Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Liquid Proust Teas (On Etsy)
Tea Description:
Ingredients: Green oolong (Vietnamese Tung Ting), peach blossoms, flavoring.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Finally trying the last of the tea samples that Andrew, from Liquid Proust Teas, was nice enough to send my way. Over on Steepster I’ve posted this review as well – and there it has some special significance as well as it’s my 3000th ‘tasting note’ on that site. I really wanted to celebrate my involvement in the Steepster community by drinking a tea made by someone also engaged within the Steepster community not just as a ‘creator’ but as a consumer as well.
The base for this tea is a Tung Ting/Dong Ding, which is a type of oolong I find pretty enjoyable though not one I drink as regularly as other types. The infused leaf was just gorgeous; long, full olive green leaves with a nicely bruised and oxidized red rim around the edge of the leaf. I tried to show my mother, who was watching me brew the tea but she just didn’t understand the beauty of that.
With both Western Style infusions I ended up doing, I found that more than anything else that I could taste the base tea. It was very fragile/delicate overall with an initial sweet flavour with almost a ‘leather’ or gentle smoke note, but then evolved into this super fragrant and aromatic floral tea with very bright, round notes of lily or possibly lilac to a lesser extent. There was also a smooth, silky vanilla-like sweetness as well especially in the end of the sip/long lingering aftertaste.
I could also taste the peach blossom as just this extra ‘floral’ flavour with a little bit of honey and generic fruit sweetness. Sometimes I forget that, unlike orange blossoms, peach blossoms don’t exactly taste ‘peachy’. I do wish this had been peachier, though – with a name that contains both “Elixir” and “Peachy” I expected both a more vibrant, rich fruity taste as well as something distinctly peach. That said, this was a very calm, delicious tea and I did really enjoy drinking it.
Medium Roast Dong Ding from The Mountain Tea Company
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.
Taiwan Dong Ding (Tung Ting) Oolong from Teavivre
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Tea Description:
The Dong Ding Oolong Teavivre select is among the best ones original from Taiwan. This kind of tea has a high quality and in a leadership among tea market in Taiwan. Dong Ding oolong tea, also know as Tung Ting Oolong traditionally was made from one bud and two or three leaves with fermentation level around 30% that it is also called “delicate elegant Oolong”
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I do adore Oolong tea, although I’ll admit that I love some more than others. I never really considered Dong Ding (aka Tung Ting) Oolong teas to be at the top of my list, but this Dong Ding from Teavivre certainly has the ability to change my mind! It’s that good!
The flavor is delicate, it isn’t heavy or buttery the way so many green Oolong teas can taste, it doesn’t inundate the palate with overwhelming floral notes or creamy tones. Don’t get me wrong, I love it when I experience Oolong teas that are very buttery or creamy or floral… but, it’s a nice change of pace to find an Oolong that is so delicate as this Dong Ding.
Incidentally, do you get a chuckle when you read the name “Dong Ding?” I do. It makes me think of Ding Dongs.
The flavor is sweet and floral, yes, but, it is light and refreshing. The palate doesn’t feel weighed down with a buttery or creamy essence. It is a perfect spring-time kind of tea, when you want something pure and naturally light. This tea evokes thoughts of the fresh breeze that wisps through a flower garden. The grass, the flowers, the clean, crisp air … I can taste these elements in this cup.
Subsequent infusions bring a more pronounced flavor, but, it never becomes overwhelming. The first cup (with infusions one and two) are my favorite for lightness, but overall, I prefer the second cup because the floral notes become a little more distinct.
This is the kind of tea that you want to sip over the course of an hour or two, just lingering over the delicate flavors. Relax and enjoy!
Jade Prince (Tung Ting Oolong) from Tantalizing Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Tantalizing Tea
Product Description:
Jade Prince aka Tung Ting is one of Taiwan’s most prized oolongs. Sweet, floral cup. Exquisite! Great for 3 or more infusions.
Taster’s Review:
This is a very nice Tung Ting Oolong. The aroma is intense with fruit and flower notes and begs me to take a sip. Who am I to refuse such an inviting request?
The flavor is complex: sweet with notes of butter, flower, fruit and roasted nuts. As the above description from Tantalizing Tea suggests, the fruit notes are pineapple-esque in character, complete with a hint of tartness just before the finish. There is a creaminess which enhances the buttery notes, and a soft mouthfeel that is a bit lighter than some Oolong teas I’ve experienced, but still very pleasant to experience.
I am not getting very little astringency from this cup. My first couple of sips, I detected no astringency whatsoever, but now as I continue to sip, there is a gradual astringent quality. I do not find it off-putting or pucker-y though, and it seems to enhance the tart quality I mentioned before.
These tiny pellets submit to several infusions. I brewed this tea in my gaiwan, and I managed six delicious infusions brewing it in the gongfu style. This tea has a charming sweetness to it and I recommend not sweetening this tea – it would offset the lovely balance of flavors.
A delightful tea to be sure! I recommend it to all the Oolong enthusiasts out there!