A aged ancient oolong from Mingjian, Taiwan
Mingjian Wuyi Hong Oolong 1999
Aroma of dried leaves: fruity like dried cherry, dried yangmei (a type of berry found in late spring in Zhejiang China), raisin; woody, a little minty, a little spicy like anise and cinnamon.
Aroma of wet leaves: honey, old wood, burning incense, cocoa with a hint of anise and cinnamon.
Taste: soft, a hint of cocoa with woody notes, as if chewing on the stems of resins or the small hard part of dried figs. The returning subtle sweetness is reminiscent of honey and licorice.
The tea is a Wuyi Oolong that comes from Mingjian, central Taiwan.
The tea was first processed as an oolong tea and then subjected to a second oxidation in the style of a black tea. To be more precise, the processing method was: harvesting, wilting outside, wilting indoors, shaking and breaking up the leaf edges, oxidation, then no heating like with normal Oolong, but directly rolling to break up the leaf structure and then oxidation again like with a Hong Cha , then drying and shaping and roasting.
The Mingjian Wuyi Hong Oolong had been stored in Taiwan since 1999.