Four Seasons Taiwan Oolong - Aroma Tea Shop

Tea

Dec 14

Written By Christian Lee

Notes of fresh cut grass, butternut squash, and a short-lived flavor.

Name: Four Seasons Taiwan Oolong

Source: Aroma Tea Shop

Price: $50 / 4 oz

Harvest: Unknown

Origin: Unknown

Varietal: Unknown

Tea Quantity: 5g

Brew Temperature: 200ºF

Water Quantity: 100 mL

Brew Time: 2 min

Wash: Yes

Visual Notes

The tea is a tightly rolled oolong, that looks similar to a Tie Guan Yin, and is rather quite green. There are some visible stems, and the 5g portion I happened to scoop has a very big stem. I will manually remove that. After the first infusion, all of the tea leaves have opened up. And they are quite large. Unlike what I might expect from a TGY, these unshriveled quite a bit and you can see the large green leaf. The color is a light golden yellow. The leaves when fully opened are very green and leafy, quite medium large in size. The leaves appear to be a one leaf pic, with a very rare stem or two leaf pick thrown in there. The sizes are mostly medium but some smaller leaves and larger leaves can easily be found.

Scent Notes

The scent of the leaves give off a fresh cut grass note, that strong grassy aroma characteristic of a fresh mowed field. After the second infusion, the scent of the leaves is much less grassy, and seems more like freshly fallen leaves in the autumn. The empty cup has a very feint aroma that dissipated extremely quickly; Not a long lasting aroma.

Tasting Notes

The large initial brew time gives the tea leaves a lot of time to fully open and release their flavor in the first infusion. The texture is neutral. The taste has notes of fresh cut grass and butternut squash. Some squash like vegetable notes, and the corresponding bitterness. Not much discernible sweetness, and a mild astringency on the finish. The tea does leave a warm finish on the back top of the mouth. Some acidic notes on the tongue on further sips.
The second infusion has a much softer and sweeter scent, and isn’t as strong on the cut grass. The scent is giving more milky aromas. Texture is thin, and taste is sharper, more dry, and is also more astringent. Less grassy vegetable notes, still maintains some of that squash vegetable note, grows a new nut milk flavor. The second infusion is better than the first, as the flavors are more well balanced. Still has a slightly acidic notes on the sides of the tongue that is detectable after a few sips. Leaves a warming finish in the mouth, but is still quite drying.
The scent of the tea is basically gone at this point. The taste is thin, bitter, with some oncomings of the original flavors. Still slight acidic on the edges of the tongue, and increasingly astringent. I didn’t expect the flavor of this tea to hold up that long, due to the long initial infusions. I have also tried this tea a few times before and knows that it does not hold out very long. At this point, I don’t think I would bother with the tea anymore.

Rating: 3/5

The tea is okay for the first two infusions. There are multiple qualities that I do not like about this tea, such as the strong grassiness, bitterness, and that it quickly loses its flavor. However, it is still a tea that has some distinguished qualities about it. Visually, the tea leaves don’t appear to be super high quality, and the flavor doesn’t hold up either. I think this is a meh tea, and I would not want to buy it again.