This is one of two teas that were my first real foray into quality tea. I stumbled into Red Blossom without any prior knowledge of who they were or the teas they sold. After friendly welcome, I started smelling as many teas as I could.
It should be noted, I’m a coffee roaster, and have been entrenched in American specialty coffee culture for a solid 5 years or so.
As soon as I smelled this ~35 year old oolong, I was intrigued. Muted florals sat underneath a slightly pleasantly musty black tea-like sweetness. I asked the helpful staff to purchase a bit, at which point she insisted on sitting down for a tasting, and offered to taste a 2015 tung ting side-by-side. Yes please!
What a wonderful experience, contrasting a 35-year-aged and fresh-crop from the same area.
I’ve brewed this in many ways, but my favorite way so far has been to do small, short infusions with sufficiently hot water, gradually increasing my time with each steep. With the first infusion, the aromatics are amazing, with a cotton-candy like sugary aroma (may be what others are referring to as plum/candied plum). Subsequent steeps lose the extreme sweet smell, but still carry a lot of complexity.
Flavors: Caramel, Cotton Candy, Musty, Roasted, Sweet, Tannic
