As all of you have been exploring new teas, I’ve been trying to sip down some old ones in preparation for my massive Black Friday haul. (Nope, I’m not envious at all!) Even teas I usually like are starting to get boring, however, so I broke out this 10 g sample, which is my last remaining oolong from my 2018 order from TheTea. I steeped 6 g of leaf in a 120 ml teapot in boiling water for 25, 20, 25, 30, 30, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds.
The dry aroma of these dark, loosely rolled nuggets is of charcoal, honey, walnuts, and flowers. The first steep has notes of rye bread, caraway, honey, walnuts, grass, and charcoal. The second steep brings a heavier roast, along with caramel, more honey, flowers, berries, rhubarb, and cooked pineapple, though these flavours are more in the aroma than the tea. The bottom of the cup has a lovely cereal/honey/fruity aroma. Sadly, the fruit isn’t as apparent in the next couple steeps, and the tea veers back toward honey, cereal, charcoal, and grass. The next few steeps concentrate on the honey, grain, and nutty flavours, with the session ending with notes of wood, roast, minerals, and walnut skins.
There was a brief moment in the life of this tea when it was amazing, but otherwise, it was a fairly standard Dong Ding. However, this review is pretty subjective, since I don’t have a great palate for roasted teas. In the future, I’ll stick to TheTea’s less roasted offerings, which I’ve found to be truly fantastic.
Flavors: Berries, Bread, Caramel, Char, Floral, Grain, Grass, Honey, Mineral, Nuts, Pineapple, Rhubarb, Roasted, Walnut, Wood
