Nai XIang Oolong (Milk Oolong)

Salsero, peach that he is, sent me a good sized sample of this Nai Xiang oolong from Tea Spring. It is a Taiwanese oolong characterized by a distinct milk fragrance.

The dry leaves smell great, very sweet, moderately floral, milky, thick, and rich. The leaf clusters are large. I like that.

My gong fu skills have become sloppy. I ignore what the tea tries to tell me and instead try to force the results I want, regardless of how the tea may or may not be capable of performing, so I make a conscious effort to focus and be more careful.

I rinse the leaves to wake 'em up a bit and steep for 45 sec. It isn't all that sweet, well, not as sweet as the aroma hinted at, but it indeed tastes milky. There is a faint note of something green in the finish. I held back on the second steep, thinking now that the leaf clusters had opened it wouldn't need more time, but I was wrong, and the second infusion was too weak. The third steep was light, sweeter, and just a hint of milkiness. The fourth had a little more life in it. The liquor through each infusions is consistantly pale green.

I love three leaf clusters; I am a sucker for them.

I remember Salsero's note that came with the tea, "It tastes like milk. So what?" He has a point, but I liked it, more than other Formosan oolongs I've tried. It was fragrant, pleasant, and straitforward.