720 Tasting Notes
My TeaVivre order arrived! With all of the crazy shipping delays, I’d lost hope for a few orders that I’ve been waiting on. But, this appeared out of nowhere a few days ago. It’s a very, very small order (about 5 samples), but I was excited to try this one in particular. It’s pretty much exactly as I hoped it would be. Really beautiful, loud jasmine fragrance and flavor. So floral and wonderful, and it goes so well with the raw Pu’er, which is very mild, grassy, and tangy.
Wow. I would’ve sworn this tea had added ingredients/flavors if I didn’t know better. It’s a blast of floral aromatics. So strongly perfumed. The flavor is similarly floral and explosive. Really interesting, but not something I would purchase again at the price point.
I haven’t been drinking any flavored teas lately. I just haven’t been in the mood. Because of that, I’ve been going through a lot of my single origin tea sample fairly quickly, which I consider a good thing! I have a few orders that I’m waiting on, but aside from those, I’m waiting until my cupboard falls below 250 to purchase any new teas. Hopefully I can keep to my self-imposed tea band this time.
As for this tea, it’s interesting. Brewing at 200degrees creates an incredible jasmine aroma, a floral flavor, and slight acidity. Lower temperatures yield quite a strong sweet potato flavor, but still with that acidity. Because of the slight sourness, this just isn’t my favorite.
I’m finding that if I’m going to drink a roasted oolong, I want it more heavily oxidized. While this is more pleasant than the deep roast Bao Zhong, it still covers up all of the subtlety and nuance of the unroasted Bao Zhong. I’m finding this to be a nondescript- some artichoke and roasted vegetables, with a bit of nuttiness. But, I’d much prefer the Bar Zhong in an unfrosted format.
