Superfine Taiwan Moderately-Roasted Dong Ding Oolong Tea

This was a beautiful treat! I opened my package and revealed only a few little vibrant green glossy orbs. They carried a strong milky and vegetal aroma; moreover, I could hint a slight floral background. I placed these little gems in my warmed gaiwan and gave them a shake. This smooth scent became of creamy dried fruit with floral nectar sweetness. I began brewing right away. I washed these emeralds, and I brewed a few cups. The steeped leaves scent dropped to a deep vegetal tone with a sweetness of squash and melon. The flavor was simply amazing. This brew had a smooth and light body. The vegetal tone combined well with a refreshing sweetness and honey soothing quality. The leaves of this brew were unbelievably beautiful. The steeped long slender steeped leaves in my gaiwan were my favorite part of this tea session. The liquor was a pale jade, and it kept strong and soothing for 10+ steepings. The small amount that I had (5g) overfilled my gaiwan and lasted for a long tea session. This was definitely a treat for me, and I will be getting more of this someday!

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Oh no! I’m so sorry TeaVivre! I was generously given this sample for review ages ago and apparently lost it until just now. It was a nice surprise to find though because I really enjoyed drinking it today. It was very sweet and slightly vegetal with a slight roasty flavor to round it all out. There are some mineral notes as well. Extremely nice oolong and so sorry again for the very late review!

Thank you to Angel at TeaVivre for this sample!

I used about 6g of leaf in my 100ml Gaiwan. This was a light roasted green oolong. It was nice for the cold afternoon. Even though this was a roasted oolong there were still hints of fruit and floral that seeped through the roasty flavor. I haven’t had too many oolongs that were moderately roasted. This was enjoyable tea, but not my favorite flavor profile.

When it is snowing, I drink more tea. Makes it nice to watch from inside if I have a nice warm beverage. Today, I decided to try this. Mostly for warmth and because this is my first mug of oolong tea this year. The dry leaves have a sweet, dried fruit scent, with some roasted nuts. Brewed, I get more roasted nuts. That comes out more in the flavour, along with something toasted grain bread. Thanks to Teavivre for this sample.

Thank you very much to Angel from Teavivre for this free sample!

There are a lot of tea companies that have good customer service, and there are a few that have excellent customer service, and Teavivre falls into the excellent category. I do have to apologize that it has taken me this long to review this free tea.

This tea is large rolled nuggets. It brews up a very dark, brown tea. It smells floral, sweet, vegetal, and roasty.

The tea brews up lovely. The nuggets unfurled so large that they almost could not be contained in the regular sized tea basket I always use. The dry nuggets were greenish in colour but the brewed tea leaves are more brown.

The taste of the tea is much less flavourful than the smell. It definitely has the flavours of a green oolong, vegetal, strongly floral, almost perfumey. But there is a light roast flavour on top of that. There is a strong buttery/creamy quality to the tea liquor.

I quite prefer the heavily roasted or darker oolongs compared to a green oolong.

This was is pretty good, not as roasty as I prefer, but I love the buttery quality to this tea.

I am a big fan of oolongs that are partially roasted. They tend to strike this perfect balance between darker, toasty flavors and the fresh and floral notes of a green oolong. This sample came to me courtesy of Angel Chen and Teavivre (I am consistently blown away by their generosity).

The dry leaf of this brought the concepts of yin and yang to mind. Dark brown, roasted leaf and fresh jade green balancing each other out. The smell was mostly that of a roasted oolong, nutty and earthy, with an undertone of flowers and fruit.

I brewed the tea in a 4-ounce gaiwan with boiling water, one minute and thirty seconds initially, and one minute for two consequent steepings. The flavors that I picked up were mainly earthy and nutty, reminiscent of a blend between very light shu pu-erh and a Wuyi rock oolong. The lighter flavors then presented themselves on the finish, which I would describe as those of jasmine, mineral, a bit of grassiness, and a touch of dairy. All of the aforementioned flavors/aromas were very light nuances, and the dominating flavor profile was that of earthiness. Overall, an enjoyable and somewhat complex oolong.

The dry leaf aroma is awesome! It smells like a mix between Tie Guan Yin and Houjicha, both of which I love so I’m excited about this one. The brewed tea has a lovely roasted aroma. Now that I think about it, I think this is my first roasted oolong! Yay for fun new things!

The flavor is less roasted than the aroma. This is really interesting tasting! It’s not as roasted as a Houjicha. It’s softer and greener with a lovely nutty, toasted hay profile. I really like this a lot! It does seem a bit astringent, especially as it cools. Second infusion is for 2 minutes 45 seconds. I ate a fortune cookie in between infusions, so that’s kind of confused my taste buds, hahaha. I think this cup tastes a little more like minerals and a little less like toasted hay. This cup is good but I liked the first infusion better.

I think I’m going to have to look into more of these roasted-type oolongs. This is called “moderately-roasted” so I assume there are more roasted versions available. I think this was a good tea to start with, and I can confidently recommend it to others. Big thanks to Angel and Teavivre for the free sample!

On a completely unrelated note, why do cats sleep on their faces? How do they breathe?! http://instagram.com/p/wW3LyOF-gi/

A sample with my order – also a sipdown! I think I’ve been lucky enough to try most of the oolong offerings from Teavivre, and though I wouldn’t usually choose a roasted oolong, as they aren’t my favorite, I wanted to try the roasted oolong Teavivre had in stock, as it was bound to be a delicious one. And it is!

Steep #1 // 2 tsps. // rinse // few min after boiling // 1 min steep
Two teaspoons in the sample for an eleven ounce mug. The leaves are darker bundles than most of the other Teavivre oolongs, but that is to be expected. The fragrance of the leaf is very vegetal. The flavor is the best roasted oolong I’ve tried: a nice balance of a typical green oolong but also with a roasted flavor, just enough charcoal to make it unique. I think the first roasted oolong I tried actually tasted like I steeped a piece of charcoal, so I think that one was too much for me. But this is the perfect flavor. Underneath is a lovely smooth buttery base.

Steep #2 // couple minutes after boiling // 2 min steep
Another tasty cup – almost exactly like the first. The flavor has slightly deepened but to the perfect level of flavor. Not any more or less charcoal flavor to the oolong flavor than I’d prefer. Delicious!

Steep #3 // couple minutes after boiling // 3 min
Another consistent cup – the flavor of this is addictive… very shocking to me for a roasted oolong. They are usually my least favorite types of tea. I could keep steeping this one – the leaves seem like they will be this flavorful for many steeps. I think I’ve steeped it perfectly so far too. If I wanted a roasted oolong to stock in my cupboard, I would certainly pick this one! This one is tempting to buy!

6/10 sipdowns until 1,500 tasting notes
http://www.teavivre.com/black-friday-sales/

This was a free sample provided in exchange for review by the lovely and sweet Angel over at TeaVivre. I really enjoyed the other Dong Ding sample that I tried, so I’m pretty excited to try this one as well, especially since I tend to love the medium-roast style oolongs. The irregular pellets are a dark olive green in color, with a lot of brown tones from the roasting process. They smell very sweet in a clear, sugarcane kind of way, and I can also smell nutty and grassy notes.

Wow, the steeped liquid smells amazingly sweet and nutty with slight grassy or vegetal undertones. This tea tastes super nutty and comforting, with a bit of that autumn leaf flavor I often find in roasted teas. There’s also a mellow sweetness throughout the sip, and it’s somewhat honey-like but I think it reminds me more of some type of fruit. In fact, there’s definitely a slight fruity note that’s especially clear in the aftertaste, I’m thinking starfruit or apples. I can definitely see similarities between this tea and the Gui Fei that I have in my cupboard. Yum!

Method: 1.5 tsp, 8 oz, 205 degrees, 3minutes, French Press

Dry Leaf Aroma: Smells like sweet florals. Very pretty

Brewing Aroma: Roasty, like toasted rice. It smells like a genmaicha!

Flavor: This tastes roasty with a light floral tone. It’s interesting. I’m picking up the same kinds of flavors that I’d find in a genmaicha. It wasn’t astringent or bitter. This was a nice, smooth breakfast tea. Yum!