Erik Drews

SOSComAlt

Tasting lab week 8
This week we tasted two different types of oolong tea, four seasons of spring and high mountain oolong. Oolong tea is a semi-oxidized tea, which “eliminates the raw grassy taste found in unoxidized green tea, without producing the strong woody flavor and dark red color of fully oxidized red tea.” When tannins are unoxidized they can upset the stomach. Two types of terpenes that are found in oolong are geraniol and linalool. Terpenes express aroma and are present in many plants. The first tea we tasted this week was high mountain oolong. The appearance of the tea was clear and translucent with a hint of yellow color.The aroma of the high mountain oolong was very faint but reminded me of dried grass. The flavor of this tea had a freshly cut grass flavor with a slight drying astringency. The flavor was overall very mellow and subtle. The next tea we tasted was four seasons of spring oolong. The appearance of the four seasons of spring oolong was similar to the high mountain oolong in being clear was a hint of yellow color but also had a little reddish brown sediment at the bottom of my cup. The aroma was strong and enchanting compared to the high mountain oolong with an intense floral fragrance that reminded me of jasmine or peonies. The flavor of this tea reflected those very same floral notes affecting primarily the sides of my tongue with intense flavors and mild astringency.