Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Oolong

Where to Buy:  Eco-Cha

Tea Description:

This batch of tea comes from Yong Long Village, just above Dong Ding Mountain. Yong Long is known for a rich red soil which differs from other locales in Lu Gu Township. The unique flavor of the Dong Ding Oolong produced here is attributed to this soil quality, along with the fact this region is home to the most concentrated population of the most skilled oolong tea artisans in Taiwan.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

The fragrance of the dry leaf of this Dong Ding Oolong Tea from Eco-Cha has a strong vegetative tone with hints of roasted nut.  Once brewed, the aroma becomes much more roasty-toasty with the vegetative notes becoming very faint.

And that’s what I’m tasting too.  Up front, I notice the roasted nutty taste, evoking thoughts of freshly toasted chestnuts.  I also notice a slight “coffee-like” flavor … not so much the bitterness of coffee, but the rich, roasted flavor of coffee.  This would be a great tea for the former coffee drinker who misses that “fresh roasted” flavor of coffee but doesn’t miss the caffeine jolt or the nauseating feeling that some of us experience after a cup of joe.

There is not a strong vegetative tone to this first cup (infusions 1 & 2 following the 15 second rinse) … it smells more vegetal than it tastes.  There is a smokiness to this Oolong that complements the chestnut and coffee notes, and there is a very distant “raisin-y” note here too.

The second cup (infusions 3 & 4) brought that raisin note forward, making for a sweeter cup than the first.  This cup still has notes of roasted nuts and coffee, but these two flavors are starting to meld together into a more unified taste.  As I sit here and sip on this tea, I realize what a perfect for autumn tea this Dong Ding Oolong is, because it has flavors to it that remind me of autumn.  The smoke, the chestnut, the warm notes of coffee, even the raisins are very autumnal to me.

The third cup was a bit softer in taste and texture than the second, but not by a lot.  It is still very flavorful.  The flavors are much more seamless now.  The coffee notes are less distinct.  I notice a little more of the vegetative note now, more than I tasted in the first two cups.

A very enjoyable tea.  I really like this company:  Eco-Cha.  The packaging is beautiful, and the tea is of excellent quality!  I like that they get their teas direct from the source, which means a fresher product!  This Dong Ding, for example, was harvested in May of this year, and it was hand-picked in small batches.  I like that!