2021 Rueili Winter Ali Shan Jin Xuan High Mountain Oolong

This is a really nice tea, although not very complex. The aroma is sweet and floral with notes of custard, honeysuckle, and, above all, fern and fiddleheads.

The taste is crisp and green, but at the same time sweet and warming, which is not the most common combination. It is a touch grassy, but not too much.

I’ve tried this twice, and I hesitated on whether to get more than 30 grams because it’s up my alley, or staving off because shipping prices and my need to go through my oolongs…which I inevitably will. Quickly. No doubt. Don’t speak.

I know what you’re thinking, and I don’t need no reasons, don’t tell me ‘cause oolong. Anyway, my memories, well this tea is inviting, though price is altogether mighty frightening. As I sip, the tea is pretty close to TheTea’s description:
" Fruity and milky, made from Jin Xuan bush with zero astringency typical for many high mountain oolongs.

Here you will find: grassy freshness, almonds, strawberries, yogurt, cream and notes of white flowers (lilly of the valley, lilly). And something fresh and vivid you can literally name: mountain breeze."

It’s got the trademark milky smoothness of a jin xuan, and it’s very fresh like a Maofeng or Baicha, maybe even a Cuifeng, but of course, smooth as only an oolong can be. The florals weren’t surprising, but the fruitiness was. Aroma has a stronger sweetness than the actual tea, but the tea has a weird creamy strawberry yogurt aftertaste that’s refreshing. I get it both gong fu and western, though I still think I need to crack the tea.

The lily of the valley, cream, and grass are the most prominent, yet the strawberry brushes the aftertaste. Aroma is more pronounced gong fu, but flavor has been more rounded western in longer steeps. Despite all of that, the tea has been pretty forgiving of my mistakes.

I’ve done this too many times, but I’m going to come back to it even though I’ve shoved enough purple prose into the review. I’m sold on it being a tea I like and something for people looking for a cleaner quality Jin Xuan or greener style tea. It’s more grassy than spinachy having more freshness than most of the straight Jin Xuans I’ve had, and I like it actually has more forward fruitiness instead of “hints” of fruit. I was exaggerating a little on price because it’s not the most expensive tea they have by any means, but it’s a step up from the usual price of a Jin Xuan deserving of more discriminating buyers.