Mingjian Charcoal Roasted Tea, Lot # 112

Dear Sil-

I regret to inform you that it appears as though I’m starting to enjoy pretty much every roasted oolong thrown my way. I don’t know if it’s because of their roasty deliciousness or because I can drink them at night without worrying about the caffeine. Or if it’s simply because they are new to me and unlike greens or whites, still have a strong flavor. I don’t know what’s happening, but I do promise to always love my straight black teas best.

Cheers-
Amy

p.s. you can blame your tea sister for this. She included this delicious tea a while back and my previous ambivalence towards oolongs kept me from trying it until now.

p.p.s Thanks Terri Harplady!

I just received a massive amount of tea! Happy Birthday to me! Actually my birthday is next week on monday, so Happy Early Birthday!
I got my trade with Lala, my Steepster Select Box, & my Yunnan Sourcing order form last month! Just in time to celebrate!

This tea: I got a sample of this from TTC awhile back. I love their sample sizes because it’s enough tea to really try it out, but not so much that you end up with too much if you don’t like it.
This one is not something I’ll probably re-order, but something I wanted to try, more for the novelty of it, & also because I wanted to try several of TTC’s teas in general & I do like roasty Oolongs.

I used the same gongfu parameters that I used with my other 2 teas today, more or less:
5G + 4oz tiny teapot (Rinse) X 15/30/45sec/1min/2min/3min
The pre-warmed leaf gave off a light sweet incense aroma. After a couple of steeps, the wet leaf really smelled of charcoal & incense!
I shared the first 4 steeps with a student, & her main comment was that she felt like we were drinking incense, but in a good way, LOL.
There is a light sweetness to this cup, like a hint of dried peaches, & definitely an incense quality, which is something I enjoy in roasted oolongs. With successive steepings the cup becomes more savory, lightly salty & umami-like, & the charcoal becomes more apparent in the taste. I think I can probably get another 4 steeps out of this, but I’m actually wanting something sweet now, so I’ll let these leaves rest for awhile. I can always give them a quick rinse later, & then steep some more.

Sample sipdown of this one – passed on to me by my tea sister terri! I’m not overly a fan of oolongs – the roasted variety are better than the green variety but on the whole, 98% of the time i will take black tea/puerh over oolongs. However, i need to try all the teas!

If you are a fan of oolongs, this is likely a really nice roasty delicious oolong, with that familiar roasty oolong sort of taste. heh for me? this isn’t my cup of tea but i wouldn’t turn a cup down.

This one also came from Sil – thank you very much.

I think I like this oolong better than the one I was drinking earlier. This is also dark and roasted, but I think it’s more “oolong” and less “charcoal”. Don’t get me wrong this is a dark roasted oolong, but it seems like the charcoal supports the oolong rather than taking over from it. For my tastes this one is a better balance between the oolong and the smoke.