Here is an interesting and special tea, a Lalashan oolong tea that was bug bitten, I believe. It is a medium oxidised oolong tea, making it feel like something in between a Bai Hao or a Wild oolong tea. I still remember being on the road to Lalashan, and I was stuck on the road for a few hours because of a road block due to a landslide. That made the trip much more difficult, but finding suppliers was always going to make the journey worth it.
Tea Information
Harvest Date: Summer 2022
Origin: Lalashan, Taoyuan, Taiwan
Varietal: Unknown
Elevation: Unkown
Brewing Parameters
Final Score
The looks of this tea is pretty good, but I don’t really have a standard to base it off of. Some buds, nice consistent leaves, good colour, pretty good I’d say. The aroma was decent as well, nice waft of floral notes and earthy notes, with a tinge of honey sweetness at the back. Personally, I like this type of aroma a lot, it reminds me of a good dancong tea. Wet leaf was decent as well, pungent and strong, bright yet soothing to smell.
Liquor wise, it is a clean orange-yellow, becoming more yellow when brewed lighter and more orange when brewed stronger. Vibrant but nothing extraordinary. Taste is, how to say this, conflicting. You know when you really love something quite a fair bit but there’s just something that’s missing? This tea is an epitome of that. It’s good and yummy, don’t get me wrong, but if I want to rate it higher, this tea needs a stronger body, a more robust structure to it. It has notes very similar to a Shan Cha or a Dancong, but has its own unique twist to it. Floral, smooth, and bright, the taste is good, but it just lacks a bit of structure.
Character & complexity wise, this tea is good. Complex and unique, yet distinct in taste and bringing much more to the table in terms of mouthfeel. Speaking of mouthfeel, this tea is juicy and cooling, really salivating your mouth with each sip. Like a good pu-erh, this tea brings some action with it.
Finish & aftertaste next, and it also hits the mark. Minty notes linger in the mouth after drinking the tea, and the taste of the tea stays long in the mouth after each sip. What more can I say, this tea is pretty decent. Just that structure issue though, it kinda bugs me out. Not much effect for this tea, some slight warmth that it brings to the body, but pretty tame otherwise. It also isn’t that steepable, with it lasting maybe 7 steeps before it dies out.
Overall, a pretty good tea that hits so many of the boxes I look for when tasting tea, but misses out on just a few. I guess no tea can be perfect after all. Would I stock this? Maybe. I’d have to give it a few more gos before I decide. It definitely isn’t your typical Taiwan oolong, so I’ll treasure the 40+g of tea I have left in my stash. Have you tried Lalashan tea before? Let me know in the comments!