Not my kind of oolong for now

I wanted to like this tea so bad. Gorgeously wrapped little oolong balls from my favorite tea shop in Seattle. This GABA Oolong from old tea trees had me so excited …

Truly one of the most beautiful and high quality tea products I’ve ever had my hands on. I spent a good 5 minutes admiring the little balls in my hand before brewing.

On top of its cool looks, I was particularly excited to try this tea because it was known as a GABA Oolong. GABA Oolong’s are oxidized in a unique way to enhance the natural GABA production of the leaves. GABA is a neurotransmitter that apparently reduces stress. Long story short, this tea supposedly has a mild psychoactive effect that gives you more of a ‘chill’ vibe, along with the caffeine boost of all tea, for an overall ‘chill focus’ energy brought to the drinker.

Tragically, the taste of the tea just did not hit the spot for me (or my girlfriend drinking tea with me). It wasn’t bad or off, but just not fitting for my taste … which still bums me out as I type this … but alas t'wasn’t meant to be.

I brewed it Gong Fu style for ~8 steeps. Brewing it just below belowing.

1st - 15 seconds. Wash, not drank

2nd - 45 seconds. Leaves begin to open up from tight ball form. Savory charred pear notes, getting a musty almost wet dog smell to the tea.

3rd - 45 seconds. Leaves fully open to reveal their beautiful form. Flavor matures to a symphony of malty notes, miso soup, umami, chocolate. Not too strong, but not too delicate.

Then I added about 5 seconds from each steep from there on out. The flavor continued to evolve but stayed within its interesting lane.

This tea was a learning experience for me. A wake up call that just because other people like a tea and it’s fancy, doesn’t mean I will enjoy it.

I will say it did make me feel nice, and lightly caffeinated. But nothing crazy unique despite it being a ‘GABA Oolong’. I want to keep investigating these types of teas to see if I can notice the effects.

Unfurled leaves show the care that went into production, with the clear two leafs and a bud pluck.