Origin: Taiwan
Year: 2007
Vendor: Red Blossom Tea Co.
Price: $148/lb.
I received an ounce of this a few weeks back from Peter at Red Blossom as part of the replacement for the tung ting. I had yet to try a bao zhong, so I was excited to get my hands on it, but I had no idea what to expect. I was in for a pleasant surprise.
I've also recently purchased a digital scale, and this was my first time to use it for gong fu. I used 4g for a 150ml gaiwan. In retrospect I should have used at least 5g. Now that I think of it, I believe Bill once told me I should use a ratio of 1g/30ml.1 - 45s
2 - 75s
3 - 2 1/2 min.
4 - 4 1/2 min.
I took a whiff and said, "Fuck me." It smelled good. It had the aroma of a good tung ting, very floral. After my first sip I was in love. It had the qualities of a good high mountain oolong, but with notes of green tea, and a rather mild astringency that was quite favorable. The flavor wasn't as strong in the subsequent infusions, but I think that is because I did not use enough leaves. I'm still pretty new to oolongs. I'm not sure how this one would compare to other bao zhongs--I can't wait to find out, but I liked it a lot. This is a tea that I want to keep on hand.
2 comments:
Nice scale! :) I have the same one, not surprisingly.
I see your first bao zhong experience is similar to most, hehe. It's probably on my imaginary top 5 favorite kinds of tea list. Mmmmm!
I actually had some bao zhong earlier today, strangely enough. Anyway, ABx from teachat has some experience with bao zhong, so you might want to ask him for some recommendations.
A great source for top oolongs is www.floatingleavestea.com . Even though I've loved baozhong for probably a decade, I've learned more about it from Shiuwen and Rob at Floating Leaves than anywhere else. They often carry top prize winners from national Taiwan tea competitions. Tell 'em Michael the Tea Geek sent you! :)
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