The Mountain Tea co

I don’t love this tea. The flavor strikes me as thin and not particularly interesting. Perhaps I will try with a larger chunk of the cake, but for now I am not that impressed.

I like this tea as a good staple. However, it doesn’t stand out for complexity and I find it a bit cloying if I don’t brew it in my gaiwan. I’m not quite sure why that is, but I’ve not had success brewing with other methods.

A pleasant, typical, no-nonsense Tie Guan Yin. It has the usual floral aroma, but is a bit sweeter (honeyed) than others I have tried. An enjoyable tea at a nice price.

First infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz water, 90 deg., 2:30 min.

Second infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 90 deg., 4:00 min.

Third infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 90 deg., 10+ min.

Drinking some of this again (finally) while working on the boat loads of work I have to get done for the end of the semester. As much as I’d really like to go into great detail with this amazing oolong, I can’t at the moment (again). So I’m going to keep this brief.

Smell: Honey notes, with some nice vegetal notes, and slight nutty aspect. I can’t exactly pinpoint the veggie in question, but it’s slightly sweet. Maybe spinach? Anyway, this smells heavenly. There are also some creamy notes in the cup.

Taste: Stronger vegetal notes (spinach?) than honey notes, but there is still a sweetness present. Nice and smooth cup, with some floral notes floating around. There is also a milky aspect in the taste, which is reminiscent of my favorite milk oolongs. Light, vegetal, and smooth – that’s what this one is.

Next time around I’m going to try this one in the gaiwan – I think that’ll be really good. I like this one a lot. It’s light and smooth, and perfect for this nice Spring nights. Enjoying this one a lot right now. More on it later.

EDIT – As I continue to sip on this one, another taste popped into my head. Stone or rock. I’m getting a mineral aspect here, which is refreshing and really nice, in my opinion. I’m glad it finally came to me, because I was sitting here trying to pinpoint exactly what it was I was tasting. Now I might be able to concentrate on my work (yeah, right…).

Thank you Emily M for this wonderful oolong.

I finally found an oolong with floral notes that I might have to purchase. The floral notes in this one are very delicate, but they are a welcome addition to the more vegetal and creamy flavor of the tea. This oolong has a savoriness about it that I haven’t found in other oolongs.

Also, my husband, who previously said that he has no interest in trying teas of the floral kind, came into my room an asked what I was drinking. He said it smelled really good. That’s something coming from a coffee-drinking resistant-to-conversion guy.

Not all flowers are my enemy after all ;)

No notes yet.

Wow, nutmeg! Dark brew, all three steeps. A natural sweetness. This does remind me of something you’d drink out of a snifter at the end of a nice dinner party.

When it comes to oolongs, so far I prefer the green ones to the dark ones. But I like the quirkiness of this one. Will have to play more with the steeping times and temperatures.

Another cup of delicious from Mountain Tea Co. Floral narcissus aroma with a nice moderate level of roasting. Honey, peach, and, amaryllis notes with a a long lasting fruity aftertaste. Good balance of juicy and dry.

No notes yet.

Wow, this is fantastic! I was skeptical, because the dry leaves smell rather grassy. But the taste is a floral honey, like wild honey, like the fancy jar of white gold honey I could eat straight up by the spoonful. The second steep is the best, though the first steep comes out better if I give it only 2 minutes.

FWIW, my order arrived faster than I expected, and although the tight vacuum packaging delays my childish “I want it now” diving into a newly delivered box of teas, and further requires a transfer to an empty tea canister (b/c I’m so inept at opening the silly vacuum pack), all is forgiven because the tea is so delicious.

I am just getting started today with this tea from Nicole. Half a cup in and I can tell you I love this. A light oolong that is not, so far, heavily floral (though I don’t mind if it becomes more floral). It has a sweetness to it, there are citrus notes, and I taste cinnamon faintly. I am not getting the peach notes yet but I just started. Very good!

I cruised over to Mountain Teas website and found this in the clearance section. It is $10/5oz! I have no idea what shipping rates are as I can’t tell where this ships from and the site doesn’t allow me to check rates. Anyway for those interested this could be the deal of the week.

A lovely gift from the equally lovely Emily M, this was a surprise addition to our trade. I absolutely adore this tea, and my husband had some, added a little honey and some lemon (his throats bothering him) and he seems to equally love it. This is the first I’ve had of this brand, and I can say I’ll be trying them soon in a bigger quantity, if only to get more of this.

2 teaspoons tea/16 ounces water per steeping.

I made the mistake of drinking 32 ounces of this on Monday night between dinner and bedtime and I was awake All. Night. Long. Caffeine normally doesn’t bother me but that sure did! But the leaves were so neat as they completely unfurled on the 2nd steep – I just couldn’t help myself.

This tea has grown on me. I like the dark, malty, natural taste. It is a thick tasting tea. Second steep was equally good. I could have gotten another 16 ounce steep out of it without appreciable loss of taste. I won’t drink that much of it in the evening again, but I will be replacing it in the cupboard when I run out. :)

Steeping at boiling definitely makes a difference. Taking rating off as it is unchanged from my previous 84.

Flavours of honey and flowers pervade all infusions, with the former more prominent initially and the latter to the fore subsequently. Too light for my taste. The leaves, however, are stunning to behold.

First infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz water, 90 deg., 3 min.

Second infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 90 deg., 5 min.

Third infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 90 deg., 10+ min.

Logging this for now. Tasting notes will follow when I have more time. Midterms, midterms, midterms right now. =/

For now I’ll leave you with a first impression: Like a mix of milk oolong, da yu ling, and a white tip formosa. Very nice!

UPDATE: Adding the tasting notes I managed to scribble down… may not be the most in depth tasting, but at least I’ll get the general profile out there.

As mentioned above, there are aspects of formosa oolong, milk oolong and da yu ling. Yum. Smell-wise, it’s both vegetal and creamy. There are spinach notes, butter notes, slight honey/sugar notes. Also getting subtle cinnamon notes…interesting! Very sweet smelling.
As it cools a bit its more honey-ish.

Taste: I’m getting vegetal/spinach, along with a nice milky, smooth taste. Some floral aspects are present, and the whole tea is slightly sweet. Honey notes are very light in this first brew, but come through a bit more as it cools.

Unfortunately I didn’t have time to do another steep, so I’ll be expanding on this the next time I brew the tea. Look out for another tasting note on this one soon. I’m leaving the rating blank for now, as I can’t recall what I would’ve given the tea.

A very dark oolong, naturally sweet and mellow with a fresh taste. I didn’t taste any apple in my brew. It is wonderful, I usually drink it when I am in the mood for a darker tea. Highly recommend.

Part II
I say part II because I drank the first half of this sample from Alpha kitty on saturday. It was ok, but a little bitter, & after comparing notes with Alpha, I decided to steep the 2nd half of the sample in a Gaiwan. It is MUCH better!! I did the 1st 4 rounds at 10 seconds each, combining them in a little glass pitcher & sipping them out of a 4 oz cup while I’m doing desk work. It is sweet, a little oatmeal-like taste, fruity, & there is a little salinity, & even a little bit of a rocky taste. Very different from the 3 minute steep of 2 days go. Much better! It is not bitter at all, & I made another pitcher full, this time at 20 seconds each. I’ll keep enjoying it until it’s steeped out.
Thanks Alpha! For the sample, & also the suggestions :)

Here’s another tea from the book club trade with Alpha Kitty!

I immediately liked the looks of this tea! It’s dark, rolled up, & visually appealing to me, with a dry smell of sweet apple pipe tobacco with a hint of chocolate! MmmmmMMMMmm!
There were no instructions, so I went with 3 minutes.
The wet leaf does not smell quite so appealing to me. It still smells fruity, but there is a bitterness to the aroma.
The cup of tea smells fruity, malty, & bitter.
Flavorwise, it’s ok. Malty, for sure, roasty, a little bit of a buttery taste, & the aftertaste de apple-like. I drank it straight.
Not bad, but not on my list to purchase. Nice to sample though.

Oh! This is lovely! It’s smooth but sweet with a hint of green-ness as well as a hint of nutmeg! There are also gentle floral notes that fade in and out nicely! Very nice!

This is my first tasting note. Although I’ve been blessed with opportunities to taste some amazing oolongs from Taiwanese and Chinese tea connoisseurs, I’m relatively new to the world of oolongs, as I’ve never really ventured past green tea and pu’er due to (what I previously perceived) their higher price, inability to distinguish one oolong from another, and unsure of which one I wanted. This Medium Roast Dong Ding is the second oolong I’ve purchased, the first being Mountain Tea Company’s Jade oolong. That being said, you may want to take my first tasting note with a grain of salt.

I found this tea to be a little tricky to brew, mostly because I’m still new to oolong. I found this tea quite complex in its aroma, flavor, and especially aftertaste. The dried leaves have comforting roasted nutty aroma, and when steeped bring back memories of a camp fire, brown sugar, roasted barley, and wild flowers. The first steep brings out a sharp sweetness and mild astringency dominated by a roasted notes. That sharpness can turn into depth through the aging process. I’m on the look out for a worthy earthenware tea jar.

The second steep is still sharp, but less than the first, with more notes of roasted chestnuts over a camp fire, and subtle floral sweet aftertaste that gradually deepens as it spreads through the mouth.

The third steep tastes pretty much just like the second, with a long sweet finish reminiscent of dried fruits.

Update: I brewed the tea at my parents’ house and the results were quite surprising. The tea was much smoother and tastier, as if it had come alive. Apparently my dad had changed the water filter several weeks ago. Even he noticed how smooth and tasty the tea was. This was an important lesson on the importance of water quality when enjoying tea.

Thanks Nicole for sending a sample of this! This is the type of oolong I love after having too many ick charcoaly flavored ones lately. This is sweet, floral, peachy, apricot, a little bit vegetal. It just has a very full flavor since there is so much going on. The second steep was very peachy and floral. It’s hard to say which cup was better. The first had more happening, but the second had a stronger floral and peachy flavor, and seemed more committed to being just PEACH and FLORAL. The third cup was okay, but not the best. All of the steeps were around three minutes. This is a nice one!

An interesting and beautifully complex tea. Steeped in a gaiwan, the first infusion came out very strong and Black Tea like with chocolate and molasses notes, with a subtly sweet, almost fruity after-taste. I agree with other tasters that the tea mellows out on the third infusion, lacking the strong Black Tea flavor of the first 2 infusions. Overall a great tasting tea; however, it can be a bit overpowering on the first couple infusions. Good on occasion, but I can’t see this as an everyday cup.

Review on SororiTea Sisters is delayed to the 15th in order to get a different tea reviewed before Valentines Day.

Full review will be up on http://sororiteasisters.com/ on the 7th of Feb but here are the snippits for now:

Medium Roast Dong Ding from The Mountain Tea Company is Mmmmmmm delightful! Dong Ding Oolong is my all time favorite tea. This tea brings me back to everything I first loved about loose leaf tea.

I really love the lingering floral taste the tea leaves behind. Yes, even beneath all the roasting, the caramel notes, brown sugar notes, sweet barley, and woods, this lovely little spring of floral note comes out just barely gracing your palate. Its lovely!