"Baked Organic GABA Oolong Tea, Lot 887" from Taiwan tea crafts

From vendor:

ORGANICALLY GROWN	Organically grown
STYLE OF TEA	GABA Oolong Tea
PICKING DATE	April 2019
OXYDATION LEVEL	Medium, Oxygen Deprived
BAKING LEVEL	Baked
TERROIR	Baguashan
ADMINISTRATIVE REGION	Nantou County
PICKING STYLE	Mechanically Picked
CULTIVAR(S) USED	Jin Xuan, TRES No. 12
GARDEN ELEVATION	350 m

Lot 887 was baked in February 2020 from Spring 2019 tea.

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The Dry leaf is not very aromatic, with some roasted seaweed notes. Stems are present as expected for machine picking but not too prominent, suggesting decent quality.

Brewing:

8 g / 125 mL boiling water in porcelain pot.

Rinse / 45 sec / 50 sec / 1:10 / 1:30 / 2 min / 3 min / 6 min

Wet leaf has a strong scent of roasted seaweed that leads to some funky seaweed and soy sauce aromas along with raisins and baked fruit cake. The vendor claims this scent is comparable to third flush Darjeeling. I tested this by brewing an autumn flush Darjeeling a few days later. I concur that they share a similar fragrance except the Darjeeling lacks the seaweed characteristics.

In general, this leaf has good stamina and lasted for 7 solid steeps.

Tasting profile: Dark toffee, roasted coffee, charcoal and creaminess that increases with steeps. Creaminess is likely because of the Jin Xuan varietal. As temperature drops, sour cherry notes emerge. These sour notes are common for GABA teas. In this case, the sourness is more fruit forward. There is a strong and satisfying menthol cooling aftereffect as regularly experienced from roasted Taiwanese oolong

For me, at the 3rd steep, the balance falls apart. Leaf flavors ( fruit, cream) seemed more spent but roast characteristics (smoke, charcoal) were still strong. After the 3rd steep, the leaf wins out over the roast in a good way. The 4th steep was more sweet and green. 5th was mild but fruit forward. 6th and 7th retained nice fruit juiciness and subtle roast characters. Overall, a very enjoyable tea at a great price point.

Comments

Glenburn king single estate first flush 2019 from vahdam

Leaves are small and bud like. There are many broken leaves as well and leaves with holes indicating insect bite. This could explain some of the Muscatel. 1.8 teaspoon 350 mL water 90 C water Steep 1: 4 min Steep 2: 8 min Steep 3: indefinite time Light, flowery, herbal Some muscatel in nose Muscatel, herb, flowery hops, light wood notes in taste Lingering herbal, fresh hop and cooling mint I am told mint is often a sign of Assamica tea but these are supposed to be chinary.

Longfengxia High Mountain Spring Oolong Tea, Day 5, Lot 948, 2020 taiwan tea craft

From vendor: PICKING DATE May 2020 OXYDATION LEVEL Low BAKING LEVEL None TERROIR Shanlinxi ADMINISTRATIVE REGION Nantou County PICKING STYLE Hand Picked CULTIVAR(S) USED Qing Xin GARDEN ELEVATION 1750 m Review: Dry lead is intensely flowery with prominent yellow stems Brewed 5 to 7 grams/100 mL boiling water in kobiwako. Lower leaf is okay due to intensity of flavor but higher leaf has stronger sweetness in later steeps. For 5 g: Rinse / 55 s / 45 s / 55 s / 1:10 / 1:30 /2:30 Brewed leaves have strong pastry and tropical fruit Steeps 1-2: Taste of green mango, citrus, and baked pineapple pastry. Clean minerality and medium to thick mouthfeel. There is strong perfume of oily flowers, mainly rose and some lavender. At higher leaf to water (7 g per 100 mL) there is some slight green astringency. Steep 3-5: fruit notes are much more mild but still present and long lasting. Much more buttery. There is slight green brandy like astringency. At higher leaf to water ratio, frui...

2020 Competition Grade Jin Jun Mei Black Tea from Yunnan Sourcing

From vendor: Late March Harvest Tong Mu Guan Village (Fujian) Review: Strong yeast and honey suckle aroma from dry leaf. Lots of orange yellow powder from the small, tight buds. A small holed filter is necessary. Brew parameter: 4 g / 100 mL 90 C in porcelain Rinse / 10s / 10s / 15s / 35s / 1 min / 2 min / 5 min Strong honey and milk chocolate notes. Smooth and thick with stone fruit (peach) aromas and sweet yam flavors. Some vegetal notes develop in later steepings. Early steepings are quick and strong but drops off after 3rd steeping. Strangely, a pu-erh like wet pile funk is faintly present. This is not particularly pleasant. Western brewing is also acceptable at 1 g /100 mL for 3:30. However, the chocolate notes are much more mild when brewed in this way.

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