Teamasters Blog Lishan Oolong Tea Review

by Julian
(Horsham)

For those who haven't heard about the Teamasters Blog, I highly recommend you to visit. There are quite a few good tea blogs around. When it comes to oolong tea and pu-erh tea, no one does it better than Stephane.

Stephane was very kind to offer me his 2007 Spring Lishan oolong tea. I took the liberty to compare it with Shen's AAA grade Tieguanyin tea at similar price point. Here is the short tasting note:

Dried leaves

Tight, dense and heavy. Outstanding baorou technique.

Wet leaves

Softer and tenderer than Tieguanyin tea but bigger and not as fat and thick.

Liquor colour

Darker yellow. TGY is lighter yellow.

Cup aroma

Stronger.

Mouth Flavours

Lower frequency, more fruity and rounded than Tieguanyin, which TGY has longer aftertaste and greater penetration. Probably comparing apples and orange as the Tieguanyin tea is autumn harvested whereas this tea is spring harvested.

Conclusion

This is the first time I have drunk a Taiwanese tea and I have to say wow! The dried and wet tea leaves are especially outstanding, and the mouth flavours well rounded, peachy with a powerful cup aroma. The aftertaste and penetration could be longer and sharper, but I think at this price point, this tea has done really well.

Highly recommended.