Southern California Heat Wave

Hot! The weather has been sizzling these past few days, managing to reach 110˚F / 43˚C in San Fernando Valley where I live. So yesterday we spent the whole afternoon at the beach in Santa Monica, where it was around 80˚F and lightly breezy. Sweet! Our Sophia had a great time playing in the sand and water.

The heat practically melted any desire to brew heavier teas. So I opted for last year's qingxiang tieguanyin oolong that I purchased from a tea store in Guangzhou back in March of 2006. The leaves are light green (very low oxidation) and unroasted. When I purchased 300gr of this tea, the sales lady was more than willing to separate the leaves to thirty 10gr batches and placed each in a small vacuum-sealed pack. A pack is enough for a single gongfu brewing session.

I lost interest in this tea and greener oolong's in general a few months after getting it. So I kept it in the fridge and it's been there ever since. Yesterday, I took one small pack out and placed it on the kitchen counter for an hour or so until it reached room temperature before ripping it open. The tea is still fresh looking and tasted fine, too. No sign of staleness.


It's refreshingly floral and grassy -- just great for the weather and my mood. The leaves are quite choppy on the edges, which makes me think that they were not hand-harvested...or that the processing of the leaves caused damage to the edges. If I remember correctly, I think I paid around $75 for the 300gr.