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“I saw this on Tea Trekker and had to order it. Especially since I was eyeing this tea and 1 other (a dancong grown ali-shan style!), and the other went out of stock. It was like man, I need to...” Read full tasting note
“Drank this down yesterday with my best friend and came to realize why this will have such a mixed review. While many have had freshly roasted oolong tea, there is something different about aged...” Read full tasting note
“From the Liquid Proust Group buy I really enjoyed this tea. It is a moderate to heavy roast with a strong nutty/toasty aroma. The taste is soft and round with a nutty flavor and just a hint of...” Read full tasting note
“I poured these nuggets from their package into my cha he, and I took in their aroma. I wasn’t picking up too many diverse tones. The main focus for these dark nuggets was pure roast. The...” Read full tasting note
We are thrilled to be able to offer this delicious tea. It has been stored at the tea farm where it was made in 1986, and it has been re-roasted every 5 years or so by the tea master. The tea was re-roasted in the fall of 2012 before being sold to us.
The miracle of aging ( for tea, wine, cheese, cognac, scotch and perhaps humans, too ) is this: the right tea, properly made and kept under the right set of storage conditions, will develop its taste into something quite stunning with well-rounded flavor nuances. The rough edges of youthful, just-made-tea disappear and the fresh vitality of newly made tea is replaced by qualities that are mature, smooth and elegant.
However, aged tea is not the same as old tea that might be hiding in the back of your pantry. Or old tea that someone stashed away and forgot, only to be newly re- discovered in a cleaning frenzy. Old tea is just that, without much distinction or good taste to offer.
Aged teas are something else all together and command a higher price than younger teas made from the same leaf. Here’s why -
1. the tea has been taken ‘out of’ the marketplace so to speak for many years, and any food product that has been set aside to age is costing the producer money while it sits.
2. aged teas require careful attention while they age. It is not a matter of sticking a container of tea in any old dusty corner and forgetting about it – the tea requires good temperature conditions and adequate ventilation to develop while keeping well. And someone knowledgable to bring the tea along with proper re-roasting.
There is an active market in private reserve teas, or teas that have been cellared and kept by someone who knows what they are doing. Generally teas that have been stored longer than 10 years are considered ‘aged’ but aged teas become even more desireable when they are 15, 20, 25, 30 years of age or older.
Our 1986 Tung Ting has been given a medium-heavy roast, which is a traditional roast style and one that is considered ‘old-man’ tea – the dark and charcoal roasted style of oolongs that were drunk in the past. Today, greener, fresher-tasting semiball-rolled oolongs are finding a new market with a wide tea drinking audience. But for the older generation of Chinese tea drinkers, this tea has the taste they like.
This tea has matured but is also bold and energetic. The leaf is a lovely warm brown color accentuated with an undercoat of dark, forest green. The size of the leaf is uniform and medium in size. In the container and in the cup the aroma is toasty and earthy. The tea liquor is clear and bright and golden-orange in color.
The flavor has notes of roasted barley, dark caramel, cooked mushrooms, cacao nibs and the subtle suggestion of roasted apricots and other stone fruits that is more a fleeting memory of a taste from its younger days than an actual taste. The aromatics also have notes of roasted barley, a bit of raisin and plum, and the distinctive sweet aroma of bamboo from the woven bamboo baskets that are used to fire the tea over a low ember fire.
This tea can be steeped 8-10 times depending on the ratio of leaf to water. The flavor stays quite consistent throughout the steepings, and in fact the flavor reveals its more subtle tastes as the charcoal flavor diminishes during the latter steepings.
Don’t miss this tea !
Our small portion of this tea is a convenient 10-gram packet.
This 10-gram packet will yield approximately 60-80 ounces of tea when re-steeped over the course of several infusions, whether you steep it Asian-style or Western-style.
This is how the math works:
When steeping oolong Asian-style, you want to use a small teapot or gaiwan with a capacity of 10-12 ounces. Use the entire 10-gram packet of one of our gao shans and 10 ounces of water per steeping. After decanting the tea liquor, you will be able to then add an additional 10 ounces of water to the same leaf, and repeat these steps up to 6 to 8 times. This will yield a total of 60-80 ounces of steeped tea – maybe more!
When steeping gao shan Western-style, you want to use a standard 32 ounce teapot. Use the entire 10-gram packet of one of our gao shans and a full quantity of water per steeping. After decanting the tea liquor, you will be able to then add an additional full quantity of water to the same leaf, and repeat these steps 2-3 times. This will yield a total of 60-80 ounces of steeped tea – maybe more!
NOTE:
Oolongs are traditionally ‘rinsed’ before being steeped.
This is done with a quick application of hot water that is poured over the tea in the gaiwan or teapot and then immediately discarded.
The rinse water is not drunk – its purpose is to help the leaves begin to open during steeping.
Use additional appropriately-heated water for the 1st steeping and subsequent re-steepings.
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I saw this on Tea Trekker and had to order it. Especially since I was eyeing this tea and 1 other (a dancong grown ali-shan style!), and the other went out of stock. It was like man, I need to buy this one before it disappears too!
Very nice rich and creamy flavor. Definitely still tastes like dong ding, but with extra depth.
Drank this down yesterday with my best friend and came to realize why this will have such a mixed review. While many have had freshly roasted oolong tea, there is something different about aged ones; especially when they were originally cheap and terrible leaf, which I don’t know if this was or not.
This was a dark balled leaf that brewed a lightly colored liquid with a much better aroma than the leaf itself. The taste, depending on steep time, can be a bit roasty. This is the kind of taste profile that some like or don’t (similar to smoky taste).
I was surprised to steep this over eight times, ended with thirteen to move onto the next tea. While I enjoyed this tea, it’s hard to not look at the price of it… which makes roasted TGY much more appealing.
I must say that the lasting flavor of this tea makes it a great experience.
https://www.instagram.com/p/-ZpqzjxYN9/
From the Liquid Proust Group buy
I really enjoyed this tea. It is a moderate to heavy roast with a strong nutty/toasty aroma. The taste is soft and round with a nutty flavor and just a hint of bitterness at the end. Long finish. As the tea cooled it developed a more complex flavor: sweet, with a note of raisins. The tea just gives off waves of flavor, as well and a fairly hefty cha qi, and the finish lasts forever.
I was anxious to try this so had a single cup, then drove to a meeting, and could still taste the finish, 30 minutes after finishing my cup. My 2nd steep was several hours later, which is less than ideal: Beautiful aroma. Taste starts out slightly bitter but mellows out. The third steep was simpler: no raisins. Taste is powerful and complex but has a few off-flavors. I think I had a couple more steeps but didn’t record notes. Yesterday I spent 8 hours outdoors in 40 degree weather at a scouting event with my grandson, so the only tea I drank was a travel mug full of Darjeeling (the mulled cider at the event was pretty good, though. Today, 2 days after my initial steep, the tea is still pretty good though with less body and complexity. It is quite sweet. I’m at that point where I’ve doubled my steep time and the tea is still enjoyable but I want to go on to the next tea.
I’m not giving a recommendation or rating because I don’t know how much the tea cost (it is buried in the group purchase, which wasn’t cheap on a per-gram basis) and because any rating might be skewed by my excitement about drinking my first tea from the group buy. However, I really enjoyed the tea.
Flavors: Nutty, Raisins, Toast
I poured these nuggets from their package into my cha he, and I took in their aroma. I wasn’t picking up too many diverse tones. The main focus for these dark nuggets was pure roast. The description states that this tea has been re roasted numerous times, and it is easily identifiable. I placed the rolled oolong into my warmed gaiwan and I gave it a shake. The scent deepened to an even HEAVIER roast. I mean this stuff was like campfire toasted. I washed the leaves once and prepared for brewing. The steeped leaves, again, kept the consistent char profile. The liquor was a pale golden, and it carried a slightly different tone. The initial taste was odd and intriguing. The taste began as a slight mineral and fruit note, and then it progressed into a dry oat flavor. This grainy tone had a sweet background; I was reminded on Honey Nut Cheerio’s. The initial few drinks were intensely lubricating in the mouth. I was practically salivating, which was quite enjoyable. The brew then became slightly sour and just a hint more dry. The char notes became present by the third steeping. I was able to pull a decent amount from these leaves. Also, there was an ever prescient sweetness after each sip. I was able to narrow this flavor down to either raisin or plum. The note followed throughout the drinking; however, the note wasn’t as long lasting as I had anticipated. The qi was pretty decent, for I was heavily sweating and heating up quickly during the session. I enjoyed this brew, but it wont be something I’ll get more of. Personally, I am looking for a more sweeter aged oolong. Nonetheless, this was a very fun tea session, and I am happy to have tried it.
https://www.instagram.com/p/-XVInjTGRD/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel
Flavors: Burnt, Char, Drying, Oats, Plum, Raisins, Roasted, Toasty
Thank you Liquid Proust for organizing and packing all these samples from the Aged Oolong Sampler. Trying the 1986 Tung Ting today. While I won’t say I didn’t enjoy it it’s a little too roasty for my tastes. I steeped this tea fifteen times and I think it would go a few more steeps if I had a desire to continue. It was roasty to the end. There was another note behind the roast, a kind of a sweet note but I’m not sure how to describe it. Drinking this was an experience, that is for sure. This is not one that I would go out and buy more of. I am still more of a ripe puerh fan at heart.
I steeped this tea fifteen times in a 60ml gaiwan with 4.7g leaf and 190 degree water. I didn’t give this one a rest I was in a hurry. I did give it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, 1.5 min, 2 min, 2.5 min, 3 min, and 3.5 min. Not entirely sure if I’m feeling any qi off of this one.
Flavors: Roasted
