Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Jade Dew Mingjian

Tea: Jade Dew Mingjian - 6286
Vendor: Lupicia USA
Price: $7.50 / 50g
Source: Taiwan
Vendor Description: Fully enjoy the luxurious flavor just like jasmine with the winter-picked Taiwanese oolong tea.

Leaf: The leaf consists typically shaped ball formed oolong tea. The balls are smaller than most that I see, but typically tightly rolled with some stem visitble. The leaf is very matte in color, and it has a very sweet and heavy aroma to it.

1st Infusion Parameters: 5g, 5oz, 208F, 45s

1st Infusion: The tea has a radiant green color. It is green, radiant and quite clear. There is a heavy yet bold and strong aroma to the tea. The flavor is very focused on the front and middle portions of the flavor. It shows a very round flavor overall.

2nd Infusion Parameters: 1:00, 208F
2nd Infusion: This infusion has a much stronger aroma, yet retains the radiant green color of the first. It has a thick and rich aroma to it still. The flavor has moved toward the back end in this infusion instead of the frontal notions from the first. There is a light sense of astringency on the back now.

3rd Infusion Parameters: 2:00, 208F

3rd Infusion: This infusion was much bolder in color. Instead of the radiant green of the first and second infusions it switched toa more yellow green color. The flavor is much bolder than the first two, and shifted back toward the front of the flavor. It feels a bit empty and ends with a light astringency on the back end.

Rating: 7/10
Conclusion: This is a pretty solid Taiwanese oolong. There isn't anything terribly outstanding, detracting, or unusual about it. It's pretty characteristic for the class of oolong. Simple, smooth, green and normal. It is reasonably priced for a solid green oolong. It holds up well for a few infusions and is a very good representation of class.

2 comments:

Jason Witt said...

Mingjian is a tea-growing community in the Nantou county. Jade Dew seems to indicate this is a green Oolong. It sounds delicious just from the name. I imagine it's floral and fruity. It's rare to find an Oolong or any tea that produces such a bright green liquor. I've actually never heard of that before. I'd like to sample this tea.

Eric said...

Yeah, it is a green oolong. It's actually not very floral or fruity. Bright green liquor isn't that rare to come by, you see it mostly in asamushi sencha and some green oolongs. It's somewhat common to see from those.