I agree with Simpson and Vail that this is a superior tea; it's definitely my favorite tea to come out of Vietnam yet, and is on par with some of the better Taiwanese oolongs.

This oolong has a bright green leaf, loosely rolled into fairly large pellets of unequal size. It unfurls quite quickly into medium-size, whole leaves, and infuses much more quickly than I am used to. People familiar with brewing typical Chinese and Taiwanese green oolongs may wish to use much briefer steeping times for this tea. In contrast to the directions, I brewed with boiling water and it produced outstanding results, extracting more flavor but not making the tea too bitter.

In spite of the fact that the dry leaf was not very aromatic, this tea developed a very pleasing aroma when brewed. Its flavor was also very pleasing: it tasted as if honey had been added, with a sweet flavor, and floral tones.

Brewed western style, it produced three very flavorful cups, using infusion lengths of 2, 3, and 5 minutes. There was still some flavor left in the leaf too, making for a pleasant but somewhat bland fourth cup.

Aroma is strongly reminiscent of Dong Ding, and somewhat similar to traditional green Anxi oolongs. Aroma floral and vegetal, honey-like. Very slightly soapy, although, to be honest, I find most greener oolongs taste somewhat soapy and I still like them...this is less soapy than most. The soapy quality is most evident in the third infusion.

This tea is pricey, but no more so than similar oolongs from Taiwan, and I found that it had the quality to back up the price. Relatively little leaf is needed to produce a flavorful cup, and the leaf produces many infusions.

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