7 Tasting Notes
Received as a sample from Jing Tea Shop with an order of some assorted (mostly white) teas.
Amber color. Very smoky, earthy, peaty. Maybe I didn’t steep it for long enough, but it doesn’t seem as heavy as most black teas. Complex and very interesting. Unfortunately, doesn’t re-steep very well.
Flavors: Clay, Earth, Peat, Smoke, Tobacco
Preparation
A smooth, lightly earthy, everyday pu-erh. No exciting / overwhelming flavors, if you’ve tried other pu-erhs, but it’s very balanced.
Pour out the first couple of (short) steepings, and you’re good to go. Lasts through the work-day, and peaks after around 3-4 steepings. A light sweetness becomes noticeable in the finish, at that point.
Preparation
Butterscotch! So much butterscotch! This is probably my favorite oolong tea (other than another charcoal-roasted tung ting that I received as a gift). I’m not usually a fan of oolong, but this tea is excellent. The tannins are present but well-hidden, and it’s hard to over/under-steep this tea to an unpleasant extent. Loses flavor after a few steepings.
Preparation
(I’m taking a wild guess that this is the tea that Red Blossom calls “Aged Tung Ting, ca. 1980.”)
Smells sweet and mildly earthy. Fairly tannic initially, but smooths out. In my opinion, it’s pretty balanced but not very interesting, compared to other aged teas, including the ca. 1970’s Tung Ting from Red Blossom. That one really does “feel old.” The 1980 also lacks the strong butterscotch notes that you can taste in roasted Tung Tings. There’s something subtly intriguing in the aftertaste, but that’s about it.
Preparation
Very nice amber color, which looks especially nice in a Bodum glass. This tea is at its tastiest after a few steepings (maybe peaking in the 4th or so), and after letting cool down significantly. Smooth and pleasantly (not overwhelmingly) earthy, with a very pronounced sweetness in the finish that becomes apparent after a couple of steepings.
It’s also difficult to mess this one up with too much or too little steeping time, or not using enough leaves, etc. It’s an “easy” tea to make at work, without watching it / controlling all of the variables too carefully.
