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2nd steeping. The pre-rinse really does help with this tea. The aroma and taste are so much clearer, brighter, and more pronounced while not getting that bitter taste and feel from oversteeping. The sweet taste is the best thing about this tea, and the rinse really brings it out and lets it shine.

With that beautiful sweetness, combined with just a hint of smoke and nuts and some fruity overtones, this is maybe one of the better balanced teas I have ever had.

This will be one tea I will continue to go back to in the future. It’s so well balanced it’s actually kind of silly. A hint of roasted smoke, but just a hint. It’s not so strong as to hide the bright earthiness and nutty presence. Surprisingly light and just a bit sweet, this is a GREAT go-to basic Oolong. No frills, no catches, nothing special, just straight up solid and amazing.

Yesterday I used these leaves to make sun tea. The result:

The aroma is super light, almost non existent. I don’t notice any of the smokey, earthy hints that I got when brewing with hot water. The taste is good, but way too subtle. It doesn’t taste like much more than a regular old green sun tea. I think that has more to do with how I made it, though. Net time…

I really miss my old sun tea ball. I haven’t been able to find one that large, and the replacement just doesn’t hold enough leaves. Next time I will either use two sun tea balls, or just let the loose leaves free in the water.

2nd steeping….

Want to know what happens to a tasty, light white tea when you forget about it and let it steep for somewhere’s about 6-8 minutes? Well, I’ll tell you.

It still has that light, earthy aroma, but it’s more in your face bitter and bitey. The taste is also very similar to a properly steeped white tea, but with an added bite that feels like it could cut through teeth.

That being said, it is still very good. I do like a big, bold, bitey, bitter cup of tea now and then. And I do like to oversteep my white and green tea from time to time. Glad to know this one can take it and still come out with all the qualities it should have.

Crisp, clean, light aroma leads to a crisp, clean, nutty taste. Super bright, almost shiny in feel, while still bringing out that earthy, woodsy taste. So good!

I experimented this morning, using a little more leaves than I normally do, and only letting it steep for 1.5 minutes. I wanted to get the full flavor of this tea, and I think I really got it this time.

3rd steeping. 1st steeping went too long, 2nd too short. Today’s was right around 3 minutes. Let’s see…

Aroma is great this morning. Nice and earthy, just a bit of bitter sweetness. Beautiful golden brown color. The taste… Yep. Spot on. Might be a bit overdone for some, but it’s right where I want it. Big and bold, bright and earthy. Just the right bitter to sweetness balance.

Good stuff.

2nd steeping: Finally got the steep time right. 2 minutes. And to be honest, it could have used another 30 seconds to a minute. (But not the 5 or 6 minutes yesterdays got left at…)

Subtle but smooth aroma of earthy charcoal, and a nice rich, sweet taste. This is a damn good Oolong.

Screwed up this batch. I got to reading the opinion pages again, and let it steep for 5-6 minutes. Oops.

Oh well, it’s still really good. Smokey charcoal aroma and taste, but much sweeter than Red Blossoms Lapsang Souchong, which tastes like a campfire. This Tung Ting has a much more complex taste. Still big and bold, but the earthy, nutty, wonderful sweetness is much more present.

I was planning on trying a shorter steep time for this 3rd steeping of these leaves. Damn you opinion section, I got caught reading and missed it, letting it steep for nearly 4 minutes. Going to need to remedy that soon.

Anyway, 3rd steeping, same strong flavor. Just as bold and potent as the 2nd, nearly the same as the 1st with just slightly less smoke presence. Slightly.

Still a ton of smoke aroma and flavor.

2nd steeping, with a pre rinse this time. The rinse helps a bunch. The smoke aroma and flavor was overwhelming yesterday, today it is just what it should be. Bold and to the fore but not so in your face that it feels like you just spent the entire night with campfire smoke blowing into your tent.

With the rinse, the earthy tea flavor is allowed to come out and actually create a nice balance of smoke with that rich sweetness it is advertised to have.

Tomorrow I’m going to try a shorter steep time to see what that does.