Iron Goddess Charcoal Roasted Oolong

Welp, this sample has been sitting in my drawer since I last ordered from Mandala, aka a year ago. Not sure how that will affect the taste of the tea, but here goes.

Now, I know, like most oolongs, this is likely meant to be gong-fu. But as you all know, I really don’t do gong-fu, so it’s brewed western style with low steep times. I did give it a rinse though first for 10 seconds.

Brewed: 195F/12oz/5g/30sec (first steep)

Taste is… very complex. I’m getting a strong roasted flavor, along with sweetness, and… onion? Like, is this supposed to taste like onions? It’s odd. I’ll have to look.
Wow, so caramelized onions are listed as a flavor. It’s an odd profile, but not unpleasant. There’s a bit of honey there too, but it’s muted. It really does taste like caramelized onions!
As it cools, the bitey onion flavor mellows out, leaving a lingering sweetness behind. There’s a note of toast? I really hate trying to describe these complex cuppas. My palate isn’t nearly refined enough for this type of tea. Just take my word that it’s complex and hard to pin down all the flavors. It should be noted that I rarely drink oolong, and I don’t think I’ve ever had a roasted oolong before, so this is uncharted territory for me.

Overall, this is pretty good. Definitely different from my usual fare! I’m not going to give a numerical rating as I have no idea how to judge this compared to other oolongs. I may have to branch out and try some different oolongs in my next order.

I received another sample of this in my last order so yippee, I get to try their Iron goddess charcoal roasted again. I enjoyed it just like I did the first time, and I didn’t over-steep like last time. :P

The wet dark leaves had a slight charcoal, roasted, floral aroma and a type of sweetness. This time in the later steeps, I actually smelled the onions, sweet caramelized onions. I know I said I wasn’t much for charcoal roasted things but more and more I think I prefer the Iron Goddess in charcoal roasted form versus green, the full-bodied roasted taste with sweet notes is more soothing to my stomach, more comforting. Comforting is always a good thing.^^ Complex taste profile, warm aroma, along with a good balance makes this a recommended tea.

Yixing teapot, 7g, 200˚ F, 130ml, 10 steeps: 5s rinse, 25s, 35s, 45s, 55s, 65s, 75s, 85s, 95s, 105s, 115s

An interesting tea. I received this as a sample but had been eyeing this type of tea before and was unsure of whether or not to take the leap. Gongfued and started out with a 20 second steep at 195-200F, move to 30 seconds, 1 minute and then 2-5 minutes in the later steeps at 200F.

It starts off with very noticeable honey notes intertwined with a roasted flavor, the honey trickling through throughout. Again, the actual leaves (not the tea itself) smell awful, strongly burnt dates /molasses throughout the 6 steeps. Would not advise smelling them; probably the worst I have encountered. Probably to be expected due to how this tea is made though.

With the 2nd steep , roasted flavor comes out to the front a bit more the honey notes die off somewhat. They are still there but more to the back.

3rd steep: honey notes come back, the roasted flavor emerges as the main body of this tea; subtle apple undertones.

4th: 2 min. steep A thick roasted nut flavor barges out front to take the lead with a subtle creme brulee burnt sugar taste (the good kind of burnt) now trailing it with a crisp mouthful finish and lingering honey notes. I would say this is probably my favorite state of this tea, nice complexity.

5th steep: 3-5 minute steep at 200ish F. roasted flavor dies off quickly, the sweetness is left over and is more floral but the actual specific flavors are not as
tangible now. Goes pretty weak after this steep and just has a light mild roast flavor. Still drinkable as of the 6th steep but nothing worth recording as the complex flavors have all died off at this point. Finished at the 7th steep mark but had to spike it pretty good to reach that point. Surprisingly this tea left those crisp apple notes lingering well after I had stopped drinking it. Wonderful.

Got a small 5g sample of this in a larger order.

1st-2nd Steep: I get some notes of wood, charcoal and less so honey on the swallow.

3rd-5th Steep: Some flavor of root vegetables come in. Particularly carrot.

6th-9th Steep: The sweetness comes back stronger and the charcoal gets more fiery.

10th & Beyond: Stays similar and slowly fades out.

Good solid tea and highly recommended.