Sale at Floating Leaves Tea

[thanks]

I love her Taiwan Wuyi from 08 so I ordered a pound even though it's the same price as it's been for a while. Just figured I'd snag it before it's gone. With it came a sample of her Shui Xian and I have fallen in love! Delicious!

[JPX]

ordered 4 taiwanese teas from there. 1ounce each. Gonna make some tasting then order more

[tenuki]

ordered 4 taiwanese teas from there. 1ounce each. Gonna make some tasting then order more

Which ones?

[JPX]

1 ea. 2009 Spring Nantou Four Seasons $3.83
1 ea. 2009 Spring Jin Xuan $3.83
1 ea. Taiwan Wuyi $4.20
1 ea. Oriental Beauty $4.90


these i figured i would try those first. but im prob putting an order on another oolongs website to compare.

I really love tung ting tho... camellia sinensis 09 one is real good and the '95 one is awesome. And cheaper and near me, so i decided to wait and not get it at floating leaves and try new teas.

[tingjunkie]

Just got my sampler kit in the mail today with an extra free sample of Da Yu Ling. Woo hoo!

I tried the Shan Lin Xi tonight. Gongfu style in my gaiwan- only enough dry leaf to cover the bottom, but once the leaves opened up, it was almost hard to close the lid! My infusion times were: 7 second rinse, 30s, 25s, 35s,1:00, 1:50, 4:00. Only one of the infusions (2nd) was excellent- pronounced honey notes with a strong, lingering floral finish. The rest were a bit too subtle for my tastes. Didn't really find any of the strong fruit notes claimed on the website's description- perhaps a slight lychee flavor. Any suggestions for better results with this one? Perhaps it needs more heat from a clay pot to bring out the flavors?

[tenuki]

Sounds like it needs waking up and hotter water? Maybe wait a couple minutes after the flash before the first infusion and start at 20, 30, 40? What kind of water are you using, it makes a huge difference in gaoshans, which tend to the subtle side of things.

[teaskeptic]

What does waiting a couple of minutes do?

What type of water do you suggest for gao shans?

[tingjunkie]

Sounds like it needs waking up and hotter water? Maybe wait a couple minutes after the flash before the first infusion and start at 20, 30, 40? What kind of water are you using, it makes a huge difference in gaoshans, which tend to the subtle side of things.

Thanks for the advice. I'll try it! I'm using NYC tap water run through a PUR water filter.

[tenuki]

What does waiting a couple of minutes do?

Allows for the tea leaves to 'wake up' / soften / relax further from the water/heat of the flash infusion. This allows them to open more fully in the first infusion. The shorter times I'm suggesting are to spread the intense second infusion out across the others. I'm not there so I can't say for sure, but my guess from the description is that the leaves aren't opening enough for the first infusion and that in general the infusion times are too long for the amount of leaves and water temp, hence all of the flavor coming out in the second infusion.

What type of water do you suggest for gao shans?

For a widely available brand I recommend Fiji. I also use bamboo charcoal in my water kettle when boiling the water.

[Maitre_Tea]

wow, shuiwen is definitely psychic or something. When I was making my order I contemplated about ordering the '91 Aged Buddha's Hand (Fo Shou), but didn't in the end...so imagine my surprise when I received some as a free sample with my order! Of course, she probably could tell from my order (all of her medium roasted teas) that I like my teas nicely roasted...hehe

[tingjunkie]

Victoria- you were 100% right about the Da Yu Ling! I just finished the best home gongfu session of my short career with some of my sample. A truly superior oolong. So many flavor and aroma layers!

I used my 90ml gaiwan, with dry leaf covering the bottom, and managed to stretch it to 8 infusions- each one excellent in its own way. My times were 7s Rinse, 22s, 28s, 38s, 38s (accidentally forgot to add to the timer), 1:05, 1:45, 3:00, 5:00. Over the course of the session I found different notes of flowers, honey, apricot, orange blossom, butter, cashew, citrus, salt, and vegetal notes. Most of the while, a lingering sweet floral finish filled my mouth. Crystal clear infusions, and really refreshing mouth feel to boot! Really gotta order some more of that!

Too bad my first attempts with the Muzha TGY, and the Shan Lin Xi were nowhere close, but I'm not giving up on those yet.

[Salsero]

Victoria- you were 100% right

I had a similar experience today with the Li Shan. I took a hint from Tenuki by adding a quick rinse + rest and then using shorter infusion times. An amazing 9 infusions, all excellent!

[tenuki]

A comment on 'hotter water'. For a long time I knew that if I used my ceramic kettle on the stove to heat my water to a boil that my tea tasted better than when I used my electric kettle with auto shutoff. I really didn't think to much about it, just used my ceramic kettle when I wanted that extra yummy and had the time. Then one day I got curious and payed attention to my electric kettle. It shut off _before_ the rolling boil ever gets established. So I tried an experiment and held down the lever another 20 seconds or so after it would normally shut off and bam, almost as good as my ceramic kettle.

[Victoria]

Glad to hear it tingjunkie & Sal - sometimes something you think is most excellent, others disagree. All a matter or taste of course. All the tea I have ordered here has been good, but these two flew off the cart. Glad I restocked.

[brad4419]

Thanks everyone for the info, I ordered the taiwan high mountain Oolong sampler and 1oz of 2009 spring wuyi. These will be my first high mountain Oolongs and only second good oolong tasting. I have a feeling it wont be my last order of oolongs