Another day, another oolong. I have tons of these things. It's not a bad thing, but looking back, I wonder if I could have spent the money on teas I enjoy more. The members of the Tea Club don't seem to like them that much, either, but hey, a little tea variety never hurt anybody. Plus, I can't just write off oolongs when I've barely tasted any.
Today's oolong is Jing-Shuen, of the Formosa persuasion. I think all the oolongs I have are Formosa, actually. Boy howdy, variety!
Dry Leaf
Small, dark green rolled leaves. A bit shiner and greener than the Dong Ding. There's a baked bread aroma, and like a lot of these oolongs, a faint nutty aroma as well.
Brew & Wet Leaf
At the first touch of hot water, the leaves unfurl into their lovely original shape, along with some stems for good measure. You really get a feel for tea as a plant from teas like this.
The wet leaves smell "baked", like rye bread or honey bran bread. It's delightful!
The second infusion produces a honey yellow liquor, and the honey feel doesn't stop with the colour: the aroma also smacks of Winnie-the-Pooh's favourite food. When sipped, the mouthfeel reveals itself as fairly thick and clingy, again reminding me of honey. No surprise that the predominate taste is...honey! There's no sourness like in the Dong Ding, and I find that this tea goes down a bit easier.
Sadly, though, later infusions don't bring out anything special. The honey taste vanishes by the fourth infusion, being replaced by a progressive bitterness. The brew is pretty undrinkable by the sixth infusion.
Overall, I was disappointed at how short a life this tea really had. The honey taste was a welcome surprise, and I would have liked to have had it stick around longer. It was a good time while it lasted.
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