Nov 23
Dan’s Teaview Snapshot
 | "A delicious oolong that should appeal to any oolong lover. It seems to last forever, with bold yet smooth, and often-buttery flavor."
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California Tea House is one of the finest tea companies to have sprung up on the scene in recent years. Rather than glut their catalog with unnecessary filler, they focus on a core group of select teas which - almost always - are strikingly wonderful. I haven't been disappointed yet by any of their offerings. At last count they offered 29 different teas, of which I have sampled nearly half. That's a winning track record.CTH has a mere two offerings in the Oolong tea category. Their Big Red Robe Oolong is outrageously good. It's doubtful I would find their Buddha Hand offering as satisfactory, but let's dive in to it and see how it sums up. The name of the tea comes from the shape of the leaves, in combination with the fact that the tea was originally harvested for Buddhist ceremonies.
The dried leaf is presented in common oolong nugget form, a general forest green in color, with some deeper evergreen hues in parts, and lighter yellow-green patches. Aroma-wise, there is an immediate hint of sweetness alongside the omnipresent "green" scent. I describe not the color, but a hint of cooking greens, like kale, collards, mustard greens, what have you.
CTH suggests 1 to 2 TABLEspoons of tea per cup, which always seems like an extraordinary amount to me when dealing with a fluffy full-leafed oolong. Many purveyors recommend similar volume, which strikes me odd, as plenty of flavor can be eked from half the volume. Nonetheless, I always try to give the benefit of the doubt to the suggestion, as that's the way the tea was intended to be served.
I started off steeping #1 with 1T at just below boiling, and steeped for about 2:20, which produced a bright yellow cup. The taste is definitely oolong. An initial pang of astringency that gives way to a bold and smooth flavor. The sweetness from the dried leaf aroma is not really as present. Many others reflect upon a "citrus-like" flavor, which I did not find -- although the finish is crisp and refreshing in a citrus fashion.
Steep #2 I held to the same parameters. The cup produced this time was darker/richer yellow. The aroma seems to have lessened, but is still potent. The taste, upon the first few sips, seemed to be less strong than the first cup, but as the cup cooled and as I further evaluated, it just was revealing subtle differences. There is a rich, butteryness that was present in the first cup but seems to become more pronounced in the second. The smoothness is definitely still there - perhaps more so. The astringency factor seems to have reversed -- as opposed to the first cup providing an initial shock of astringency, and then immediately subsiding, here there is almost no astringency on the forefront of the sip, but it creeps in slowly on the finish.
A third steeping seemed like a must, with so much bold flavor still present in the cup. This cup was even deeper in hue than the prior two. Initial sips gave very different profile, with sweet notes off the bat, but those subsided somewhat as the cup cooled, and the smooth, buttery flavor reigned supreme. Finding the flavors still strong and bold, I went on to a fourth steeping. By now, the infusion is more like a stew, as the leaves have expanded to completely fill the cup (I can't imagine what 2 Tablespoons of leaves would look like?!). Just for kicks, I decide to go with a 3 minute brew. The cup is slightly lighter and the taste is tapering off from the boldness of earlier cups - however, it is exceptionally smooth and completely delicious -- even so much as to say it's preferred to the earlier cups, in a way. The buttery slickness is slight, the astringency is all but gone, it's somehow sweeter yet earthier at the same time.
This is a delicious oolong in its own right, and a welcome addition to the CTH stable as it provides marked contrast to the Big Red Robe offering, and should appeal to any oolong lover. It seems to last forever, with bold yet smooth flavor.
— To purchase California Tea House Buddha Hand, or for more specific information on ingredients or the story behind this particular blend, click here to go directly to the manufacturer's web site.
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