New teacup & 2010 Teamasters Gao Shan Luanze Fall Oolong from Bi Lu Shi

Some of you may have noticed the little competition going on at the end of last year on Mattcha's – Petr Novák offered this lovely teacup as a prize:

And yes, I was lucky enough to win :-)

When the package arrived to my place, there was another nice surprise that Petr sent along with the teacup – this Gaoshan Luanze oolong from Teamasters, picked on 5 September in Bi Lu Shi (Check also Petr's post on it. Edit: And Matt's).

The obvious high quality of this tea can be seen right as the leaves are being examined; this autumnal oolong has incredibly creamy, yet gentle sweet smell with nuances of flowers, which, however, lack the aggressiveness of so many light-oxidized oolongs (because of which I usually don't drink them very often) and is, in this case, much more natural and pleasant.

Being brewed, this tea gives out light and clean yellow infusions, which are just as clean, light and full on tongue with predominant notes of sweet cream, fruit and harmonic, complex smoothness.

The amount of satisfying infusions this tea can produce seems almost infinite (especially for a person who is used to drink mostly Japanese green teas with their four-brews maximum). Moreover, it seems like it doesn't get too bitter even when brewed for a long time – I forgot to pour off the third infusion and still, the resulting liquor was very enjoyable, sweet and only enriched by noble, not at all unpleasant bitterness.

I spent a long time with this tea, infusing it again and again, with every brew a bit different than the previous one, contributing to the very nice Saturday afternoon.

Thanks again for your kindness, Petr.