Today's tea

 Next in the array of rock oolongs Jade sent me: Purple Rose rock oolong. 5g/100ml water, 200 F water temp, 15 seconds first steep, 30 seconds second steep, +10 seconds third and fourth steeps. Jade gave me just enough for one brewing session so I did it in the glazed (flavor neutral) kyusu.

Nice, delicate floral scent and flavor, got slightly sweeter on the second steep and pretty much held its flavor nicely through to the fourth steep. 

The internet says that rock oolongs are one of several signature teas (camelia sinensis) grown in the Wuyi mountains in Fujian Province. (Da Hong Pao and Lapsang Souchong also come from there.) The name is associated with the mineral "terroir" that imparts flavor to the tea. 

With the exception of Friday's sencha, so far all the samples have been oolongs or Da Hong Pao varieties - black teas. 

I should mention that my "at work" tea before lockdown was generally bags of Bigelow English Breakfast or Earl Grey - that's what we had in our break room - steeped very strong into a big stainless steel mug and sipped on throughout the morning. At home, it's mostly been some loose Assam and Darjeeling I bought from a vendor at Gulf Wars. This morning, I had a big mug of the Assam about two hours before the Purple Rose oolong. 

My brain sees golden brown tea at the bottom of the bowl, braces for impact, I take a sip and it's, "Wait, what?" These Chinese teas are really subtle in comparison. 

Have I mentioned they all come from the SAME plant? (Assam is a variant indigenous to parts of India, but still same genus and species.)