Country of Origin: China
Leaf Appearance: dark, long and twisted
Ingredients: oolong tea
Steep time: 15 seconds
Water Temperature: 212 degrees
Preparation Method: porcelain gaiwan
Liquor: amber
Phoenix oolongs are some of my favorites but I don’t get to drink them nearly as often as I would like. After giving the leaves a quick rinse I started out with relatively short infusions of 15 seconds. The first few infusions were very light, giving just a hint of things to come. Around the fourth infusion, it started to really open up. Long and sweet floral notes mixed with aromas of peach and honey. There was also a sweet vegetal quality that reminded me of sweet potato. It stayed in the background, providing a solid base for the other flavors to shine. TeaVivre states on their website that this tea can be infused over twelve times and I can confirm that is definitely true. I lost count after around fifteen rounds. There was very little astringency but I think it could become quite bitter if the infusions are too long or if too much leaf is used. My gaiwan is about 150ml and I used about 7g of leaf. This type of tea can be very temperamental but this particular offering was fairly forgiving. It would be a great place for beginners to start.
Guang Dong Phoenix Oolong Tea sample provided by Teavivre.