New ShanLinXi and Lishan

Christmas has been busy. Thank you all for supporting my business, either ordering from the website or coming in for the new teas. I hope you have all had a chance to try out the new winter teas and enjoy them.

It had been so busy for me that I actually haven't had much time to enjoy these new teas myself. Yesterday, I finally had some quiet moments at the shop and the sun was out! I felt so happy to sit at the tea table and enjoy the new teas with the warm sun on my face.

I started with the new winter ShanLinXi. A customer showed up to taste the tea with me. We had five great infusions of this tea. It has a wonderful citrus note blended with a sweet, floral bouquet. There is a tartness in the tea that is balanced by the citrus note and sweetness. On the fifth infusion, the tea still tasted strong. I couldn't stop smelling the wet leaves while I drank the tea, they smelled so good!

Then we moved on to the Lishan. Many customers and I have been very satisfied with this tea. It's a solid high mountain tea with a smooth and strong body. The aftertaste of this tea lingers for quite a while. We made six good infusions out of this tea and decided to take a break. I sat there and enjoy the wonderful bouquet lingering in my mouth with a very nice Hui Gan (a sweetness that attaches in the throat area after one swallows the tea).

In the afternoon, two tea friends showed up, and I was very excited to tell them that I had a great tea session today with the ShanLinXi (I have had great tea sessions with Lishan). One of them is a big ShanLinXi fan and he told me he noticed when the weather is drier, ShanLinXi tastes better. Well, it was the first day of sunshine after who knows how many days of rain. Or, is it that my feelings of ease and peace helped me to better enjoy the tea?

Anyway, I will share more of my tasting notes for the new winter Oolongs in the next couple of posts. Thank you again for all of your support this year. I look forward to sharing more tasty teas with you in the coming year. Enjoy your teas and have a great 2011!