2003 Reserve Four Season Oolong

I agree with the idea of burnt sugar notes and roasted notes to this tea. The roasted notes are foremost with this tea. They are somewhat too strong. I brewed this western style according to the directions. I will have to try it Gongfu style and see if they are mitigated. I still enjoyed the tea. It was still somewhat good.

I brewed this once in a 12 oz teapot with 3 tsp leaf and 175 degree water for 4 min.

My first aged tea. Wow. First steep was smokey, woody with a sweetness like burnt caramel. After that the smokiness got less and less and became more like roasty/toasty. I steeped up to 5 times western style the last for 8 minutes and the leaves were still not completely unfurled! I could tell I could’ve gotten more but I had to stop and I was not feeling well. A delicious intriguing tea

This sample came from Tommy. This is one of the oolongs that I didn’t order during Butiki’s birthday sale, and I was excited to receive it in a swap so I could try it anyway! The pellets are quite tightly rolled and extremely dark in color. Dry scent is very roasted autumn leaves, and it’s milder than I expected. I followed the instructions on Butiki’s website and did a 4 minute steep.

Once brewed, the tea smells very charred, kind of like burnt toast along with deeply caramelized sugar. It smells quite similar to strong coffee… and it actually tastes that way too! The first thing that comes to mind is dark roast coffee. It’s also quite nutty in a toasty kind of way. There’s a little bit of a seaweed or marine flavor that makes it a touch savory, along with a very mild mineral note.

Overall, this tea is quite unusual but I did enjoy trying it. I’ll definitely need to try it gong fu style as oolongs tend to be best that way in my (limited) experience. Come soon, gaiwan! :)

Wow! This is one of the most uniquely flavored teas I’ve ever had the pleasure of tasting. The dry leaf is tightly curled and dark as the best kind of sin.

I followed the directions of 1 tsp (ok mayble a little more than 1 tsp) for 8 ounces of 180 water for 4 minutes and was rewarded with a deeply colored brew with a woody and slightly vegetal aroma.

First sip was sweet and fruity and nectary, almost a bug bitten flavor to me. There is a lot going on with this tea. There is the lovely roastiness, a woody bottom and that lilt of fruity, floral sweetness at the top that makes this tea sing. It’s bold and beautiful like Tina Turner:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj0wPrN_Y_4

I wish I had started on this gong fu style, but I have more and I will spend plenty of time with this.