I’ve almost given up on finding good roasted oolongs, but decided to try this one anyway since Ethan said that like me, he doesn’t enjoy prominent roast or charcoal in his tea. I steeped 6 g of leaf in 120 ml of 195F water for 25, 20, 25, 30, 30, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds, plus some long, uncounted steeps.
The dry aroma is of roasted nuts, butter, caramel, orchids, and other florals. The first steep has notes of grain, honey, roasted nuts, minerals, orchids, and soft florals. Steep two is quite floral, with orchid, honeysuckle, and spring flowers. The tea is rounded out with notes of grain, roasted nuts, butter, grass, and faint roast. The next couple steeps double down on the roasted nuts (walnuts and chestnuts, maybe?) and have more notes of caramel, grain, butter, and roast along with the florals. It’s worth noting that this tea hasn’t become overly roasty or sour. In subsequent steeps, the tea finally starts getting some sourness from the roast, though it’s nicely balanced with nutty, grassy, buttery, and floral flavours and some minerality. The final steeps are more noticeably roasted, but still hang on to the floral, nutty, and caramel notes that make this tea enjoyable.
This oolong is a pleasant surprise. While it’s definitely a roasted tea, the roast is nicely balanced with the floral qualities of the Alishan oolong in a way that complements it rather than overwhelming it. While I wouldn’t say it’s as magical as the sample of Dong Ding Derk gave me from Song, it’s a lot more affordable. It only goes to show there are good roasted teas out there if you are lucky enough to find them.
Flavors: Butter, Caramel, Chestnut, Floral, Grain, Grass, Honey, Honeysuckle, Mineral, Orchid, Pleasantly Sour, Roast Nuts, Roasted, Walnut
