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First taste score: 80

Second taste score: 83
Added milk to this and it tastes phenomenal as a milk tea! Has that beautiful orange-brown colour similar to Thai Iced Tea.

Brewed at 203˚F this time. Much smoother, mellow taste with no astringency. Flavour remains very subtle but it’s much more enjoyable. Still not as memorable as the 2007 Palace Ripened Pu Er, but much better than my first experience with this tea.

Updated Rating: 80

Rinsed once for 2s. Unfortunately I didn’t read the instructions and brewed this with boiling water. It tasted astringent (not burnt) but the flavour was very light after brewing for 30s. Tasted slightly herbal, not objectionable. This tea smelled better (more mellow, more soothing, less sharp) than the 2007 ripe Pu Er I tried previously, but the taste is nothing special.

Second infusion at 212˚F, 50s tasted horribly bitter and astringent. Probably overbrewed it badly. I will make sure to brew the remainder of my sample at 203˚F.

Initial Rating: 72

First infusion:
Didn’t rinse. I dislike the smell of pu-erh teas in general, but the taste was pretty smooth and unobjectionable.

Second and Third infusions:
Very smooth and drinkable tea. Goes great with food. In three infusions I drank about two full gaiwans of tea and am beginning to feel the caffeine jitters.

Dry leaves in a warm gaiwan smell like rich dark chocolate / cacao with a hint of cherry liqueur.

First brew at 195˚F but that was clearly not hot enough. I’ll start at 200˚F next time. The liquid is a light amber colour and has that sort of sugary GABA-oolong taste but is delicious.

Second brew at 204˚F, much better.

Smells of butter and honey. Reminds me of my Yunnan Sourcing Light-roasted Tieguanyin.

Has that buttery, light classical high mountain oolong flavour, a brown sugar sweetness, along with the yeasty fermenty GABA taste. Not bad but not my favourite.

Really solid Da Hong Pao. Miles better than the cheaper “Light Roast Da Hong Pao” they offer at Yunnan Sourcing.

It tastes rich, roasty and smooth. Will do a proper tasting note sometime soon.

Deliciously chocolatey, sweeter than dark chocolate. Had this yesterday for the first time while entertaining guests and they loved it too. It was heavenly and has joined the ranks of my favourite teas.

I brew most of my dan congs at a lower temperature and there’s no bitterness.
Brewing at 180˚F, the lid of the gaiwan smells strongly of peaches and nectarines.
Brewing at 185˚F, the lid smells like roasted hot chocolate.

Beautiful Taiwanese high-mountain oolong in exactly the refreshing, buttery style my boyfriend likes. (Note to self: buy some of this for him.) Following his advice, I’m brewing greener oolongs at around 190˚F instead of my usual 195˚F and it worked superbly for this tea.

I’m getting notes of Butter, Crisp mountain water, Fresh spring vegetation, very slight seaweed and umami undertones but it is overall a sweet and not a savoury tea.

Similar burnt chocolate / mineral rock notes as Da Hong Pao and other yanchas, but seems to have a less bold, thinner flavour.

Wet leaves smell of raisins and the liquor smells of sweet pastry crust. Pleasant but not outstanding. Will experiment with this one a bit more, maybe using more leaf and brewing in my Yixing pot.