Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Musky Smell’

This Taiwanese tea is actually an Oolong, not a green, though I can understand the purveyor classifying it as green.   Oolongs are fermented between 20%-80% of their total sugars.   The ones on the low end of the scale are very flowery in nose, very delicate in taste, and very light in leaf color. These oolongs are sometimes referred to as green oolongs, and tend to need to be steeped at lower temps (below 180F)  The ones on the high end – think Da Hong Pao (Red Robe) – tend to be more robust in taste, aroma, and darker in leaf, tend to be steeped in the 180-200F range.  

The tea is a dark jade green leaf, twisted and furled, with a inviting perfume smell,  The leafs are  quite long, common with well processed Pouchong.

1st Steep: 1 TBLS tea (3g) in 6oz water @ 175F for 3 min in my oolong xing pot.  Yellow and bright in the cup, with a nice floral perfume nose.  Excellent sweet “oolong perfume” taste, and a dryness that is much like a green tea.  A touch of that savoriness in the aftertaste that lingers.

Wet leaf is well shaped, long and broad, with a good musky smell.

2nd Steep:  4 Min @ 180 F.  The aroma is much more balanced, with suggestions of Peonies, very pleasant.   The taste has mellowed to a very distinct flower presence, with hints of butteriness, that I associate with Taiwanese Oolongs.  The aroma and taste linger well after.  This steep is the best.

I got two more good steeps from this leaf,   This is a satisfying, refreshing, bright tea, of excellent quality.

You can purchase the Pouchong directly from the Canton Tea Co. website. Save 15% right now when you use the code LEAF at checkout!

Oolongs come from primarily 3 regions Fujian & Guandong provinces PRC, and Tiawan. The mainland oolongs tend to have a savoriness to them – some describe this as a buttery feel. The Taiwan produced Oolongs, tend to be more delicate, and have a sweetness to them. Oolongs are teas that undergo a fermentation step during their processing. This process converts between 10% and 80% of the available sugars in the leaf, which produce the unique flavor and aroma characteristics of oolongs. These are some of the most complex, most inviting teas produced anywhere.

This Formosa Oolong Finest from Teafrog is a great example of a Taiwanese Oolong. Short reddish-black leaves with a faintly sweet aroma, with some broken leaf.

1St Steep: 3g (2tsp) tea in 6oz of 190F water, in my for Oolong Xing teapot for 4 minutes. Bright brown in cup, with a pleasantly strong spicy/perfume nose expected from Taiwanese Oolong. Spice with a bit of citrus sourness to the taste, with a nice smooth mouthfeel. The astringency is balanced and the dry aftertaste lingers.

Wet leaf shows good leaf shape, short leaf with a brown green color, and a musky smell.

2nd Steep (190F for 4.5 min) – Still a good spicy aroma, flavor much more balanced, and a slight sweetness to it. There is a bit more dryness to the aftertaste. This is a refreshing cup.

This is an excellent, every day Oolong. If you are looking for a Oolong to try, this is a good one to start with.

You can purchase the Formosa Oolong Finest directly from the TeaFrog website.