Thailand #12 Jin Xuan High Mountain Oolong Tea

Whew, I usually like florals, but this was just a little too much for me! It unfortunately made me feel like I was drinking perfume. Tried several infusions but just couldn’t get past it.

My struggles with winter unfortunately continue. The temperatures plummeted and what started as an icy mix of precipitation gave way to a freak snowstorm that settled in yesterday and blanketed the area. By any realistic measure, 3 inches of snow isn’t much, but when you live out in the sticks where infrastructure is poor, it’s enough to seriously ruin your day. My internet and phone have both been touch and go and the roads are too treacherous to drive anywhere. I’ve been stuck at home for the better part of three days now. If anything good has come of this situation, I have been able to spend a lot of time with my cats and polish off some more tea samples. This was one of my more recent sipdowns. I know that many Southeast Asian teas tend to get a bad rap, but I found this to be a very good one. In all honesty, I found it to be better than some of the Taiwanese Jin Xuans I have tried.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 7 seconds. This infusion was chased by 13 subsequent infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 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, I detected aromas of cream, butter, and vanilla underscored by hints of violet and hyacinth. After the rinse, I found emerging scents of custard, sugarcane, and lilac underscored by a hint of citrus. The first infusion brought out strong floral scents. The violet, lilac, and hyacinth were still there, but were joined by hints of daylily and honeysuckle. In the mouth, the liquor offered notes of cream, butter, vanilla, and sugarcane that gave way to hints of custard, violet, and hyacinth before a somewhat grassy, vegetal finish. Subsequent infusions brought out stronger notes of hyacinth, violet, and grass. The notes of daylily and honeysuckle started to appear in the mouth too. New impressions of orange zest, minerals, bamboo shoots, daylily shoots, green apple, lettuce, and pear also started to appear. The later infusions were dominated by notes of cream, butter, grass, and lettuce balanced by subtler notes of minerals, sugarcane, and vanilla. On a couple of the later infusions, I was just barely able to pick up some lingering, almost ghostly floral qualities.

This was a very rich, sweet, smooth, and satisfying Jin Xuan. Compared to several Taiwanese Jin Xuans I have tried fairly recently, this was more complex, more durable, better textured, and less vegetal. I could see this tea making an excellent introduction to the Jin Xuan cultivar or a great daily drinker for established fans.

Alistair, I’m impressed with how floral this one is. I like my Jin Xuan’s sweet and floral. First steep was about a minute, and the rest were shorter to do a semi-fu session ending with another long Western one. I also need to decide if I want to capitalize brewing styles when I type them. A part of me would say the florals were almost heady, but still toned down enough to taste the thick creamy texture and crisp grassy ends.

I thought about bamboo and incense oddly enough in the florals, though the florals reminded me of some Da Yu Lings. I also keep in mind that some Jin Xuan’s are sold as Da Yu Ling fakes, but despite that, there was no mistaking that this tea was a Jin Xuan. I have a bare idea of describing the florals though, being closer in my head to lilies, honey suckle, and magnolias. I’d have to ask Amanda what she thinks.

I definitely recommend this tea for someone looking for an affordable and great quality oolong. I actually preferred this to a few Taiwan Jin Xuans. Tea snobbery aside, this would make a decent introduction to someone exploring this variety as well, and it could be sold as someone really new to the world of loose leaf as a friendlier green tea.

Steeped this up yesterday alongside the Vietnam Light Roast Jin Xuan High Mountain Oolong Tea. They’re both about 20% oxidized or so, so I thought I would be fun to taste two high mountain jin xuans from different countries.

These dry leaves are rolled—though not as tightly as the Vietnamese jin xuan—and green, and have a mild sweet fragrance that becomes more vegetal and floral after a quick wash. The liquor of this one started out a clear yellow that became deeper and more golden over subsequent steeps.

It starts out smooth, floral and vegetal, with a thick and creamy mouthfeel. It takes a while for the creaminess to really become prominent in this one, but the floral flavor eventually gives way to a taste that is creamy overall, with the texture becoming even thicker and more viscous throughout the session.

I feel like this one stands up to resteeping quite well, and offers an interesting and enjoyable session. It definitely has distinct differences from Taiwanese, Chinese and Vietnamese oolongs that I have tried thus far.