Everlasting Teas High Mountain Jin Xuan

Country of Origin: Taiwan
Leaf Appearance: deep green, tightly rolled
Ingredients: oolong tea
Steep time: 45 seconds
Water Temperature: 195 degrees
Preparation Method: porcelain gaiwan
Liquor: gold

Everlasting Teas was one of the standouts for me when I attended the New York Coffee and Tea Festival. Even though I had promised myself that I wouldn’t buy anything, I couldn’t resist picking up a canister of this tea. It was sweet and vegetal with really nice creamy and nutty notes. The company describes it as tasting like popcorn and I can certainly see that connection. It became increasingly more popcorn-like with each infusion. I got to four infusions before becoming tea logged but there were definitely quite a few rounds left. The leaves were fascinating to play with once they unfurled. There were so many complete bud sets with whole leaves. I’m always amazed by that considering how much rolling an oolong will go through during processing. I am so glad that I had an opportunity to speak with Alan and Sammy from Everlasting Teas about how they source their teas. They travel to Taiwan every few months and hand select their teas from small family farms. At the festival I tasted several of their teas and they were all exceptional.

You can find out more about this tea here.