Youngchun

Tea Information:

Leaf Type: Oolong

Product Description:

Production Year: 2011

Production Season: Spring

Production Region: Fujian Province, Yongchun County

Taster’s Review:

This is a very interesting tea for me, one that I was very excited to try. Oolong tea is one of my favorite tea types, and if you’ve read very many of my tea reviews or tasting notes, you’re probably also aware of my love for bergamot.

I brewed this as I usually would an Oolong – in my gaiwan using short steeps. I started with 45 seconds, and increased each subsequent infusion by 15 seconds. I then combine two infusions into one tea cup.

The first two infusions, I found myself searching earnestly for the bergamot flavor. I could taste the flavor of the Oolong, certainly, with a lovely vegetative flavor and hints of floral. It is a remarkably smooth Oolong with very little astringency. It is a delicious Oolong, and there are hints of a citrus tone in the distance, but, it is not a strong, palpable flavor.

By the third and fourth infusions, the bergamot was more apparent. Still not a strong presence, but certainly more evident than in the first two infusions. The flavor was tangy and citrus-y but also pleasantly floral. The Oolong had become even smoother than the first cup, with much of its vegetative taste melding with the other flavors of the tea to create a very harmonious, seamless taste.

With the fifth and sixth infusions, the bergamot was stronger than the second cup, but, this is still not an Earl Grey kind of bergamot where the flavor is very obvious. It is more like the essence of the bergamot fruit, and I appreciate that it offers a different perspective on the bergamot. This cup seems to focus more on the bergamot and less on the Oolong, with the soft mouthfeel being the most distinct characteristic from the Oolong.

A very lovely tea experience … from start to finish. I like that it surprised and challenged me as a tea taster, and that it gave me a different look at a fruit that I had become very familiar with … but, now I realize it was in a very limited way. This has opened my mind and eyes to the beauty of bergamot.

liberteas

Anne (aka the Mad Tea Artist) has celebrated her 29th birthday for many years now. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her hubby and her youngest daughter. Her oldest daughter is married and has bestowed Anne with the proud title of "Gramma" and her grandson is about the cutest boy you ever did see. Anne started her journey with tea as a casual drinker and became more serious about her tea drinking when she realized that she couldn't drink coffee. Shortly thereafter, she started becoming obsessed with the beverage and she started creating small-batch, artisan blends of tea that she sold online as LiberTEAS. After a few years, she realized she wasn't cut out to be the sole proprietor of a business so she closed LiberTEAS and started reviewing teas online. She met Jennifer through another blog that they both reviewed for and they decided to start their own review blog. This review blog! Throughout her journey as a tea reviewer, she discovered 52Teas and became enamored with the idea of creating a new tea every week. When the founder of 52Teas decided he wanted to move on, he offered the business to Anne but knowing that she wasn't cut out to be a sole proprietor, she instead offered the company to her oldest daughter who employs her as the Mad Tea Artist for 52Teas!

This post was posted in Oolong