Indonesia Dark Roast Tie Guan Yin Oolong Tea

I read not too long ago that drinking too much Yerba Mate can give you mouth cancer because of the roasting process that uses smoke to dry the leaves. I like Yerba every now and again, so I’m choosing to ignore that. But, if that sort of exposure to the roasting process does indeed cause cancer, it makes me wonder about this tea. This tea is like drinking a campfire. I’m not that much of a hypochondriac, but I fear if I made a habit out of this tea, I’d be riddled with cancer in short order. All kidding aside (ok, I’m not kidding that much really), I am having a hard time finding anything other than smoke and char in this tea. I do love a heavy roast TGY, but I’m not sure about this one. I will adjust my brewing parameters and revisit it though. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time user error was the cause of me not getting the best out of a tea.

Oh hey, I think my sleep schedule flipped back to being diurnal-ish. Yay? It has its pros and cons, same as all sleep schedules. At least since I got up dark and early this morning I got to watch some more of the Perseid Meteor Shower, watching a few fireballs shooting across the sky brings me great joy. I am somewhat sad that things did not work out where I could not go out to the country to watch the sky, but I got to see some of the show, which is wonderful.

It is time to look at a powerful tea from What-Cha, their Indonesia Dark Roast Tie Guan Yin Oolong Tea. This tea had my attention from the name (a charcoal roasted Tie Guan Yin, that is one of my favorite things) and the description calling it powerful, what can I say, I have a type! That type is empyreumatic, also Tie Guan Yin, I am predictable with my love of oolongs. So, the aroma of the tightly balled leaves will knock you off your feet if you are not prepared, strong notes of tobacco, rich molasses, baked plums, loam, and heavy charcoal waft off of them. It is both very rich and very sweet, without the char notes overwhelming.

Into ye ol’ roasted Oolong pot the tea goes, and hello strong notes of coal and smoke, reminds me a bit of incense because it has a resinous quality with a distant floral note as well. Under this smoky and coal is tobacco, molasses, and roasted plums, it is pretty intense. The liquid is smoky and char, like burnt grains, buckwheat and oats, molasses and honey. It smells like granola that is being roasted over a fire, though without the headache. (For some odd reason whenever Ben’s mom roasted the granola for her…well…granola, the smell gives me a migraine and I spend the day in misery. I try to be out of the house on those days, sad because the smell is great.)

Whoa! That first steep is sweet! Surprisingly so, with a strong honey and molasses start with juicy plums in the middle. Over this sweetness is an overhanging cloud of smoke and char, like eating roasted plums next to a campfire. The finish is grainy, notes of buckwheat and oats mix with a finish of molasses, this is some serious granola tea.

The aroma of the second steep manages to kick it up a bit in intensity, strong notes of char and grains, buckwheat and oats, mixing sweetness and granola with a strong punch of burnt. Yes my mouth is watering, don’t judge me. The taste is much less sweet, bringing out the intense char and grain notes I am more familiar with when given a roasted TGY. Notes of walnut shells, oats, buckwheat, actual wheat, and a hint of molasses blend with an explosion of char and gentle smoke.

Third steeping time, the aroma is very similar, not so much sweet, strong notes of grain and char with a very pleasant finish of molasses, the only sweetness in the aroma. Looks like the tobacco and plums rejoined the party, starting off with delicate sweet roasted plums and walnut shells, this moves on to tobacco (kinda fruity pipe tobacco, actually) and roasted grains. The finish is sweet molasses and char with a surprise floral aftertaste. I had quite a few more steeps with this tea, it has a fantastic oomph to it and lasts for a while. I am, however, kicking myself for forgetting to order more, I am betraying my love of the Taiwanese roasted TGY, but I think Indonesia might take the coveted favorite spot.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/08/what-cha-indonesia-dark-roast-tie-guan.html