Dong Ding Light

I made three steeps of this tonight, gong fu style, and mixed them. I still have enough of my sample to do this one more time. Hooray!

I went out with hubby for Chinese buffet tonight and this is my dessert. (Unless I cave and go to CookOut and get the 99 cent shake of the week which is cappuccino in which case THAT will be my dessert but we won’t talk about that right now. Then this will just be my after dinner tea.)

I did a quick wash of the leaves before steeping. They were nicely opening up when I made the first steep, but still not completely there. The liquor is a soft, golden yellow. There is a hint of astringency, not in a bad way. I am drinking this because a couple of days ago the memory of oolong suddenly it my mouth and I have been craving it ever since. For some reason, though, I have been having tea only with guests and have made flavored or plain black tea every time.

This is truly lemony, especially when you are not pairing it with food. It does pair well with food, but right now…Oof. Too much food in my tummy already!

“Another Traveling Tea Box?!?!

What a lovely oolong! Very creamy, lightly floral- almost like orchids.

Tea #36 from Another Traveling Tea Box

I steeped this twice and eventually ended up mixing the two together so I could take them with me for my running around later. It’s a nice bright sunny day which means the baby and I will be spending it playing on the swings :)

The first steep of this tea was very lightly flavored, much more lightly than I was looking for today, but I should have expected the light flavor just based on the name alone. It had a nice slightly floral flavor with a hint of lemon and a nice creamy texture.

I’m glad that I got to try this, it’s a very nice, basic oolong, although not one I would order for myself. I like my oolong to have a bit more depth to it.

Have I told you yet that I love this tea? My favorite Dong Ding atm and I’ll need to order more real soon!

Number 3 from Travelling Tea box (I won’t review all teas)

I did this Gaiwan-style with 1.5 grams of tea for 3 oz water and 1 minute steeps.

First steep was very light. Light grassy nose with hints of veggie and spice. Light taste (not surprising since the leaves haven’t unwrapped yet). 2nd: Nose has more spice, less veggie. Taste is astringent without being bitter. A bit too light; style is elegant rather than powerful. 3rd (2.5 min): Nose and taste are stronger. Still a delicate style. 4th (6 min steep): Still good.

Dong Ding is a lovely example of a creamy, lemony oolong, slightly darker than it’s high-mountain brethren (Ali Shan) and slightly more restrained. It is one of Taiwan’s most famous and beloved oolongs and most likely its first.

I’m in the middle of having to do a bunch of admin work, so tossed a half tsp of leaves into my trusty mug and I’m brewing this one grandpa style. There’s definitely more stems and sticks than I’d expected when I tossed everything in, but it’s not a huge issue.

Once brewed – about 4 or 5 mins in – it smells soft and light, almost floral, in a way that brings up pastel green when I close my eyes. It’s vegetal, but in a way completely unlike a green tea; more reminiscent of sitting in a flower garden at dawn when the blooms begin to open. I could sit and sniff this tea for ages.

The flavour is comparable to the aroma; not as intense as some other oolongs I’ve tried, but light and comforting without being thin. This should hold up well to this style of brewing and may become a cupboard staple.

Update: It lasted through a solid 4 or 5 of my 10 oz steeps before lightening to a point where it was no longer what I felt like drinking. This is…a very nice oolong, in my opinion.

I was thinking about this a little earlier, but it’s funny how I fall into habits regarding specific vendors. I very quickly reach a point where I associate tea vendors with one or more particular types of tea and ignore the rest of their offerings. For example, I associate Harney & Sons with straight black teas, black tea blends, and tisanes. Very rarely do I purchase any other types of tea from them. I decided to break that trend recently. I ended up purchasing several green teas and oolongs from Harney & Sons in order to get a better handle on their range of offerings. I started my exploration of these teas with this particular oolong. I found it to be a nice, solid tea.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 195 F water for 10 seconds. This infusion was chased by 11 subsequent infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, and 3 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted a pleasant mixture of grass, lemon, cream, butter, and indistinct floral aromas. After the rinse, aromas of watercress and cucumber emerged alongside aromas of vanilla, gardenia, honeysuckle, lilac, and magnolia. The first infusion brought out a subtle touch of orchid on the nose. In the mouth, the liquor revealed very light notes of cream, butter, grass, cucumber, watercress, and vanilla underscored by ghostly floral impressions. Subsequent infusions brought out both the lemon and the melange of flowers in a big way. I found the floral notes a little difficult to pinpoint. I know I definitely picked up lilac, honeysuckle, gardenia, magnolia, and orchid, but there was something else too. It reminded me a bit of both apple blossom and lily at different points. The later infusions saw minerals emerge to dominate the fading notes of lemon, cream, butter, grass, cucumber, and vanilla. I did not pick up much in the way of any lingering floral impressions.

There was a lot going on in this tea, but as oxymoronic as this may sound, I did not find it to be all that complex of a tea. The tea very gracefully moved from savory and smooth to grassy and vegetal to lemony to floral with most infusions. It was as regular as clockwork. While it was nice to know where this tea was going , I do have to say that I found it a bit boring towards the end of the session because the flow of the flavor sensations was so predictable by that point. That being said, I would still recommend this tea to anyone interested in jade Dong Ding oolongs. It’s an extremely solid, likable tea that is easy to drink.

I like this tea, although it’s kind of light. It holds up well to being thrown in a tumbler and being resteeped throughout the day. Creamy and kind of floral. The leaves are very pretty when they unfurl.

secret butterfly
trapped in a parched brown cocoon
spreads its golden wings