Taiwan Four Seasons Oolong Tea

Western steeping. One big teaspoon (worth about two normal ones), almost boiling water and…
Oh dear this is floral. Though it is 2020 harvest, but I opened it a few weeks ago; and yes, it is indeed still very floral. Vacuum sealing does the magic. Thanks White Antlers who bought this to me back then and Alistair chose it.

While it is very floral, it has got another amazing quality if steeped right. The creamy and buttery sweetness and amazing mouthfeel.

I am trying to focus what those florals are. CrowKettle says lilacs, but I am not that sure. Hycinth, also mentioned there, seems better. Lily of the valley for me is there too.

Wikipedia says: “In the “language of flowers”, the lily of the valley signifies the return of happiness." Well, that’s lovely! And somehow true today.

I will keep trying this tea and if I found something new and amazing, be sure that I will mention that in new tasting note. Because oolongs have a lot to offer to me and almost never a dud.

Got a baby bag of this and burned right through it. Gong fu’d it once or twice. It was good, but — given the teaser notes of flowers and green and butter and cream here — I found myself craving complexity and roundness that it didn’t quite deliver. I’m at a point in my life where I’ll happily fork over my cashmoney for that thrilling feeling of bouncing around in a profile that tempts a smile before the swallow and dares me to lose all my tea out my teeth.

But. But! I took the remainder to work and grandpa-styled the last couple servings of it in my Yeti tumbler. What a delight, really, and those sips were like angels singing compared to the trash I normally grab and throw water on all day long. I think this will be my plan moving forward with teas that I find so-so — take them to work, where I‘ll appreciate them SO much more, and feel excited rather than beholden to empty their shiny little bags.

Finally finished off my last 50g pouch from What-Cha, and now I only have two small samplers left to clear out from the company, both of which are just the right size for my little mini pumpkin pot for gong fu sessions — a style of brewing I don’t do often and must be reserved for weekends when I have the time. This was an unopened packet from the Spring 2017 harvest.

160ml mini pot | 10g | 205F | Rinse/25s/30s/35s/40s/45s

There is a strong bitter melon and lilac perfume aroma from the steeped leaves after the first steep. The liquor smells mostly very sweet, like lilacs, honeysuckle, vanilla, cream, with a slight sharpness a bit little bitter melon rind or sour plum. The flavor is heavily floral, tasting of orchid/lilac and leaving a coating perfuminess on the tongue, with a slight honey/cream sweetness followed by a bit of a vegetal astringency. Some of the unpleasant coating and astringency began to mellow as early as the second steep, when I noticed quite a difference in leaf expansion. While still predominantly floral, there was a little more of an underlying vegetal note peeking through as well, a bit like sweet peas and grass. The floral started to be much less aggressive by the third steep, becoming more balanced with the vegetal notes, and the tea became a lot more pleasant at that point; a leafy green flavor followed by orchid/lilac sweetness. The tea seemed noticably weaker already by steep four, but on the flip side I was starting to like it a bit better in those later steeps just because the florality wasn’t leaving that unpleasant coating feeling on my tongue anymore…

Last steep ended up all over my lap, the table, my laptop… just everywhere. Cause you know who doesn’t have one of those fancy gongfu tea tables? This person. Session was prompty over at that point.

I love floral notes, but I didn’t really like the mouthfeel of this one. It felt coating/aggressive and had a perfumey quality that was unpleasant for portions of the session. I tend to like Taiwanese oolongs in general, but this particular type isn’t a favorite.

This was part of my “three tea mystery grab bag” purchase. I’m grateful that Alistair included this one because my past “less than stellar” experiences with other Four Seasons harvests has made me reluctant to seek it out again. I had one that was kind of doughy (ie- flat) in profile and it was meh.

However, this one is my jam. Like, it has fruity jam notes, which is one of my favourite things about some green oolong selections. It also has buttery cream notes (another favourite thing) and I am now pretending I’m eating a delicious scone. Life is good.

The aroma of the steeped cup is similar to that of the dry leaf: a floral bouquet of lilacs, lilacs, lilacs. A dab of Hyacinth. It dominates the room. I went into this first steep expecting an overpowering floral smackdown, like some Tieguanyin oolongs, and I was so kind of wrong (still a floral-heavy tasting profile).

Depending on how this session goes, and if following sessions yield consistently, I may just order more. I’ve denied myself the simple flowers for too long. Also, Four Seasons is always cheaper than the average oolong. Always a plus.

Steep Count: 4

(spring 2020 harvest)

I had no idea Oolong tea could be so good. I’ve had countless bags of Oolong and they weren’t that good. I couldn’t figure out what all the fuss was about. This has changed my mind. I like floral teas anyway and this one was nice and slightly floral. I don’t like it steeped too hot. It can get a little bitter. I like to use less. It says 1-2 teaspoon and definitely prefer using 1 teaspoon…but then again I am using a Gaiwan. I really liked it!

The price of this tea is remarkable. Unfortunately, apart from that and the aroma, there is nothing else worthy of note. The smell is quite nice though – mostly sweet and floral, with hints of peach, freshly cut grass and butter. The taste is very bright and floral, but without much depth. There is no bitterness or astringency, the body is light and the aftertaste is fairly short.

If you want a cheap tea, which nevertheless posseses strong floral aroma, you might like this one. Otherwise, I cannot recommend it.

I am finally cleaning out the backlog with this one. I had a sample pouch of this tea, and after a very long day at work, I made the time to seriously sit down and evaluate it. I found it to be an enjoyable, easy-drinking oolong that would work well as a daily drinker.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I conducted a 7 second infusion with 6 grams of loose tea leaves in a 4 ounce gaiwan filled with 194 F water. This infusion was followed by 12 subsequent infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 10 seconds, 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, and 3 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted pleasant aromas of cream, lilac, honeysuckle, and violet. After the rinse, I began to detect emerging scents of butter, magnolia, and sweetgrass. The first infusion brought out touches of orchid and vanilla. In the mouth, I detected mild notes of violet, cream, butter, honeysuckle, and sweetgrass. Subsequent infusions brought out the touches of hyacinth, magnolia, orchid, and vanilla. I also began to catch emerging impressions of minerals, spinach, cucumber, sugarcane, and leaf lettuce. At one point, I thought I even caught a touch of Narcissus. The later infusions were mild, emphasizing notes of minerals, sweetgrass, spinach, lettuce, and butter underscored by faint traces of cream and fresh flowers.

I did not get a ton of complexity out of this oolong, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. It was the sort of tea that was good to knock back after a long day, as it had a nice bouquet and enough flavor to impress, yet it also did not require a ton of analysis. I would recommend this tea to anyone looking for a solid, basic oolong. I could see it going over especially well with those looking to get into Taiwanese oolongs without jumping into the deep end and/or breaking the bank.

Holy heady florals Batman! I pretty much agree with first review: nothing but strong sweet florals in taste and aroma. Smooth texture, but it is so heady that it is one or two steps away from the strength of a jasmine or magnolia scented tea. There was a sugarcane sweetness, but no honey notes. I was surprised how little spinach this had-more green florals than anything else. This is definitely a good daily drinker, but then again, all the oolongs I’ve ordered have been good quality daily drinkers. I personally prefer a jasmine oolong to this because I think they are sweeter…if that preference makes ANY sense for flower water, but there it is. I won’t make this my daily drinker like I hoped, but it is a Four Seasons that stands a head above quite a few others in the aroma department.

I think I might change my rating scale. There have been teas that I normally would rate higher for quality that I would not buy again and again.

This is one I’ll be ordering again. So pleasant and good for many brews.

This is just a really good priced Taiwanese green oolong which is for sure on the floral side of things. Not too complex but something I would for sure recommend for people who enjoy floral teas, has a taste similar to jasmine. As for me I found it to be a bit too floral and lacking in other things, but I was still able to enjoy it.