2010 First Flush Hawaiian Oolong
The long delicate, hand-processed leaves of Mauna Kea’s 2010 First Flush Oolong are something to behold. Taka is getting better and better at replicating China’s Oolong process of olde. The dry leaves have the familiar floral scent of a Chinese or Taiwanese Oolong, but with a wisp of something more fresh, like the smell of laundry left to dry outside in wind blowing over a hay field. The New Zealand Oolong I recently tried also had this fresh scent.
After a 1:00 infusion at 195 degrees fahrenheit, the leaves had barely begun to unfurl. Because these leaves have barely unfurled, I can be sure that I can get many many steepings out of a single serving of these leaves.
The liquor has a bright yellow/golden glow to it and smells very fresh and slightly floral. The taste maintains the fresh smell and the sweetness is still there too. There is a strong floral taste on the finish.
For a taste of some of the best tea to come out of Hawaii so far, check out: http://www.maunakeatea.com
This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 11th, 2010 at 4:48 pm and is filed under Tea Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Tony Gebely
Tony is co-owner of Chicago Tea Garden and tweets as @WorldofTea. He has been a tea drinker for nearly ten years and has traveled to tea producing regions throughout Asia.
Thanks for the post, it was rather interesting. May I ask you a question. Is Hawaiian tea somewhat new to the scene? I am new when it comes to tea, and so I have never heard of Hawaiian tea.