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“My tea arrived from thepuriTea yesterday, but I wasn’t able to try any until today! It smelled so good when I opened the packaging, very nutty! I used my new travel tumbler from thepuriTeas to make...” Read full tasting note
“I’m back from my Low Country vacation. I spent the last nine days eating some of the most wonderful foods and relishing in architectural and natural beauty. I even found a few tea shops. We...” Read full tasting note
“Thank goodness that this one is so much better than that Royal Phoenix that I just dumped. I was taking a big risk brewing another unfamiliar sample, but it worked out. This is a really good...” Read full tasting note
“Second infusion done this morning (I left the leaves overnight). Okay, so I drastically increased the steep time in order to really extract everything out of the leaves and see if I could get the...” Read full tasting note
Like our Dong Ding Oolong, Roasted Dong Ding is a popular Taiwanese oolong for gong fu brewing. It has been roasted for a deeper, smoother flavor that trades some of its floral notes for richer, grainier tones. Its dark leaves offer robust aromas of roasted nuts and grains with a hint of toasted cumin seeds. The copper-tinged golden brew smells roasty and sweet, like sobacha (a roasted barley tisane from Japan) with honey. Roasted Dong Ding’s flavor is strong, smooth and roasty. Notes of full-bodied Houjicha, honey sweetness, roasted barley and cashews, and vanilla are balanced with a light astringency. Later infusions are mellower, with a slightly greener oolong flavor. The finish is rich, lasting, toasty and smooth – ideal for pairing with dark sweets like pralines or tres leches cake.
Our mission is simple: to provide gourmet teas and practical teaware. We source all of our teas and teaware directly from China, Taiwan and India to ensure the maximum quality, value and freshness for our customers. By cutting out the middleman in our selection process, we can pass on savings to our customers and guarantee the quality of each and every one of our products.
My tea arrived from thepuriTea yesterday, but I wasn’t able to try any until today! It smelled so good when I opened the packaging, very nutty! I used my new travel tumbler from thepuriTeas to make this tea too. I loved watching the leaves open up and the water turn to a really nice russet color. I was also happy to get the great toasty flavor when drinking this too. I only got the sample package size this time around, but it may have to go on my tea want list very soon!
I’m back from my Low Country vacation. I spent the last nine days eating some of the most wonderful foods and relishing in architectural and natural beauty. I even found a few tea shops. We started in Savannah, GA, then on to Charleston, SC and finally Murrells Inlet, SC. I’m very excited to try some of my new tea finds, but first I have some samples to sample.
This tea threw me for a loop. Just from judging the dry leaves and the smell, I thought this was going to be too green of an oolong for me. The dark green leaves were tightly rolled and smelled lightly vegetal with an underlying roasted note. The look and smell made me question my purchase, as I tend to stay away from green oolongs. The first steep didn’t quite unfurl all of the tea, so I knew I was in for multiple infusions for sure.
After tasting, my previous judgments went right out the window. This isn’t a dark roasted tea…more of a light roast on the verge of “almost medium”. The nutty flavor is there and I swear I taste a little sweet cinnamon-y note right before the aftertaste kicks in. This only happened on the first two infusions when the tea was screaming hot…not after it cooled. The description mentioned notes of sobacha and Houjicha (both of which I love), but I think these flavors are reserved for darker roasted teas. The tea finishes sweetly and with a slight pucker of astringency. The sweetness in the smell and taste remind me of orchid and honey although subdued. The more infusions, the sweeter and more astringent the tea becomes. The roasty toasty taste vanishes. This would be a good starter tea for those that like greener oolongs but wish to venture into darker and roasted oolongs.
Thank goodness that this one is so much better than that Royal Phoenix that I just dumped. I was taking a big risk brewing another unfamiliar sample, but it worked out.
This is a really good roasted oolong. It retains a lot more of the floral flavor than other roasted oolongs that I have had. Way to go thepuriTea! (^^)
Oh by the way, in case anyone is wondering (I know I left you in suspense and you are dying to know, lol), I survived my piano recital on Sunday. It wasn’t as perfect as I way hoping for, but it could have been a lot worse. I was terribly stressed out about other things the couple days before and I’m just glad that I was able to make it through the performance. My hands completely went off on their own tangent right in the middle for a whole 7 seconds. grrr. The awfulness of it. Playing a piece perfect a thousand times over for no one to hear and then a whole audience hears that. ugh. Oh well. At least I had a pretty dress (^^)
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BxNRCCXF70kYdTZrdHN2ZW5GelE/edit?usp=sharing
Good for you getting up there and performing!
That kind of experience is exactly why I didn’t go into performing although I was a music major. I love singing and creating music with other people, but freeze up to an extent on stage. It does get way better though the more often you do it. I still dabble with performing from time to time, but mostly in choirs or really informal settings.
It’s my 4th recital there (I’ve only been playing a few years). The only thing that keeps me looking forward to more recitals is that piano. Oh boy I would do anything to have that piano!
From what I can see, it’s a beautiful piano! (I can’t watch at work.)
The Storm! That song is so fun to play! And I thought you did lovely! :)
(And for what it’s worth, unless anyone in the audience was really familiar with the song, they probably didn’t notice your mistake. You kept playing and it passed off as part of the song really well <3 Performing is hard)
Just got to watch it and like Moraiwe said, you pulled off the mistake with confidence. I am not familiar with the piece and didn’t detect a big mistake. The piano, your playing, and your dress were beautiful!
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oh gee, i know I could have done worse! Most of the students there were playing things much harder than I. The teacher I have is excellent (albeit intimidating and Russian. lol) I haven’t heard a single student of hers ever sound like a beginner (except maybe me! haha). But one girl there completely stopped playing three times during her piece and just trembled at the piano until she could remember. I felt her pain. But then, with a piece as impressive as hers was, that kind of mistake is easier to forgive.
Second infusion done this morning (I left the leaves overnight).
Okay, so I drastically increased the steep time in order to really extract everything out of the leaves and see if I could get the flavor better. I’m happy to say that while it didn’t seem much different when I had it hot, as it cooled the roasted notes came out a lot more.
It’s still not my favorite, but I’m glad I was able to taste some of what was supposed to be there!
or ‘Rosted Dong Ding’ as the sample pouch would amusingly have me believe.
Irrelavant typos aside, however, I have in the past had some very good experiences with roasted Tie Guan Yins, so based on that I have high expectations of this one.
The aroma is very distinct green oolong, but with a layer of toastyness surrounding it. It’s acutally a pretty interesting smell. It’s all crispy and crunchy and stuff. Í would say that it’s a golden-orange smell, but given that the colour I’m thinking about is the exact same colour as the brew in the cup, I don’t think I can blame synesthesia on that one.
It really is a very nice colour. The white china is looking quite handsome as background for this tea.
The flavour is interesting as well! It has a strong note of something sort of tangy and fruity, like a middle thing between mandarins or apples of the not too sour sort.
Then there’s a note of pure green oolong. Not at all buttery and with just a touch of that earthyness that makes it different from a regular green. Isn’t it funny how oolong is kind of earthy and pu-erh is kind of earthy, but it’s not the same sort of earthyness at all? Oolong-earthy has a more floral tinge to it. Oolong-earthy is spring-y. Pu-erh earthy is autumn-y.
Anyway, this is slightly floral and oolong earthy, plus the indeterminable fruit-note, and all of it shrouded in nutty toast-ness. Flavourful and interesting.
And so Sample Week has reached Friday.
This is a great tea. It is so flavorful. Looks like I will be putting this on my wish list for September once my ban is over. Just read the discription, it is just as it is described. Yummy!
Clear yellow-green color, slight nutty aroma, taste also had a hint of a grain, maybe rice.
Two steeps. Second steep slightly more astringent.
Edit: As the tea cools, the grain flavor becomes more pronounced. Definitly rice.
On my third steep…this is awesome!!!
Ooh, I just put in a big order of samples on Monday, I can’t wait to get them!
Yay! I can’t wait to see what you think. What else did you get?
A pretty good smattering of their oolongs (including the milky one which I can’t wait to try), along with the Earl Grey, Mango and Passion Fruit Blacks, and the Jasmine Yunnan. I’m going to have so much tea soon I’m not sure what to try first!
Their Earl Grey rocks!
Yummy! Sounds like a really nice sampler!