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This is a good tea. I took a 10g sample and spread it out over three sessions with my trusty little 60ml gaiwan. Each session brought out significantly new and different notes.
The more I became familiar with the tea, the more it surprised me. And that, my friends, is a good tea. This is a tea to explore, with lots of flavors hiding in little nooks and crannies.

In general, it is very similar to a black/red tea (specifically a Taiwanese black), with a bit of slightly aged leafy white tea. It’s nutty and fruity and caramely. But the flavors behind these foreground flavors are where things got interesting: oatmeal cookie, cherry-chocolate, that weird “mulberry” note that I noted in other Taiwanese black teas… Quite a busy, but complementary, flavor profile.

The price is reasonable for the experience it provides.
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Dry leaf – currants, honey floral, light floral (lavender?), dried dates, Fig Newton, mulberry, dark syrup. In preheated vessel – intense plum and honey notes; red tea-like prune notes

Smell – floral, sweet and perfumey, green leaf and green stem, dry nuttiness – roasted peanut and peanut shell, a certain sweet and floral waxiness (“mulberry”), date, toffee

Taste – NUT: almond nut and peanut shell, nice dryness; FRUIT: prune, mulberry, waxy fruitiness, date, fig jam; SWEET: honey, malt, oatmeal cookie, dark toffee, light milk chocolate, cherry hard candy

Well, I’m going to do my best with this one. Let’s start with three things:
Thing #1: This tea isn’t for me.
Thing #2: I have zero experience with teas this old. No idea what I’m talking about. Inexperienced, rookie aged puerh palate right here.
Thing #3: I would recommend anyone exploring puerh to give this one a shot. No excuses with an affordable 10g sample provided by BTTC.

OK, so since this isn’t my cup of tea, let me just offer my objective notes.

The tea is incredibly earthy. Compost, wet leaves, potting soil, and fresh earthy mushroom are primary flavors. When brewed more strongly, a medicinal, slightly bitter note arrives, not unlike acetaminophen tablets. As far as the prized “camphor” note that seems so desirable, it’s there. What is camphor? Basically, mothballs: bitter, aromatic, woodsy, medicinal.

The tea does not progress much from infusion to infusion. Flavors remain consistent. When brewed more strongly, more medicinal/pharmaceutical (camphor) notes are present.

One other objective note – the label is interesting. Combining “Yiwu” with “old arbor” with “spring” with a 25+ yr. age statement should put this tea near or into the four-digit price range. Not sure why it is so inexpensive.

It is intriguing. Despite not being to my liking, I did keep on with the session because the flavors are certainly different. If you are on the hunt for your camphor fix, this seems to be a very affordable means to get it.
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Dry leaf – potting soil, fresh earthy mushroom, forest floor, compost

Smell – potting soil, mushroom, compost, old wet leaves

Taste – potting soil, mushroom, compost, camphor, medicinal/pharmaceutical, old wet leaves

TL;DR: dirt and Tylenol

Comparing this to the roasted Dong Ding from BTTC.

First, I prefer this version to the roasted Dong Ding. More complexity and flavor. Also, the tea evolves a bit between infusions, with more spice and fruit notes showing up as the session progresses.

Second, based on previous reviews, this tea has quite a fan base! I certainly enjoyed it, but I found the flavor to be a bit light compared to other green oolong options. Just like the roasted version, I would consider this to be an approachable easy drinker. I would recommend those exploring their Taiwanese tea options to pick this up along with BTTC’s Baozhong. The Baozhong has a more powerful and assertive flavor profile, so you can determine what your own preferences are. Personally, I think Baozhong or a Tie Guan Yin are more interesting to drink. But don’t take my word for it!
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Dry leaf – honey floral, cilantro, coriander, perfumey floral. In preheated vessel – buttery green vegetables, “popcorn” roastiness like Bi Luo Chun

Smell – green vegetables – snow peas, buttered cooked zucchini, sweet floral, honey butter, hints of cinnamon-raisin bread

Taste – Arrival/development: buttered fresh green veg (snow peas and zucchini especially), honey butter, buttered cinnamon-raisin toast. Finish/aftertaste: peach, dried apricot, strong lemongrass lingering finish

I compared this to BTTC’s “Old Style” Dong Ding (i.e. green Dong Ding), just to see what’s up.

The roasted version is pretty good. I have to say that I don’t find it particularly active or dynamic in the mouth. The arrival and development are pretty much roasted peanut and some dry minerality. A little flat for my palate, really.

The finish and aftertaste become more dynamic. Sweetness and fruit flavors arrive and stick around for a while.

I’m no Dong Ding expert (any Dong Ding experts out there – feel free to chime in), but I did have a similar taste experience with another Dong Ding from a different company. A little flat in-mouth, a much better finish and aftertaste.

I can see the appeal of Dong Ding, as it is definitely an approachable easy drinker. If you are searching for a wallop of flavor, though, I don’t think this is your guy.
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Dry leaf – roast peanut, dried parsley/dill. In preheated vessel – roast peanut gets stronger, notes of cherry-infused dark chocolate

Smell – roast peanut, black tea blend, some slight phenolic and medicinal notes, but pleasant

Taste – Arrival/development: roast peanut, black tea blend, slight minerality. Finish/aftertaste: hints of cherry chocolate and Mexican hot chocolate (cinnamon); sweet citrus, lemongrass, some pleasant sour candy flavors.

Wonderful tea. Big roasted nut flavors, with some fruit and floral notes that lighten everything up and make it quite an interesting session. An interesting note that popped up was a fruity, floral, waxy scent that reminded me of mulberry-scented French soap I got in France a while back. That’s a new one!

Absolutely delicious and worth its price. The only drawback is that there are other (non-Taiwanese) black/red teas that cost half the price and can compete with this tea’s complexity and flavor. That said, it is still very reasonably and affordably priced, and well worth picking some up.
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Leaf – malty, sweet potato, honey floral, waxy sweet fruity floral (mulberry). In preheated vessel – big shot of clover honey, blackberry syrup, berry compote

Smell – roasted pecans and almonds, sweet potato casserole (sweet potato, bruleed marshmallow, baking spices), waxy fruity floral again – mulberry

Taste – primary notes of roasted nuts (pecans and almonds), warm roastiness, cooked blackberries, and sweet potato casserole. Secondary flavors of malt, dry milk chocolate in the finish, and spearmint, mulberry, and blackberry notes in aftertaste.

For those wanting to delve into Taiwanese oolongs, this right here is where you start. Frankly, despite the risk of committing oolong heresy, I would say this easily competes with high mountain options. The taste is a bit more burly and “big” than high mountain teas, but it is extremely well balanced and has no rough edges. If you lined up this against three gao shan oolongs, I would have picked this one. It is PACKED with flavor. At half the price of gao shan, the price/value ratio knocks it out of the park.

The taste develops vigorously in-mouth, and maintains its dynamic flavor profile throughout many infusions. Green veg to marine saltiness/umami to creaminess to a fruit explosion at the end – it is a rollercoaster of a ride. I really can’t recommend this tea enough. Excellent offering from Beautiful Taiwan Tea Company.
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Dry leaf – fresh parsley and cilantro, floral. In preheated vessel, roasted nut and popcorn-like notes (not unlike Bi Luo Chun) arrive.

Smell – peas, spinach, savory herbal, creamy milkiness

Taste
- Arrival: VEGETAL – sweet peas, and fresh green veg
- Development: MARINE – some savory marine saltiness and umami like a sencha, mineral/rock; VEGETAL – sweet grass (sencha-like again); CREAMY – milky flavor envelops original vegetal notes and starts to sweeten them up
- Finish: CREAMY – milky flavor overtakes other savory notes, CITRUS – lemongrass notes present
- Aftertaste: FRUIT – papaya, pineapple, peach; HERBAL – spearmint; FLORAL – light floral, just a hint of sweet flowers.

Yet another black/red tea experience that has me more and more convinced that this group of teas deserve more respect – and more space in my yearly tea budget.

This is a wonderfully rich tea. Is it complex? Well, maybe not. It’s not bursting with all different kinds of flavors popping up here and there. Instead, it’s about the depth of flavor. Rich, intriguing fruit flavors that hang around forever is what this little guy is all about. It’s not cloyingly sweet, but the rich fruitiness do make it a great after-meal treat. Brewing harder will put out more tannins and smokiness if you wish to cut the fruit notes down a little bit.

For $5, this is one of the biggest steals you’re going to find. Seriously. Just don’t buy them all before I place my next YS order!
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Dry leaf: stewed blackberries, dried apricot, honey floral

Smell: blackberry, stewed berries, apricot, dark honey, pleasant wood smoke

Taste: blackberry pie, dried apricot, dark honey, honey floral, hints of light wood smoke, minerality.

Another fine high-mountain experience.

Great balance – savory herbal and veg notes, floral (not overly so – very pleasant), fruit, creaminess. In fact, the more I drink this, the more I am reminded of kabusecha (Japanese green tea – grassy, sweet, fruity).

Quick comparison to Shanlinxi: Shanlinxi had a few nutty notes and more citrus. Lishan had more herbal and sweet grassy notes. Both were creamy, floral, and fruity, with excellent balanced umami to round everything out.
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Dry leaf – dried parsley, fragrant floral, hint at butteriness and creaminess

Smell – pungent green leaf; bread pudding(!) (creamy, bread-like, baking spices), buttered green veg

Taste – ARRIVAL: dried parsley, fresh cilantro; DEVELOPMENT: creaminess; sweet, fragrant floral (lily of the valley), tomato vine; FINISH: pina colada, sweet grass, kabusecha; AFTERTASTE: pineapple juice, strawberry compote, sweet grass, mint leaf

A nice springtime treat. Has a balance of earthy, sweet, and floral notes that is just like digging around in the garden on a spring day! The tea seems to have aged nicely over the past 2-3 years, and brings some interesting notes you won’t find in fresh-picked whites.

The flavors evolved nicely from nice, deep honey notes, to hints of fruit blossom, to pleasant earthy nuttiness. Good complexity, and a nice tea to show off white tea’s potential for aging.
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Taste: SWEET: honeysuckle, dark honey, light caramel; EARTHY: light incense/sandalwood, milky black breakfast blend tea, fall leaves; FRUIT: later steeps reveal cherry and plum flavors, fruit blossom; NUT: final steeps have an earthy woodiness that transform pleasantly to almond and pecan notes.

I’ll be exploring some of the offerings of Beautiful Taiwan Tea Co. in the coming days. I needed something green, but couldn’t wait for the spring batch to arrive. So I impulse-bought a bunch of samples to cure my spring fever!

This is a great tea. Delicious complexity – fruit, floral, creaminess, with just enough savory edge to round everything out. Great lasting citrus/fruit aftertaste that is every bit as strong in the final infusions as it is in the beginning. Also very dynamic – the tea changes not only from infusion to infusion, but also develops substantially in the mouth from arrival to finish.

The only drawback is perhaps the price, but that depends on your wallet and your budget. However, BTTC’s 10g sample is very affordable and well worth getting so you can treat yourself to a high-mountain experience! The tea is long-lasting enough to go many infusions, so a little 60ml gaiwan is perfect to stretch out the 10g sample over three solid sessions.
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Dry leaf – HERBAL: fresh parsley and cilantro; NUT: dry roasted peanut; CREAMY: salted butter. In preheated vessel – NUT: beautiful, rich roasted peanut, very Bi Luo Chun like.

Smell – FRUIT: tropical fruit, stone-fruit, citrus; FLORAL: lily of the valley; VEGETAL: buttered green vegetables; NUT: roasted peanut. Hints of marine saltiness, even notes of cinnamon-raisin bread.

Taste – VEGETAL/HERBAL: green leaf, green herb, cilantro, lemongrass, buttery sweet green veg; FRUIT: lychee, apricot, coconut, citrus; CREAM: sweet cream, salted butter; NUT: roasted peanut. Some marine saltiness and savoriness.