Mountain Tea’s Light Roast Sumatra Oolong Fall 2014

So I finally decided to get to writing my review of Mountain Tea’s Light RoastSumatra Oolong, I’ve been drinking this for quite a while, but I never got around to writing anything about it, not because it is bad or anything like that, but because I’ve been drinking it so often. If this is your first tea from Mountain Tea prepare to be shocked by the outrageous price. At the time of writing this five ounces of this is being sold for thirteen dollars. Let that sink in for a second. Thirteen dollars for five ounces of tea. And it is definitely worth more!

I had quite a bit of trouble photographing this tea session, for quite some while I’ve been having trouble with steam, so be prepared for my normally bad photography to be even worse.

Dry Leaves: The leaves are a strangely shaped, they are not exactly tightly compressed, but they are almost twisted like a baozhong. Regardless there is a light floral aroma to the dry leaves.

First Steeping

Temperature: 190^oF

Brewing Time: One Minute

Aroma: Sugar Cane

Flavor: Roasted Chestnuts and Honey

Tasting Notes: This was very interesting. I know Mountain Tea describes this tea as being reminiscent of both honey and Roasted Chestnuts, but I didn’t believe them. I’ve had nutty teas before, but not like this before. It was rather interesting taste; it had that meaty chestnut taste as well as a very light roast taste, despite being a green oolong. So far I love this tea, it’s not as complex as I like my high mountain oolongs, but it is very good (especially considering the price) as a daily drinker.

Second Steeping

Temperature: 195^oF

Brewing Time: Two Minutes

Aroma: Fruity and Sugar Cane          

Flavor: Roasted Chestnuts, Muscatel and Honey

Tasting Notes: Pretty similar to the last infusion, although it has a new fruity aroma and a muscatel taste. Otherwise it is pretty much the same as the last. I don’t favor this infusion over the last or the next, because it hasn’t changed enough. The honey and roasted chestnuts tastes have pretty much the same intensity, and the new muscatel taste doesn’t add much to the overall feel of this tea; although the muscatel taste doesn’t negatively affect this tea.

Third Steeping

Temperature: 200^oF

Brewing Time: Three Minutes

Aroma: Fruity

Flavor: Nutty, Honey and Malt

Tasting Notes: So the roasted chestnut taste is finally starting to wane and becoming a more generic nutty taste; I almost wanted to describe this as almond, it certainly is reminiscent of an almond taste in later infusions, but it isn’t exactly almond-esque, there is a something in it that reminds me more of heavier meatier nuts. Otherwise I was disappointed to see the sugar cane aroma disappear, but c’est le vie.

Regardless this is a very good tea that if you are a fan of oolongs and are in a need for a new daily drinker this is a tea for you (and even if you aren’t it is so cheap). I wish I had more to say about this, but it is a very simple tea that is amazing regardless of its simplicity.