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The first of some samples I bought to take home from Dobra. Haven’t had Long Jing in a while so I couldn’t wait! This one is yummy even though it’s over a year old.

No bitterness with very mild astringency. Lovely savory tea to have on a fall day. Aftertaste is buttery and oily and lasts for a long time. No appreciable sweetness. Longevity is 6+ infusions.

I gong fu’d this one, but will try to grandpa it next time. I’ve heard that’s how you can tell the true quality of a Long Jing :).

Harvest: Spring, 2022

Dry leaf: Artichoke.
Wet leaf: Spinach and artichoke dip, asparagus, popcorn.
Flavors: Butter, artichoke, vegetal, asparagus, savory, cream.

My first time trying a Dongfang Meiren and it was pretty good! This is a heavily oxidized oolong for sure. Not far off from a Yunnan black tea in flavor, but you can definitely tell it is still an oolong. While this was definitely a high quality tea and there are some unique characteristics, it would not justify spending $1/g + as this tea costs on most sites I’ve seen. Very similar honey and sweet notes as a Yunnan black, but with strong floral notes that tell you it is an oolong.

No bitterness or astringency and very smooth. Easy to down this tea quickly as it is tasty and nothing off about it. Medium-low sweetness. Lasted 5-6 infusions.

Sad to leave Asheville, but it was a great trip! Can’t wait to go back for more hiking, great food, and yummy tea :).

Wet leaf: Floral.
Flavors: Floral, honey, cream, stonefruit, sweet.

Stopped by this tea house for even more tea after my visit to Dobra. I prefer Dobra, although this place wasn’t bad. Dobra has better selection and better tea. This one was just…okay. It didn’t taste like a Taiwanese oolong to be honest. Not sure what it tasted like. I honestly couldn’t describe it at all. It wasn’t bad, just incredibly different from what I was expecting. Not the Taiwanese oolong’s I’m accustomed to at least.

Granted, the reviews for this one are 9+ years old, but it’s way underrated on this site. Best tea I’ve had from Dobra for sure. My first time trying yellow tea (the last of the categories for me to sample :)) and I see why people like it! Definitely a hybrid between white and green tea flavors, although perhaps this one leans a good bit closer to white tea notes.

I get very little in the way of vegetal notes here unlike other reviewers. Mostly sweet and sort of fruity. Definitely a note I can’t place either. Would generally describe it as a savory note. Most similar tea I’ve tried is FL’s moonlight white tbh.

Wet leaf: Savory, butterscotch.
Flavors: Marshmallow, sweet, cream, fruity, savory.

So glad to be back at Dobra Tea in Asheville! This was where my passion for tea started. It was the first time I tried high quality loose leaf tea and immediately fell in love with it :). This one is quite nice. By the feel of the tea, the steeping temperature seemed around 160 F. I would brew this around 120-140 for longer infusion times. I wonder if it might be even more to my liking with that method.

My first time trying a Kabusecha and I definitely see how it is like a hybrid between a gyokuro and sencha. Medium sweetness, no bitterness or astringency, and a very fresh and umami profile overall. Went about 4 infusions.

Wet leaves: Vegetal, umami.
Taste: Sweet, vegetal, grass, umami.

Might be an off day for my palate? This is one I was anticipating enjoying quite a bit. 25 seconds for first steep, 30 second, 55 third. Just not getting much flavor out of it honestly. Think I need to try again another time. Will hold off on final judgement until then :).

UPDATE: Tried some again the following day and BOOM. Flavor hit me this time for sure! Adjusting my rating appropriately. My palate was not feeling it yesterday. Weird how that happens! I didn’t adjust brewing parameters or anything.

Anyways, this is mostly tropical fruit in smell and flavor and I love it! Not as rich as the Fushou Shan, but still fairly rich. Great value for the price. Would be interesting to do a side-by-side brew of this and the one from Eco-cha. Hard to say which one is better at the moment tbh.

Mild sweetness, no astringency or bitterness. Longevity is 4-6 infusions. Mouthfeel is creamy and rich. Notes shift more vegetal in the later infusions.

Harvest: Spring 2023
Cultivar: Qing Xin
Location: Shanlin Xi
Elevation: 1200 m

Dry leaf: Sweet
Wet leaf: Papaya, sweet, tropical fruit
Flavors: Sweet, vegetal, papaya, pineapple, tropical fruit, cream, floral, coconut, honeysuckle, creamed spinach.

Decided to give WFT a chance to redeem themselves, and boy did they! This tea is UNPARALLELED. There are simply no words strong enough to describe it’s beauty.

The color of the brew is clear, crisp, transparent and lime green like a gemstone. The flavor is perfectly balanced with excessively sweet and long aftertaste. High sweetness, no bitterness or astringency. Flavor is incredibly rich. Easily the richest flavor of any unroasted oolong I’ve tried. Longevity is about 6 infusions, but they are golden infusions infusions ripe with flavor.

This is PEAK Taiwanese oolong. I would drink this everyday if I could afford it. Just absolutely perfect and right up my alley! I am ecstatic to work my way through the rest of these samples (assuming they are all as I ordered them ;)) and see what other gems WFT has to offer.

Also this is the 100th tea I’ve tried and reviewed on Steepster! Quite fitting that I am rating it 100/100 then :).

Harvest: Winter 2022
Location: Fu Shou Shan
Elevation: 2500 m
Cultivar: Qing Xin

Dry leaf: White sugar, fruity, stonefruit
Wet leaf: Vegetal, orchid, floral
Flavors: Peach blossom, floral, fruity, vegetal, white sugar, sweet, grassy, spinach, rich, fresh, papaya, egg.

Well…this isn’t right. I ordered this tea, but I wanted it unroasted. Instead, they sent me the roasted version. I looked at my order on my account and I did indeed order it unroasted. Kind of disappointing that they messed up part of my first order. Anyways, it’s still pretty good. I will try not to let that part taint my rating of this tea.

No bitterness or astringency. Definitely a light roast, but the flavors are still predominately dark. Mild-mod sweetness. Mouthfeel is unremarkable.

I think given the strong coffee notes in this tea, and my dislike of coffee flavoring, it is not the tea for me. However, I can see how many people would find this tea quite enjoyable. Certainly a high quality tea.

Harvest: Spring 2023
Location: Bilu Xi, Renai Township, Li Shan
Elevation: 2300 m
Cultivar: Qing Xin

Dry leaf: Roasted, toasty
Wet leaf: Same
Flavors: Coffee, chocolate, nutty, tiramisu, sweet

First of seven samples from Wang Family Tea (WFT). Everyone seems to ooh and ahh over this company, so I wanted to check them out for myself. I am quite impressed with this tea! It’s incredibly refined, clean, and elegant.

No bitterness or astringency. Medium-high sweetness. Aftertaste is long and sweet, lastnig 1-2 minutes at least. ONLY downside is it doesn’t have the greatest longevity in the world. Intensity dropped off after the first 2-3 infusions, but it was still very good. Lasted 6-7 infusions. Might fool around with temperature, steep times, and intervals on future sessions :).

This tea is from Cui Feng, which is a mountain in the Li Shan area, but not Li Shan itself.

I am very excited to try the rest of the samples I got! This one is pretty phenomenal! I could sit there and smell it for hours on end. Some of the most complete and prettiest leaves I’ve seen too. This is a great value as well, coming in around $0.50/g.

Harvest: Spring 2023
Location: Cui Feng, Nantou County
Elevation: 1800 m
Cultivar: Qing Xin

Dry leaf: Papaya, cream.
Wet leaf: Vegetal, floral, orchid.
Flavors: Sweet, cream, floral, fruity, orchid, citrus, melon.

After a redeeming bowl of matcha, I decided to get back to it and give the last of my Verdant Dancong samples a taste. My first Ya Shi, or “duck shit,” oolong I’ve tried. As the story goes, this varietal scored it’s name because locals who discovered it thought it was so good, they wanted to give it an unpleasant name so no one else would want to try it!

No bitterness or astringency with moderate sweetness. Mouthfeel is very thick and jammy. Aftertaste is lemon tingly with a whipped cream fullness.

Like its namesake, this one rose from the ashes of inadequacy brought about by the first two samples I tried today! More complex, better mouthfeel and aftertaste, and just generally a more pleasant experience. I do wonder if all of these three samples, which were a year+ past production date, may have been significantly better when fresh.

While I have yet to be convinced that any other oolongs can match the consistent quality, crisp cleanliness, and price-to-quality ratio of Taiwanese oolongs, Dancongs seem to have a wider variety of flavors in my limited experience. Can’t wait to try other examples from different vendors :).

Harvest: Spring 2022
Varietal: Ya Shi
Location: Wudongshan, Guangdong
Elevation: 600 m

Dry Leaf: Floral
Wet Leaf: Floral, gardenias
Flavors: Cream, butter, floral, lemon jam, citrus, sweet, thick, whipped cream, sour.