Thanks to Derk for the sample! Because it costs more to ship from the U.S. to Canada than it does to ship here from Taiwan or China, I tend to have few teas from American companies in my cupboard. This is my first tea from Totem Tea, and as a Dong Ding-style oolong from Taiwan, it’s sort of in my wheelhouse. I steeped the roughly 6 g in a 120 ml teapot at 205F for 25, 20, 25, 30, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds.
The dry aroma is of cookies, peach, cinnamon, nuts, and wood. This tea is making me hungry! The first steep has notes of cookie, peach, walnut, anise, grass, orchid, cream, pleasant sourness, and wood. I can tell there’s a roast, but it’s somewhat green for a Dong Ding. The cinnamon and other spices are a bit more apparent in the second steep, as are the orchid florals and that sour note I tasted earlier. The third and fourth steeps continue to be nutty, woody, and floral, with some baked bread undertones. By steep five, notes of minerals, sourness, walnut, and wood become stronger, though there’s still plenty of sweetness and a little spice and florality. The session ends with wood, minerals, and roast.
While I didn’t get all the nuances from this tea that Derk did, I found it to be a slightly offbeat, intriguingly complex Dong Ding. Those cookie and spice notes were lovely, though I wish they’d stuck around a little longer. Thanks for the chance to try this tea from a new-to-me company.
Flavors: Anise, Bread, Cinnamon, Cookie, Cream, Grass, Mineral, Nutty, Orchids, Peach, Pleasantly Sour, Roasted, Spices, Walnut, Wood
For some reason, this makes me wish for a plate of gingersnaps or nutty biscotti to dip into a snifter of tawny port.
I’m glad my tasting note conveyed this tea accurately! I was craving gingersnaps the entire time I was drinking it.
LOL! I do believe that derk is a super taster and you really created the seasonal cookie (at least here in the U.S.- an old Hallowe’en standby) with your tasting note. : )
Thanks! I agree that Derk is a super taster and I’m in awe of her palate. I hope to be able to detect all those flavours one day.
You inspired me to make a pot. I do smell floral ginger and charcoal roast in the warm leaf. Supertaster? Idk, I love bitter sheng and stuff like all the bitter greens, ridiculously spicy peppers and Swedish snus tobacco but not coffee or dark chocolate even though I can appreciate them. I feel like my palate just kinda went crazy in my mid 20s. First, I quit smoking cigarettes, then a permanent taco truck showed up in my very whitebread town. Then I moved from Ohio to San Jose and went nuts with my first taste of Vietnamese food. I’ve since moved out of the toddler ‘put all the things in the mouth’ phase.
White Antlers, I can see how you get that craving from Leafhopper’s note!
Derk, that’s interesting! I also enjoy bitter things, like coffee and IPA. I’m sure putting all the things in the mouth helps with detecting flavours! I like eating different cuisines, but don’t cook much, so might not always know exactly what goes into various dishes.
here’s something ‘fun’ for the science minded…
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/super-tasting-science-find-out-if-youre-a-supertaster/
I might have to rope my family into doing this. My hunch is that I’m an average taster. How about you?
Oh, I’m a sub-par taster, Leafhopper. One reason I don’t post tea reviews even though I drink lots of it every day is because to me, it tastes like ‘tea,’ ‘good tea,’ ‘stuff I don’t like,’ or ’it’s okay.’ When I was a teenager, I was hit by a car as a pedestrian and as a result, suffered a traumatic brain injury which left me blind in one eye and with no sense of smell in my left nostril among other things. While I do enjoy bitter flavors (not beer),love almost all cuisines and don’t find cilantro ‘soapy,’ a super taster I am NOT.
I separate tea into those categories, too. I don’t think you need to detect every nuance to enjoy good tea. :)
Nope, you really don’t. While I am not big on analyzing what I eat and drink, reading tasting notes like yours and derk’s gives me tremendous vicarious enjoyment and pleasure. : )
Thanks! I’m glad you appreciate my notes! Sometimes they’re a shot in the dark, but I do my best. :)