Multiple Infusions

This Taiwan Wuyi comes from Floating Leaves Tea. The site’s commerce section is currently under construction; in the interim you can still make purchases via phone or e-mail.

Tea Nerd, Another Tea Blog, and Black Dragon Tea Bar have all given the Taiwan Wuyi high praise, and I agree: this baozhong processed Wuyi varietal is delicious and surprisingly inexpensive. I approached it with a variety of brewing methods, and came away happy just about every time. I won’t bother trying to convey every single flavor variation; what interested me the most was how this tea differed from a true Chinese yancha.

Most notable was the tea’s distinctly Taiwanese mouth feel. Paired with light but rich caramel Wuyi sweetness, it was appealingly unusual, like drinking yancha curved along the dimension of Dong Ding. Using 3 grams per 100 mL, its buttery feel reappeared in varying degrees over six infusions, showing a floral touch here and there, and refreshing qualities toward the end. I swear I could almost detect a pine-like sweetness, both in the infusions and on the underside of the gaiwan lid.

This was an excellent Wuyi–unique enough to qualify as special occasion and priced reasonably enough to be a great everyday tea.