Country of Origin: Taiwan
Leaf Appearance: deep green , tightly rolled
Ingredients: oolong tea
Steep time: 30 seconds
Water Temperature: 212 degrees
Preparation Method: porcelain gaiwan
Liquor: pale greenish gold
I’m a sucker for a tea with a good story and I just had to give this one a try. According to Tearoir’s website, “The teamaker behind the Everspring is known as “Grandma Fang,” one of Taiwan’s only female tea-master entrepreneurs.”. ‘Nuff said, take my money! At $8 for 50g, it’s an absolute steal even without a great story. The leaves looked like a typical Nantou style rolled oolong. They were quite tiny but don’t be fooled, oolongs expand quite a bit. The taste was really mellow at first, a bit vegetal and sweet. Baby spinach and sugar snap peas definitely came to mind. Then I started picking up a wonderful floral quality in the aftertaste that lingered long after each sip. Rather than a perfumy orchid like I had been expecting, it was much much lighter. I had a hard time pinning it down to a particular flavor note. Weirdly enough, I had visions of the Queen Anne’s Lace that I used to pick as a child. If you are in the market for a Taiwanese oolong, I definitely suggest giving this one a try. In case you missed my podcast interview with the guys from +Tearroir Tea, you can check it out below!
Everspring (Spring 2014) was purchased from Tearroir.