Aroma Tea Shop

When in San Francisco last month I visited Aroma Tea Shop (that’s their logo on the left), the one on Polk Street (there are two shops.) Both shops are owned and run by Haymen Daluz and his wife, Ying Wu. I was looking for a place with lots of quality imported oolong and I was not disappointed – they have a strong emphasis on Taiwan oolong which is fine by me. The first tea Haymen sampled up was a Jin Xuan that smelled like peaches and tasted like butter. Really amazing. I bought several different teas and brought them back.

We drank some of the Jin Xuan yesterday at about 1.5 tsp to 8 oz at 180 for 3 minutes. I had been brewing it with less tea but following my recent tendency I decided to go strong. I got a stronger green tea presence in the flavor in addition to the (now) usual butter. (It’s kinda like butter – hard to describe, but it’s a full rich mouth flavor with a creamy feel.)

Doing some research on Jin Xuan online I find references to the butter taste and “intriguing” aroma. The varietal is a product of the Taiwan Tea Agricultural Research center from the 1960′s.

Jin Xuan金萱: In 1981, Jin Xuan was given its current name. Among the 18 recognized varietals that have been bred, Jin Xuan is number 12 (台茶12號). In the breeding process, it was also given 2027. If you ever go to Taiwan, you might hear farmers talking about 12 or 27. Both of these numbers refer to Jin Xuan, so don’t be confused. Jin Xuan yeilds 20 to 40% more tea per plant than Chin Hsin Oolong and Chin Hsin Da Pa. Its signature fragrance is like osmanthus (桂花香) or milk (奶香). I have not come across a genuine milky one for a long time. Some customers came in with some milk Oolong and said tea merchants told them the tea plant was watered with milk, which produced the milky taste. I have never seen or heard any farmers doing that. The amount of Jin Xuan plants grown is only next to Chin Hsin Oolong. Jin Xuan plant branches grow wider, and its leaves have an oval shape and are bigger than Chin Hsin Oolong. Jin Xuan is widely grown throughout Taiwan in elevations less than 1600 meters. Source: Floating Leaves Tea

I emailed Haymen and asked him about the tea and how it was so flavorful. He reported that the tea was made only a few months ago and that was one of the reasons for the strong flavor.