Ooooh Darjeeling

This was so neat – not at all what I was expecting. I was actually expecting more oolong flavor and was shocked and yet pleasantly surprised when I got darjeeling flavor (yes, I was really distracted this morning).
It was raining here all day while my fiance, my sister and I tackled some freakishly intimidating camera equipment.
And you know what? We nailed it. Follow focus with all of its gears? Got it. Monitor with crazy focus and exposure assist settings? We so have this. Crazy sweet camera with all its features? Nailed it.
I feel so much better about Friday when we are actually shooting.
Back to the tea – it was nice to have something to calm my nerves. I did supplement my exhaustion with coffee, but I tried to tamp the jitters down.
This so matched the day – kind of smokey, kind of rainy (yes, the tea was kind of rainy), really nicely mellow and bracing in that almost black tea kind of way. I bet this would be fabulous with milk in the morning (I know, oolong and milk= sacrilege.)

It’s overcast and misty here, so not too hot for tea, and after jumping on the jasmine oolong bandwagon I have a little momentum going. Thought I’d give this a try, from the Adagio oolong sampler.

I quite like oolong and I quite like darjeeling so this sounded really interesting to me. I steeped according to the directions on the sample tin.

I get a strong, sharp fragrance from the dry leaves — a little like champagne. Hard to say whether the oolong or the darjeeling smell predominates. The leaves are a pretty mix ranging in color from almost black to pearly. The tea liquor is crystal clear and a peachy orange-brown.

Maybe I’m out of practice, maybe I didn’t use enough leaf, or maybe my sample’s a bit too old, but I don’t get the spices and complexity others have described. Instead I get an interesting sensation of having a see-saw on my tongue, with flavor swinging to something like a Formosa oolong with an aftertaste of tangy butter to a more musty, winey darjeeling flavor. I give it extra points for interesting, and for potential user error.

a dark oolong that is still so light? it’s so mellow. which is a nice way of saying it’s bland but in a good way :)
i wish i was feeling more talkative than that.
but until then… thank you for sharing this tea Shelley_Lorraine!

No rating for now, I think I messed up on the times here. Brewed a gaiwan with boiling water, but kind of all over the place with times here. Will try again sometime and then rate. :)

Note for me: someone on teachat recommended: "Boiling or near-boiling water (I like to let it come to a boil and let it sit for 1-2 minutes), a heaping teaspoon of tea (which usually covers the bottom of the gaiwan just enough so I can’t see the bottom), and probably 2-3 mins on the infusion – partially just to let it cool down a bit. "

This is the second of the oolongs in my sampler from Adagio, and after my excellent experience with the Dancong Aria my hopes were pretty high. I did however neglect this tea a little—I was making parsley pesto and totally forgot about it, so it was a bit cool once I drank it. I like my teas a bit cooler anyway, so no harm done! I also steeped this at less than the recommended temperature, the leaves just look far too delicate for boiling. They’re so pretty though, reminded me of a bird nest when I opened the bag!

This tea is just… okay for me. I was expecting more based on reviews, and I kind of feel like I’m missing something. There’s a definite malty/woody flavor that I am liking as well as a faint hint of muscatel, but for the most part this isn’t really an impressive oolong. There are no real floral notes which I was looking for, but there is a pleasantly surprising buttery taste as it cools. But overall it lacks the punch of a black yet doesn’t have the depth and complexity I want from an oolong.

This is a great multi-cateory tea! It has the unmistakable sweetness and muscatel of a malty second flush darjeeling (despite the description mentioning that it is a first flush) with the flavors of a golden amber Formosa oolong…namely the peachy notes with a hint of aromatic spices. Together, the flavors combine and create (what I think is) a whole new level of flavor that one wouldn’t ever consider possible from the two types of teas separately. I smell and taste rather strong examples of cinnamony clove…without it actually being flavored with either spice. Needless to say, I bought a big tin of this and am enjoying a cup right now. :)

This has got to be one of the prettiest teas I’ve ever seen. It has really, genuinely large wiry leaves, that range in colour from almost black through brown, green and a creamy white. It reminds me both of a bird’s nest, and of white peony. In common with the latter, both twigs, leaves and buds are easily identifiable in the dry mix. It’s so airy and interesting-looking, it’s hard to believe it’s actually tea.

Brewed, this has a mineral, slightly metallic scent that reminds me both of oolongs and darjeelings. Given that this is a darjeeling oolong, I guess that makes sense. The liquor is a medium golden-brown, which is about what I was expecting. So far, so good.

I don’t mind darjeelings, but oolongs have never really been my thing. It’s understanable, then, if a little disappointing, that this tea really isn’t my thing either. I’m not picking up many of the complexities others seem to rave about, which is sort of spoiling my enjoyment. I’m picking up a muscatel note, and a slight base spiciness, but that’s about all. I feel I should be getting more from this tea, and I do genuinely want to like it (particularly as it looks so gorgeous, I suspect). I’m going to experiment a little with brew times, temparatures, and quantity before I give up on this. I would quite like to add some honey, which seems kind of perverse, but I might give it a go anyway. For the minute, though, it’s not entirely what I hoped it would be.

Ooooh, this is good! Adagio bigwig Charles Cain insisted that I try it during my recent visit to one of Adagio’s retail shops. I’m not overfond of Darjeeling oolongs, but this one is really, really good. Clean and crisp, but also slightly fruity. Color me impressed.

The leaves in this are so… airy. I never know how much I should be putting in the cup. Hmm. Still works out well, though.

Quite good.

Seemed to hint at some flavors that are completely beyond my ability to identify.

I like how it is not quite a strong as a black tea, but seemed to be stronger than a green tea.

This is the first Oolong I’ve had (at least in loose leaf form). Will definitely keep drinking this, but I’m also now curious about other varieties to try.

This is another tea I received from a member of another board. I was lucky enough to actually receive it in the tin version of the sample.
The leaves are very beautiful. They have a downy fluff that reminds me instantly of white tea. When I first received this I assumed it was black tea. The smell is very different than other oolongs that I’ve encountered. The liquor is toasted brown colored and it is very fragrant. There is something almost fruity about the smell of this tea.
This tea is really surprising me! I don’t normally warm to this type of profile, but this is wonderful. This tea is very sweet and is much lighter than what I was expecting. I love how smooth this is. I was expecting maybe a bit more bite/astringency but it just isn’t there.

Big, wiry leaves for this one, so I used 1 airy tsp for the 3.5oz pot; liqueur is a light amber color; smells a bit like Darjeeling, but softer and toastier, without the really sharp muscatel. First sip: much softer than anything I expected with the word “Darjeeling” in the name; also surprising hints of flowers. Nice, but a little weak – might not’ve used enough leaf. I’ll be glad when the tiny scale I ordered just for tea gets here!

This tea came in an Oolong sampler.
I have little experience with oolongs and have never had a straight Darjeeling, so I was reticent to try this tea. It doesn’t remind me of the straight oolongs I have tried (all 2 of them!). It tastes like a fruity, less intense black tea. I can note what tastes like grape.
I will revisit it after I have had some experience with darjeeling. Waiting on an Upton sample.

Finishing off with a very nice treat!

I’ll admit, I’m both wholly unfamiliar with darker oolongs and completely ignorant of darjeelings, so I’m not the best to score this in comparison to other oolongs or darjeelings, but an oolong from Darjeeling, apparently rare and an experience all by itself? I had to give it a shot. I bought a sample from Adagio months ago, but never got around to trying it, and having it now, it’s quite nice (and a definite palate cleanser after the other, not very good teas I’ve had this evening).

Dry in the bag, it smells sweet and husky. Brewed, the liquor is a dark hazelnut with some amber tinges, a very warm and inviting colour. It smells a bit nuttier in the cup, but I’m not sure if that’s the best word to use in describing how darjeelings smell. Either way, it’s not a disappointment. Brisk in the mouth, sweet and malty. As an introduction to darjeelings, I am very much not disappointed.

Strangely light for a darker oolong. Leaves in the package smell floral, like some other darjeeling teas that I have had my nose in before. Once steeped the slight floral notes are still there but not overwhelming. In addition I get a hint of black tea and something else… Maybe a slight malty nuttiness… This will require further research in the smelling department! laughs

Taste, is not overwhelming, slight notes of fruit, yet hard to nail down, fig maybe? Slight woodiness kind of like a very light Rooibos tea. All in all I may need to add more leaf in my next steeping (4 teaspoons to just under two cups of water, however the leaves are long enough that I can’t say they were a full four teaspoons). As it cools the floral notes are fading and the tea is tasting like a lighter black tea. The nose is still slightly of fig… A nice cup I will say…

A great late morning dark oolong tea that still has some kick but isn’t the typical morning black. I may need to buy some more of this than just the sample.

Leaves smell malty and examining wet leaves, I see tips of bud and a leaf and relatively whole leaves. Taste honeyed tones and it veers more toward a light black than a green, for an oolong. Will add more later but I foresee lots of tastings paired with dim sum.

This just arrived, and I was very excited to try it out. The first thing to note is the strong aroma of the tea, which does in fact smell a bit like grapes and apricots. I’ve never had a tea that smelled quite so fruity, but I find that it is very relaxing. The color of the tea is a few shades darker than amber, which was interesting as I didn’t expect it to be quite that dark. The taste of the tea was very interesting, as it was sweeter than I expected, with very prominent flowery notes and subtler fruity flavors being the most prominent.

The second infusion was exactly like the first. Literally, everything was the same (at least, as far as I cold tell). Not that this is a bad thing, as I do like teas that are good for a lot of infusions, but this tea is actually holding up better than any other tea I’ve ever had!

The third infusion looked the same, but the taste had mellowed a bit. The fruit flavors tend to dominate the taste, bu the flowery flavors linger longer in a pleasant aftertaste. Even more interesting, the aftertaste has a hint of a mineral taste that lingers on the hard palate, a bit like a Wuyi Oolong. This has really turned out to be a fascinating tea.

The forth, fifth, and sixth infusion were characterized by a slight weakening the the strength of the aroma and a mellowing of the flavors of the tea. Honestly, the color stayed the same, and the flavors have only decreased ion potency, but otherwise the tea is unchanged. I think it’s rather amazing that it has managed to retain its flavor for so long.

I decided to stop here, as I cannot have caffeine later than 10:30 tonight, but I have to say that this was an exceptional tea, which I truly look forward to having again.

Maybe the first flush Darjeeling I just drank is clouding my judgment but I am not uttering any ‘ooohs’ or ‘aaahs,’ that’s for sure.

The aroma coming from the tin is very Darjeeling-like and absolutely delicious and I couldn’t wait to brew some. My excitement ended as soon as I took a sip. The tea tastes surprisingly bland, it’s some sort of generic dark oolong with a hint of muscatel which is discernible if you try real hard to find it. Or maybe I’m even imagining it because I know it’s Darjeeling and it is supposed to be there.

A very aromatic oolong—I assume it’s because this is also from Darjeeling. Smells a bit like cloves. Very smooth tea, like an oolong with a bit of spice to it. Anxious to see what happens when I resteep ig.

Thanks for this sample moraiwe :)

I haven’t had darjeeling tea of any type, but I have had oolongs. This certainly doesn’t taste much like any oolong I’ve had. It tastes mostly like a black tea. A light, sorta fruity black tea. I wouldn’t mind having this in occasional stock among my tea stash, but it’s flavor isn’t unique enough that I would go out of my way to purchase it.

Brew notes:
1.5g/8oz steeped 3 min. with boiled water. Probably could have done with an extra .5g for stronger flavor.