples “Western” style. Maybe I am not refined enough for oolong? After this batch I am turning the Zojirushi down to 175F and having some Sencha which I at least know how to brew.

Meh, this was a pretty lousy tea all around. It’s supposed to be a Pear Mountain / Li Shan oolong, something which I would never mistake it for. There’s none of those distinctive fruity and floral notes that Li Shan is known for. Instead, this is rough and vegetal with a washed out flavor that lasts for only a few steeps.

So far this has been the only real dud in my Tea from Taiwan sampler pack. It’s also a reminder of why I don’t like to commit to more than 25g of any tea, especially expensive high mountain teas that can be very hit or miss.

I really enjoyed this straight forward yet not simple Oolong. Its a delight to have on a summer day. only mildly astringant, but that could be my brewing.
Teasoup neither thin nor thick, and not buttery or creamy but clean refreshing heavy floral nose and taste and backdrop of fruit, maybe peach or melons. steeped at 30 seconds , increasing as session went on.

Method: 1.5 tsp, 182 degrees, grandpa style

Dry Leaf Aroma: lightly floral with a hint of seaweed

Brewing Aroma: The seaweed is gone, and there’s a very quiet floral scent. I can also detect what smells like a buttered spinach.

Flavor: This tea has a very pleasant mouthfeel, soft and buttery, with minimal astringency. The buttery spinach comes through in the flavor, also. There are some indeterminate florals, but none of the fruits from the description. The tea doesn’t taste bitter, but I wouldn’t call it sweet either. I think mellow is a good word.

What happened? I haven’t tasted “bad” tea since I pulled a bag of Lipton from water poured by a coffee carafe on an airline. I’m an oolong fan and have played with them all, but steep after steep, I was treated to a lovely light sensation that promised li shan, then dropped me with the thud of a taste I can only describe as dirty metal. This is not cheap stuff. Did I wind up with a poor crop? I was hoping to visit again and splurge on the Li Shan Wu Ling, but no more. Sadness.