86

Continuing with straight teas. Oolong!

Too lazy to brew this sequentially tonight.

The scent is mellow and creamy. I’m really not getting any floral notes, which is ok – I didn’t want that tonight particularly, I just wanted some good oolong aftertaste :P

The flavour is pretty good – mellow and creamy with an oolong aftertaste. Really not floral at all. Wish I had tried this one before making up your packet, Missy/Dylan! But I have no energy to undo it and swap things out now, nor do I have enough sample to send out, given that I only bought 10g.

Although this is good, as Uniquity mentioned in her tasting note, it’s hard for an untrained palate to distinguish this from DavidsTea’s tieguanyin. So I probably won’t get this one again, although I do have enough for a side by side comparison when I am feeling ambitious (although I just put the rest of my tieguanyin in to cold-steep, so I’ll have to refill that one first).

Anyways, this one’s hitting the spot tonight. :)

ETA: Got another two good infusions out of these leaves. I’ll have to watch the infusion time though, because the second infusion, for two minutes, was verging on astringent, and I would really prefer to have none if possible (and I believe it’s so).

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 1 min, 30 sec
Missy

Woot added it to the shopping list. Thanks for the heads up!

Kittenna

I really wish I could remember how it compared to the tie kwan yin, because it’s pretty expensive, especially for you to be buying 50g of. I’m hoping the Dong Ding I sent will give you the oolong flavour without the floral.

Missy

That’s a cool name even if it is floral. I’m drinking dong ding tea. I’d probably try to be funny and mess it up, I’m drinking ding dong tea… :D

Kittenna

I can only keep it straight because it’s opposite from the usual way you’d say it, “ding dong”. :D

Dylan Oxford

We got a high mountain oolong from a local tea shop (Mad Hat), and Missy wasn’t terribly fond of it. They had a little note by the shelf where these were stored that it was very similar to a tieguanyin, but not quite ‘as good’. So it seemed like a good entry level oolong, in my head :)

Kittenna

Haha, so maybe keep it off the shopping list then? Perhaps she/both of you just aren’t fans of green oolongs. :)

Dylan Oxford

She thinks there might be some differences, but then again she didn’t get the same flavors when she tried it as I did (she sent it to work with me when she decided she didn’t want to try drinking it anymore). It was pretty distinctly a juniper flavor when I was drinking it, not like an overpowering juniper, but definitely there in the like final notes of the drink.

Kittenna

I have yet to encounter juniper flavours in a tea (even the tea containing juniper). I suspect I wouldn’t like it, since I loathe gin. This one had none of that. Tasted like a good basic oolong to me.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

People who liked this

Comments

Missy

Woot added it to the shopping list. Thanks for the heads up!

Kittenna

I really wish I could remember how it compared to the tie kwan yin, because it’s pretty expensive, especially for you to be buying 50g of. I’m hoping the Dong Ding I sent will give you the oolong flavour without the floral.

Missy

That’s a cool name even if it is floral. I’m drinking dong ding tea. I’d probably try to be funny and mess it up, I’m drinking ding dong tea… :D

Kittenna

I can only keep it straight because it’s opposite from the usual way you’d say it, “ding dong”. :D

Dylan Oxford

We got a high mountain oolong from a local tea shop (Mad Hat), and Missy wasn’t terribly fond of it. They had a little note by the shelf where these were stored that it was very similar to a tieguanyin, but not quite ‘as good’. So it seemed like a good entry level oolong, in my head :)

Kittenna

Haha, so maybe keep it off the shopping list then? Perhaps she/both of you just aren’t fans of green oolongs. :)

Dylan Oxford

She thinks there might be some differences, but then again she didn’t get the same flavors when she tried it as I did (she sent it to work with me when she decided she didn’t want to try drinking it anymore). It was pretty distinctly a juniper flavor when I was drinking it, not like an overpowering juniper, but definitely there in the like final notes of the drink.

Kittenna

I have yet to encounter juniper flavours in a tea (even the tea containing juniper). I suspect I wouldn’t like it, since I loathe gin. This one had none of that. Tasted like a good basic oolong to me.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Profile

Bio

I have always been a tea fan (primarily herbals and Japanese greens/oolongs) but in the last year or so, tea has become increasingly more appealing as not only a delicious, calming drink, but as a relatively cheap, healthy reward or treat to give myself when I deserve something. I should clarify that, however; the reward is expanding my tea cupboard, not drinking tea – I place no restrictions on myself in terms of drinking anything from my cupboard as that would defeat my many goals!

My DavidsTea addiction was born in late 2011, despite having spent nearly a year intentionally avoiding their local mall location (but apparently it was just avoiding the inevitable!). I seem to have some desire to try every tea they’ve ever had, so much of my stash is from there, although I’ve recently branched out and ordered from numerous other companies.

I like to try and drink all my teas unaltered, as one of the main reasons I’m drinking tea other than for the flavour is to be healthy and increase my water intake without adding too many calories! I’ve found that the trick in this regard is to be very careful about steeping time, as most teas are quite pleasant to drink straight as long as they haven’t been oversteeped. However, I tend to be forgetful (particularly at work) when I don’t set a timer, resulting in a few horrors (The Earl’s Garden is not so pleasant after, say, 7+ minutes of steeping).

I’m currently trying to figure out which types of teas are my favourites. Herbals are no longer at the top; oolongs have thoroughly taken over that spot, with greens a reasonably close second. My preference is for straight versions of both, but I do love a good flavoured oolong (flavoured greens are really hit or miss for me). Herbals I do love iced/cold-brewed, but I drink few routinely (Mulberry Magic from DavidsTea being a notable exception). I’m learning to like straight black teas thanks to the chocolatey, malty, delicious Laoshan Black from Verdant Tea, and malty, caramelly flavoured blacks work for me, but I’m pretty picky about anything with astringency. Lately I’ve found red rooibos to be rather medicinal, which I dislike, but green rooibos and honeybush blends are tolerable. I haven’t explored pu’erh, mate, or guayasa a great deal (although I have a few options in my cupboard).

I’ve decided to institute a rating system so my ratings will be more consistent. Following the smiley/frowny faces Steepster gives us:

100: This tea is amazing and I will go out of my way to keep it in stock.

85-99: My core collection (or a tea that would be, if I was allowing myself to restock everything!) Teas I get cravings for, and drink often.

75-84: Good but not amazing; I might keep these in stock sparingly depending on current preferences.

67-74: Not bad, I’ll happily finish what I have but probably won’t ever buy it again as there’s likely something rated more highly that I prefer.

51-66: Drinkable and maybe has some aspect that I like, but not really worth picking up again.

34-50: Not for me, but I can see why others might like it. I’ll make it through the cup and maybe experiment with the rest to get rid of it.

0-33: It’s a struggle to get through the cup, if I do at all. I will not willingly consume this one again, and will attempt to get rid of the rest of the tea if I have any left.

Following These People

Moderator Tools

Mark as Spammer