Wenshan Baozhong

I first sampled this oolong tea at the Soho location of Harney & Sons last year, while visiting my friend Y— in New York. It was my first visit to the store, and we had a delicious cream tea then took advantage of the free sampling. This one was my favorite.

I remembered the name so when I visited New York again in October, Y— and I made our pilgrimage to Harney & Sons again, and as luck would have it, there was a tin available for purchase.

On the oxidation spectrum from white to green to oolong to black, Wenshan Baozhong is a “green oolong”. The recommendation for lighter oolongs is to treat them the same as green tea, so I decided to ask for an electric kettle where one can manually set the temperature. The first step towards becoming an actual tea enthusiast instead of a dilettante?!

What I like is that it has the vegetal taste of green tea while also having the golden, comfortable tones of oolong. None of the bitter notes that underlie stronger, blacker teas. I don't perceive honey, which is how it's described on Harney & Sons’ website, but it does have a warm, subtle sweetness. A very gentle tea but not refined or precious.