Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: The Mountain Tea Company
Tea Description:
The slow roasting of this tea gradually caramelizes its natural sugars and sweetens it, imparting notes of caramel, sweet roasted barley, and brown sugar.
Many of the names related to Taiwanese teas are tea-producing regions, tea-making styles, or both. Dong Ding is a tea gardening region in Nantou, Taiwan whose area name has become eponymous with its style of tea manufacturing. Dong Ding teas have a longer oxidization period and are also slowly baked at a high temperatures, with careful attention to how the flavors and aromas are changing throughout the baking process. The result is caramelized sweetness with a depth and complexity that literally makes your mouth water—it’s a phenomenon the Chinese call “Hui Gan.”
Other names: Tung Ting, 炭焙凍頂
Water: 95°C
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Medium Roast Dong Ding from The Mountain Tea Company is Mmmmmmm delightful! Dong Ding Oolong is my all time favorite tea. This tea brings me back to everything I first loved about loose leaf tea.
The mixture of sweetness with savory notes, the highlight of caramel infused with barley. The roasted flavors that remind me of being in the woods, in nature. The caramelized sugar notes, or brown sugar perhaps. I don’t really even care to dissect it as it is just one of those teas that makes me go “Ahhhhhh” and all I want to do is sit back, more like slink back, into the sofa and enjoy.
Now I was a child of the 70’s and Dong Ding has always reminded me of a very specific aroma, an aroma from a very specific plant species. Dong Ding to me has a lofting aroma of a product from this plant. Was that too vague? Either way, I find myself drawn to this aroma in a strange way. Again, child of the 70’s with a hippie father, perhaps it reminds me of my youth. Regardless, it tastes fabulous.
I really love the lingering floral taste the tea leaves behind. Yes, even beneath all the roasting, the caramel notes, brown sugar notes, sweet barley, and woods, this lovely little spring of floral note comes out just barely gracing your palate. Its lovely!
This is not THE sweetest Dong Ding I have ever tasted, and I do tend to enjoy the sweeter Dong Ding Oolongs, however this is one of the more refreshing Dong Ding Oolongs I have tasted. It leaves your month ready and wanting for more without leaving a drying sensation in the back of the throat or mouth. It makes the mouth water in anticipation of the next sip.
Medium Roast Osmanthus Oolong from The Mountain Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: The Mountain Tea Company
Tea Description:
Our Medium Roast Osmanthus Oolong has a delightful taste of caramel and osmanthus with hints of coffee and cacao.
Many of the roasted oolongs you’ll find today are ‘qing xiang’ or ‘light fragrance’ style, popularized by Taiwanese tea makers, which favors a light, floral aroma. This oolong was roasted in-house by our very own tea master; it’s an homage to the traditional style of tea making. To develop a deep, rich character, we roasted this tea over the course of 9 days, for a total of 144 hours. This slow roasting gradually caramelizes the natural sugars within the tea and imparts body and layers of complexity.
Water: 6 oz.; 200-212°F
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Upon sipping Medium Roast Osmanthus Oolong from The Mountain Tea Company I find it to be surprisingly lighter than I had anticipated. Keep in mind however I love oolong, the darker the better, so maybe its just lighter on my palate.
There are woodsy notes, and even some notes that lean toward a vegetal flavor slightly, but I am not picking up on the sweetness of the osmanthus. I do get the floral aspect of the osmanthus for sure which is lovely, fresh, and delightful. I was hoping for the sweetness from it however.
This is a medium roast oolong although it may be too dark for some and too light for others I find it to be quite pleasing even if I am slightly disappointed that it does not taste the way I had anticipated it to.
What is cool about The Mountain Tea Company is they list their oolongs by roast on their website which I find quite handy when needing to restock a specific type.
Now I am a huge fan of The Mountain Tea Company, I repeat, huge fan, but this is not my favorite tea from them. That is not to say it is a bad tea whatsoever! It is quite nice especially if you love floral notes in your oolong. Its not as sweet as some of their teas, nor as complex in my opinion, but what it does deliver it delivers well.
I really love the lingering after taste of this tea and its refreshing qualities. While it has an interesting dryness on the roof of the mouth I find my mouth really watering in anticipation of the next sip. The lingering aftertaste is highly floral.
According to Wikipedia:
Traditional Chinese Medicine claims that drinking osmanthus tea improves complexion and helps rid the body of excess nitric oxide, a compound that is linked to the formation of cancer, diabetes and renal disease.
So drink up friends, drink up!