Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Grand Tea
Tea Description:
2014 Spring Limited Edition: Green Dan Cong
Green Dan Cong is unusual light oxidized (approx.8%) and incredibly floral. The taste of it reminds of high grade green tea which is refreshing, pure and sweet.
Because Green Dan Cong is so delicate and fresh, the best way to preserve the flowery aroma would be keep it air tight in the refrigerator.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Mmm! SO GOOD!
This Green Dan Cong Oolong from Grand Tea is the best Dan Cong Oolong that I can remember ever tasting. It’s so light and flavorful. As the description above suggests, the very light oxidation gives this tea a “high grade green tea” taste but it has a creamy, soft texture that you’d expect from a greener Oolong.
So sweet! The aroma is very floral and the taste has a strong flowery essence but I like that the sharper floral notes are somewhat softened by the aforementioned creamy notes. It has that light freshness of a green tea, vegetal without bitterness. It’s not really “grassy” but more like mild steamed veggies with a drizzle of butter.
This tea reminds me of spring, when everything starts to come to life again. The grass is growing, the leaves on the trees are budding and you can smell that freshness in the air. Flowers are beginning to bloom after a cold winter. The aromatic air of spring is what I smell when I smell the tea and that’s what I taste when I take a sip.
Later infusions were a little less creamy and softly flavored, I found that as I continued to infuse the leaves, more of the floral notes emerged – these are lovely! – and I could taste soft notes of fruit and the vegetal notes coming forward slightly. This never really becomes a strongly “vegetative” tasting Oolong. This is more ‘floral’ than anything, so for those of you who love a delightfully flowery Oolong – you’ve got to try this one!
The dry leaf reminds me of a green tea more than it does an Oolong because when it comes to “green” Oolongs, I have come to expect a tightly wound pellet. These leaves look a little more like a Chinese Sencha leaf, but the leaves are deeper and darker in color. They have a strong floral fragrance with notes of grass.
I brewed this tea in my gaiwan. First I steeped the leaves for about 15 seconds to “rinse” them. Then I strained the liquid and discarded it. Then I steeped for 45 seconds for the first infusion and added 15 seconds to each subsequent infusion. This tea holds up through multiple infusions quite well, and I got eight very flavorful infusions from one measurement of leaves.
A truly pleasurable experience, this Green Dan Cong. If you love Oolong tea – this one should be on your must try list, if for no other reason than that it’s quite unique from any other Oolong that I’ve tried. Every tea lover should be trying this tea!
Rooibos Chocolate Vanilla from Tea for Life
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Learn more about Tea of Life and Amazon Teas here.
Tisane Description:
South African Red Bush or Rooibos Tea is a pure and natural herbal blend. Freshly harvested and finely chopped rooibos goes through a process of oxidation with the aid of the oxygen from the atmosphere and subsequently dried int he sun to produce a deep mahogany red cup of which is one of the most popular and healthy herbal drinks today.
“Tea of Life” is proud to introduce five New Naturally Caffeine Free Rooibos Teas combined with Dark Chocolate with delicious natural fruit and mint flavors for your enjoyment – all day and into the evening.
Taster’s Review:
These dark chocolate rooibos blends from Tea of Life are really good. The chocolate is rich and dark and there’s a good amount of chocolate flavor to the blend. I’m really enjoying this Rooibos Chocolate Vanilla blend – LOTS of chocolate flavor with a sweet, creamy vanilla undertone.
I taste hints of honeyed, nutty sweetness from the rooibos, but, I like that the flavor of the rooibos isn’t as pronounced as the dark chocolate notes and the notes of vanilla. Normally, I want the flavor of the “tea” to be the star of the cup, but, since this is rooibos and I’m not particularly a big rooibos fan, I like that I am only getting a little bit of the flavor of the rooibos.
Plus, we’re talking chocolate here, and when it comes to chocolate, more chocolate is always better. I really can’t think of any instance when that isn’t true. And this has a strong chocolate presence. The sweet notes of vanilla give this cup an almost “milk chocolate-y” sort of taste, and I like the way the two – chocolate and vanilla – meld together in this cup.
A really tasty cup.