Superfine Taiwan Qing Xiang Dong Ding Oolong Tea

Thanks Angel for this sample!
Sorry everyone that I kind of fell off the planet. I basically got into a school-induced rut. But here I am, with a new review for the tea I just received today and I’ll be brewing in the precious little gaiwan that Teavivre also sent me.
The dry leaf smelled surprisingly fruity to me. I’ve only had one other dong ding and it was much more roasted smelling than this one. The leaves are rolled into large balls, maybe even a bit larger than what I’m used to seeing.
I managed to use the gaiwan without burning myself too badly! It was my first time using one and I’m surprised it was this simple. I think that the leaves are gorgeous when brewed in this fashion. I had been worried about using the wrong amount of leaves, but it turned out just like all the photos I’ve seen!
The aroma of the tea is very floral and green. I love lighter oolongs, so this is right up my ally. There is a very light roast to this as well. I enjoy that it is there, but not so upfront that it overpowers the other smells and flavors. There seems to be a lot of flavors in this cup. Sweet, green, floral, roast, and something else that is a bit elusive; pepper?
Either way, this is a pretty brilliant tea that I’m going to continue enjoying tonight.

From my experience this summer, the light sweet grass dry scent and subdued cane sugar and fruity, malty notes in the dry leaves’ heated scent seemed promising for a great session. The first steep confirms my expectations. Strong gao shan flavor with a potent, lingering aftertaste and rear-mouth cooling in addition to what seems like a unique Dong Ding character, distinct from other high mountain Taiwan oolongs I have tasted previously.

Although it isn’t entirely impressive flavor-wise, the development was smooth and interesting. There was a nice “green” bite in the introduction of each sip with a tart finish felt on the roof of the mouth. Complexity was relatively straightforward, but the balance was excellent. The scent remaining in the empty cup was weak and nearly monotonous. However, the gaiwan lid’s scent was well-developed, if perhaps a bit too grassy.

I missed some it the deeper bass notes common in some gao shans in this tea, leaving the first few steeps to feel somewhat unbalanced. The lack of depth is odd considering this is another autumn harvest, yet, when the session lasts upwards of 7 steeps, I cannot complain.

Thanks Teavivre!

This was a sample sent to me from the lovely folks at Teavivre. Dong Ding (sometimes Tung Ting or “Frozen Summit”) is a very beautiful tea mountain in Nantou county near the west coast of Taiwan. They produce a lot of rolled oolongs in the Taiwan/Fujian style. “Qing Xiang” (清香) means “Fragrant” or “Aromatic”.

The dry leaves lived up to their name with a very pleasant sweet aroma. As expected for a Dong Ding, the leaves are rolled into balls, but somewhat unexpectedly they are many different sizes. Some are quite a lot larger than my usual Dong Ding (indicating a lot of stems, which doesn’t mean anything in itself), while some balls were more like fine gunpowder green tea in size. The variation in leaf size had me on my guard, as such inconsistency can make infusing a tea difficult. The color was a mix of bright green mixed with gunpowder gray, like an evergreen forest in the spring.

The first three infusions did not impress me too much, having a little too green and sharp a taste for my palette. However, as the flavor that was present hadn’t become noticeably weaker I tried a fourth and was very surprised at the improvement. A hint of saltiness crept into the flavor, which changed everything. There was still the bright spring quality, but it became subdued and gentle. The aroma was delicate but unmistakably that of the wonderful sweetness you will find in an oolong withering room. Somehow a bit of cream entered the texture, mellowing the sharpness of the previous infusions. The effect was still there but now it manifested as a dryness on the front of the tongue in the aftertaste, not marring the mouthfeel. My mind wandered away to a green mountainside in Lugu, looking across the lake at the tea fields of Dong Ding. It’s really a reminder that, particularly with a rolled oolong, there can be layers of flavor that lie hidden away behind the initial taste.

A hot rinse of the leaves at the start or possibly beginning with a cooler temperature water might have made for a different beginning entirely for this tasting. Tea is a living creation, and while I love to find a Dong Ding that really wows on the first sip, I very much enjoy a tea that makes me taste and experiment to find its beauty. I’m glad to have had this chance!

(Read the full review here: http://someteawith.me/2013/11/27/teavivre-2013-qing-xiang-dong-ding/)

The last of our “Superfine”s, the dry Superfine Taiwan Quing Xiang Dong Ding Oolong Tea keeps to itself, smell-wise. You get hints of possibili-teas; some petals, some mineral salt, some herbyness in the sage-y vein, but otherwise nada. In the cup, this steeps to an interesting effect: someone’s been cooking veggies all day–zucchini, celery, and bok choy–but then decided to blast the room with Febreeze and the veggies came out on top.

Definitely the greenest of our oolongs so far in the first infusion, when you get down to the sip-’sperience. Meadow-green, hot-sun-on-wet-grass green, Fifty Shades of Green. With a similarly faint yellow liquor as the Taiwan High Mountain Oolong Tea, this stuff is tailor-made for… Full review here: http://snooteablog.com/2013/10/15/snooty-tea-review-teavivre-round-3/

This is a rich tasting, good tea. It kind of reminds me of a milk oolong. It has some floralness to. It is also vegetal, but not in a boiled spinach-like kind of way like I experience in some other teas. This is more nuanced and sweet. I’d buy more of this.

Tea provided by Teavivre for review

Sniffing the wet leaves after the rinse stage, I picked up on butter, spices and a sweet flavour (like corn). This scent is very noticeable and not subtle or boring in any way.

Tasting the first steep, the aroma is much more toned down than I imagined. It’s mellow, floral, and slightly sweet. None of the flavours overpower my senses, and I didn’t taste any bitterness.

From the second to seventh steeps, it held a consistent flavour.

My husband and I had very different opinions on this tea. He really enjoys non-roasted oolongs and I do not. That’s my bias, but I can still appreciate the tea (I’m just not crazy about it).

Overall, I think it’s a nice mellow oolong. Its quiet nature is enjoyable. In comparison with cheaper oolong teas, this has a good long lasting flavour that resteeps well.

Tea parameters (Teavivre’s website suggestion):
100ml gaiwan, 7g sample, rinse and 7 infusions (30s, 30s, 35s, 45s, 60s, 100s, 120s)

This is a well-reviewed and highly rated tea and deservedly so. It has a charming aroma of greens, spinach, broccoli, butter, and spice. The taste is fairly pronounced for Taiwan oolongs, with the dominant notes of grass, spinach, minerals, and seaweed. Spice, salt , and nuts as secondary flavors, with a lingering herbal and spicy aftertaste.

I usually prefer “louder” teas that grab you and this is still an oolong, which requires you to concentrate and pay an undivided attention to it to appreciate all it has to offer. But it was one of the more assertive, and, frankly, better oolongs that i have tried, without any obvious weaknesses.

I’m beginning to think I’m just a tea drinker along the lines of beer drinkers who think Miller Lite is awesome. I think I just like the Miller Lites of teas. I’m reading everyone else’s notes and this just sounds so lovely. It basically tastes like spinach water to me. I can tell it’s made with care, and the leaves are lovely. I’m not going to give it a numerical rating since apparently I’m too gauche to appreciate good teas. :D

Got this from tea-sipper’s stash. The dry leaves smell nice and fresh, and as soon as I pour water over them, I wonder if I’ll regret having only gotten 20g…

Followed Teavivre’s steeping recommendations for gongfu.

The wash smells so good that I taste a sip of it. Nice, light and creamy. The first steep itself is a nice, light, golden-yellow and smells fragrant and milky. The texture is very smooth, creamy but not heavy, and the taste is creamy and lightly floral. The aroma that clings to the empty cup smells just like mango to me.

Second steeps tastes pretty similar, and the third steep comes out creamier to me. With each successive steeps, more vegetal notes start to creep through, which I appreciate greatly, and chestnut starts to shine through later on, as well, with an almost sugary sweetness. This tea carried me right on up to lunch and I enjoyed every steep. I love the fact that it’s fragrant, but not overly floral, and each evolution of the flavor is delicious and satisfying. Definitely enjoyed this one!

Reviewing the oolongs that came in the sample packs sold quite expensively. This is my second type of oolong testing, first being the Da Yu Ling oolong in the sample pack.

I am liking this one a lot over the DYL, it’s got a creamy, milky, buttery punch with a distinct floral/fruit after tone. Even though appearing to look light the smell is thick on this one. This is a flavoursome one – my mouth and olfactory is filled with it’s flavour. Sitting in front of an empty cup and cha hai that once containted the dong ding, the smell permeates the air in front of me – I am impressed.

The taste isn’t as bright but best described in the milky category, it really reminds me of drinking milk albeit a floral tea one! And you know what? I like it!

Though new to Oolongs, this is my favourite so far from the 8 varieties of oolongs that I have brewed,

I’ve been disappointed with the teas from Teavivre thus far, even their famous blacks like the golden monkey and golden pearl which I am going to give away, but this one I’d recommend and wouldn’t mind stocking up over all the other tea’s I’ve had from them so far.

Brewed gongfu – flash steep – 20s, 30s, 40s