Dark Roast Anxi Tieguanyin

I think this tea may be the ideal tea to help a coffee drinker make the switch to tea. Very roasty & coffee like with hints of caramel & cocoa. I’m fairly new to oolongs, so I won’t rate this tea yet, however I like it with cream & sugar as a dessert tea – the way I drink coffee, if tea is not an option.

After reading reviews about this oolong, I knew I had to try it. Thanks to TeaTiff who sent me a sample, I finally was able to partake of this yummy tea! I haven’t much experience with dark or roasty oolongs so I don’t have a lot to compare this to, but I have to say this was quite an enjoyable cup. Perfect for fall! It tasted of cocoa, wood, and French Roast coffee, with some subtle hints of burnt caramel in there as well. As I slowly sipped, I couldn’t help thinking that the only thing better than this tea would be if it was accompanied by a nice piece of dark chocolate—85% cocoa. Mmmmm those flavors would mingle perfectly together! I checked my chocolate stash and to my horror realized I was completely out of dark chocolate (no surprise there…being a serious chocoholic, AND a pregnant one, means that I am perpetually out of the stuff. Bummer!)

Anyway, I did a second steep and it smelled and tasted like watery burnt coffee, so I definitely preferred my first cup.

Very roasty and long steeping oolong. delicious stuff. Can easily get 5-6 infusions out of this each is different from the last. Wonderful stuff, I’m sad to have ran out..

Okay, so this isn’t going to be a very good note… Curse you, Diablo III, for causing me to ignore my teas! Ahem. These oolong pellets are super dark in color, almost black. Dry scent is roasty and sweet with mild cocoa notes. I brewed it for 5 minutes at 200 degrees.

It’s pretty tasty! Definitely reminds me of coffee, as a lot of really dark and roasted oolongs do. Also somewhat sweet and with a little bit of dark cocoa flavor. Yummy, and even very good cold! There’s no bitterness here whatsoever. :)

Another tea from my recent WP order. Yay! I would normally save this tea for a rainy day or a cold fall/winter day where a blanket and a book are mandatory, but I really want to try all the teas I ordered now so even though it is really warm outside I went ahead with this one. The roasted oolongs are getting to be a favorite of mine. I still don’t understand this. The first cup I had of a dark oolong I dumped out actually, but for some reason I gave it another chance and this type of tea has now becomes one of my favorites. THIS tea was a really nice dark roasted oolong. What stood out to me was the creaminess of it. It seemed so smooth. I had seen that this was formally called something else with chocolate in the name and I would say this was much lighter on the chocolate notes than other dark roasted oolongs I have had. I really enjoyed this one. I can’t wait for the weather to be cold. Once it turns chilly out side I am afraid this tea will not last very long.

To prevent people from thinking Whispering Pines might pay me to write such raving reviews…I will try to show some restraint for this next note.

This is an average roasted oolong
I looove this type of oolong sooo much, this one looks and smells FANTASTIC, nothing average about it!!!

I am using the Gaiwan. I show no sign of excitement while I’m waiting for it to cool down a bit.
are you kidding me? I can barely breathe, that’s how impatient I am, I could just dunk my whole face in it, that’s how tempting this is…so what, second degree burn.

The color of the brew is brown.
omg the liqueur looks like the most beautiful dark amber colour I have ever seen!

I’ve had another roasted oolong last night, so nothing new and special here…
well, yesterday I drank my favourite roasted oolong EVER, so yeah,I’d say there is something special here, cause I’m super picky and this tastes amazing!!

Ok, sorry but I’m back to being my enthusiastic self. Sorry.

I love this. It’s sweet, it’s very roasty, taste like caramel and coffee. Like a nice shot of espresso. Not that I drink that much coffee anymore, but every now and then, I get my fix and this tea could totally do the work instead. Also, i bet this would make the most delicious Tiramisu dessert ever.

It will not replace my Butiki 2003 Reserve Four Season oolong, but I loved it and it’s absolutely worth keeping around!

I was very surprised to pop open this pouch to find that this tea smelled like roasted seaweed. It’s not fishy, but is definitely reminiscent of dried seaweed pieces. The leaves are tightly curled and very dark. So pretty! After the tea has steeped, I’m smelling much more of a roasted note with a bit of bread and seaweed in the background. There is also a touch of smoke, but it’s quite subtle.

Sipping… this is a very smooth tea. I suppose in my experience, the roasted oolongs I’ve had have been a bit more astringent and sharp. This one is quite nice. The flavor reminds me of toast that has been almost burned mixed with a heavy earthy note, minerals and salt water. The finish is smooth with just a tiny bit of grassy sweetness. I can see why this was called “Dark Chocolate Oolong,” but I think the new name is much more fitting as I personally don’t taste much dark chocolate. This was a very interesting cup for this afternoon, but not one that I will repurchase.