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“Smooth and subtle butter in the first steep, which poured a beautiful medium goldenrod. I was surprised to get this much flavor from the first pour, as I did not rinse and did not give it a lot of...” Read full tasting note
“Heavy on the floral Dong Ding. I should have had this tea then the MiXiang because the leafhopper bitten version was far better than this one. Red Blossom notes are pretty on point because this one...” Read full tasting note
“Sipdown no. 9 of 2023 (no. 667 total). This was also a lovely take it to work tea — a bit on the toasty side without going over into heavily toasted/smoky/burnt, with a soft mouth feel that is...” Read full tasting note
[This tea is described as Tung Ting but without a date like most Tung Tings on the company’s site.]
Company description not available.
Smooth and subtle butter in the first steep, which poured a beautiful medium goldenrod. I was surprised to get this much flavor from the first pour, as I did not rinse and did not give it a lot of time to open up (10-15 seconds including the pour time). Second steep was more of the same (though I’d anticipated bigger flavor), with just the tiniest bit of floral added.
Quick stop to smell the wet leaves… spinach and flowers. Lily, maybe. Those floral notes came through more in the third steep, and I no longer detect much of the butter. Some astringency peeking out now. The color is lighter; where I’d expect an oolong to be peaking in the third steep, this one feels like it might already be on its way out. Curious.
Fourth steep I let sit a bit longer, maybe 30 seconds. Floral, astringent, a faint note of sunflower seeds.
Fifth steep, I feel like I’m chasing ghosts. I think that’s it.
I enjoyed this tea, though I admit I don’t quite understand the fervor I’ve seen so many people express toward Tung Ting/Dong Ding. Reddit seems full of the sentiment.
In the vein of interweb chatter, I learned today that I’m arriving unfashionably late to the Steepster party. I tried to update my profile, but nothing saved — I embarked on a troubleshooting mission and learned about the Adagio acquisition and the subsequent lack of support. I appreciate that some stalwarts are still hanging out here, but it makes me sad that such a resource might fade. I don’t see that anything else has quite taken its place in terms of breadth and usability and community. Bummed out.
Flavors: Astringent, Butter, Floral, Lily, Spinach, Sunflower Seed
Heavy on the floral Dong Ding. I should have had this tea then the MiXiang because the leafhopper bitten version was far better than this one. Red Blossom notes are pretty on point because this one is lead by the orchid aroma and flavor overall.
It’s vegetal, but very balanced. I can kinda get gardenia, but orchid still dominates it with the more vegetal snap-pea and water chestnut notes. There’s some hints of sweetness that might be interpreted as persimmon or apricot. I wondered if this were actually a Cu Yu varietal because of the orchid/snap-pea profile reminding me of Jades and Tie Quan Yins, but it’s Qin Xiang. It’s also pretty forgiving in the oversteep towards the end. Not the most luxurious Dong Ding I’ve had, but more than passable.Flavors: Creamy, Floral, Green, Orchid, Persimmon, Snow Peas
Sipdown no. 9 of 2023 (no. 667 total).
This was also a lovely take it to work tea — a bit on the toasty side without going over into heavily toasted/smoky/burnt, with a soft mouth feel that is comforting. Perhaps because I was drinking it at the same time I was drinking an Iron Goddess, this one seemed a lot less green-like to me than my original note indicates. It seemed to lean more toward what I think of as Taiwan oolongs — and probably because of that it was my rainy day tea while the Iron Goddess was my sunny day one.
Yeah, some of us are still sailing on this lost ship.
Adagio did bring Steepster back from the dead after one of the creators abandoned it. However, Adagio has done the bare minimum to keep this place running. Nothing about it attracts and maintains a new user base. There are many flaws, one of which you noted — new users can’t create profiles. The forum structure is a joke, an app does not exist for people with mobile-only access, searchability and cupboard organization could use an overhaul. Also, Adagio hijacked the “Buy Now” links on other companies’ tea pages to lead to Adagio’s own, similar teas.
I’m still here because of the people and, from what I can tell, no other comparable platform exists that’s friendly for PC or laptop users. I prefer something with the ability to create more long-form content rather than using short-form or chaotic chat-based platforms.
Steepster is a fantastic place with thoughtful and generous members. I hope you find something here that keeps you coming back.
Oof, the link hijacking is in such poor form. It’s a shame someone with the necessary skills didn’t get a hold of the place and monetize it — I’d pay a yearly subscription for a tidy catalogue and community support.
Thanks for the note, derk. Glad to find some fellow nerds still mucking about the place.
I second derk! And I would also gladly pay a subscription to keep this format going with the needed improvements. The great community is what keeps me here.
I never click the links so I had no idea about the hijacking, that is terrible! I am glad this site is still up and running, though. I’ve been here for nearly a decade now and can’t imagine not having Steepster!
I am brand new here as of today. What a bummer to hear that it’s unsupported. I will glean what I can though and hopefully discover some new teas in the process.
Nearly twelve years on here now and I hope it will be around for many more!
Welcome to Steepster PamelaOry ! I hope you find it useful. (:
This site let me find other fendors and meet cool people that I have for the last 7-8 years.