Ooooh Darjeeling

Been a while since I’ve posted anything on here, but I just put in an order for some new teas and have been trying to polish off some of the older samples I’d forgotten I had.

I’m pretty sure that this sample is at least two years old, it’s from when Adagio was still packaging everything in tins. The smell and flavor was surprisingly pretty well intact. I didn’t pay much attention to the brewing process as I was trying to make something pretty quickly to take to work with me while I was eating breakfast. I’m pretty sure I used a little bit too much leaf because it came out a bit too astringent, but adding a little bit of plain water helped to alleviate that.

The aftertaste is almost a little bit toasty, and the mouthfeel is pretty smooth once the astringency is taken out of the equation. It’s certainly nice, but I’m not sure if I’d want to make it an everyday sort of tea.

I really enjoy this tea. I like black Darjeeling, but I find it can be a bit temperamental. I also don’t drink much black tea. I like my tea a bit lighter and subtle. That being said, I’ve really found Darjeeling to have this great fruity character. I enjoy that naturally sweet taste in my tea, especially when there isn’t actually fruit involved. So, I was really interested to try Adagio’s Darjeeling Oolong.

It really is a mix between Black Darjeeling and an Oriental Beauty. It has the strong, rewarding taste of a Black Darjeeling but more balanced like oolongs. Similar to Oriental Beauty, I think it’s best brew in quick, small steeps with lots of tea. I put about 2 tbsp of tea in a small glass Yixing style pot that holds no more than 4 oz. I steep for a very short time, maybe 20-30 seconds. Otherwise the taste can become bitter.

I would definitely recommend trying this. It’s got a great mix of Indian and Chinese style.

I’ve never had an indian oolong but this is an amazing tea. It has the richness and complexity of assam but it is slightly lighter and resteeps almost forever. A great hybrid of two traditions and very enjoyable.

It smells like a hay field, but it has a smooth taste that seems to come out more for me with a little Agave. I really liked this tea.

This is a great tea featuring complex, woodsy flavors with that muscatel taste common to all darjeelings. Given that I’m not a fan of black teas (too astringent for me) this Darjeeling was interesting to me since it is a first flush and an oolong. There’s a mild astringency to this one, but it doesn’t leave your mouth high and dry. As with most oolongs this is great for multiple steeps and you’ll notice different flavors coming out of the tea with each steep.

Adagio recommends 212º for 5 minutes. This temperature brings out a lot of the muscatel notes as well as more astringency, so if you’re looking for more nuanced flavors brew this for the same time around 195-200º.

This is a wonderful dark Oolong. The aroma from the tin is amazing. Although, I don’t detect the muscat flavors, it does have a complex flavor profile—slightly earthy and nutty with a sweet finish. It is somewhat lighter and lacks the acidity than a full black tea.

The name of this tea says it all. After enjoying a couple of the other oolong’s in the Oolong Savant Sampler by Adagio I decided to give this one a try. IT’S AWESOME! Very full and bold oolong taste with a perfect aftertaste. Looking forward to a second steep to discover more of the nuances, but as for now just really excited I have more to drink. Color is darker than most oolongs but gives it a unique character.

OK. It’s official. I think I have too many favorite teas. This is, or at least I though, my favorite unflavored oolong but I haven’t been drinking it because I’ve been drinking white, green, and chai teas which have always been my preference over oolongs (flavored or not).

When I opened the tin, I was also afraid that my daring tea tasting may have gotten me in trouble. The last time I had this I had not yet tried pu erh, but after trying their Pu Erh Dante, I’ve discovered I HATE pu erh. I don’t remember this smelling like pu erh, but it does. Or more accurately a green tea/pu erh blend.

I steeped 2.25g of tea leaves in 6oz of purified water heated to 195 degrees F for 5 min.

As it steeps the liquor turns a golden amber and the leaves floating on top of the water makes it kind of look like insects are trapped in it.

I was right. It does taste like pu erh although not a strong one- possibly a black/pu erh blend which is odd based on how it looked in the tin.

I’m not sure how I feel about this tea. 2nd infusion might tell me more.

Definitely interesting. I’ve never had a Darjeeling before so this was quite the surprise. This very much has a flavor combo of an Oolong and black tea. Not a huge fan of it, but definitely something I’ll have another cup of if I’m in the mood for the innocent-like flavor of an Oolong mixed with a background flavor of a chinese tea.

Compared to recommended steeping instructions, I’m using a ton of tea and very short steeps in a gaiwan instead of a more western-style approach. In general I’m adding just enough recently-boiled water to cover the leaves and pouring it out as soon as I can manage.
steep 1 – Leafy, fresh, sweet, a little astringent.
steep 2 – smell is very deep and woody, astringency overwhelms any flavor at first but some sweet notes as my mouth adapts. Will try to be quicker with future steeps.
steep 3 – I can’t imagine steeping much more quickly, but the astringency is still fairly overpowering. There is, however, a hint of a pleasant aftertaste coming along that I hope will express itself more fully soon.
steep 4 – The aroma is really coming along but it’s still promising more than it can deliver in flavor. There’s definitely a hint of deliciousness that hits the palate briefly but it is quickly overcome by the more bitter chlorophylly flavor that the initial astringency has morphed into.
steep 5 – same as 4 but less bitter, equally flavorful
steep 6 – astringency is gone; there’s a fleeting fruity flavor on top of the steady woodsy leafy notes that’ve been around for awhile; will extend steep time from here.
steep 7 – finally it’s not unpleasant in any way. this cup is decent.

Unfortunately I need to stop for now. I don’t recommend brewing this tea like I did.

Reminds me a lot of a black tea… The Ooooh Darjeeling has some hints of astringency, but it’s not so in-your-face like with many black teas. It has a malty and slightly fruity flavor which is similar to an earl grey. I think it would probably make a good breakfast tea if you are looking to try something different.

Given that it was an oolong I treated it like a Chinese/Taiwan Oolong and gaiwan brewed it. Contains the familiar grape and dried fruit floral notes that one would expect to find in a first flush Darjeeling black tea of quality. While I really enjoy it, it has gotten me thinking about how much different brewing a Darjeeling black tea in a gaiwan would be from what I am brewing now from the many observations of others about first flush Darjeeling black teas being a more oolong like black tea. Regardless it stands out as a nice tea that is a very enjoyable change from what I normally drink although I highly doubt it will become a staple tea for me.

My first venture into Oolong, and I was pleasantly surprised. Very smooth taste which made drinking it an enjoyable experience.

received this as part of the savant oolong sampler, and while its not bad by any means, I’ve had much better oolongs. Its a little too strong/sharp for some of its taste, maybe even a bit bitter? Doesn’t really hold a candle against their oolong #18. Still a good tea, but I wouldn’t buy it again.

Holy Crap!
Truly something enticing. Really had that unique and characteristic Darjeeling smell and taste, but with the nuance and beauty of Oolong. I was expecting a mediocre, amateur Oolong, but this really added a new facet to my favorite type of tea.

I’m impressed – astonished even.

Let’s hope the plantations of Darjeeling starting hitting the docks with first-flush Oolongs in the near future.

For an oolong, this is pretty good. I normally drink tea with milk and honey, but I omitted the milk this time and it turned out pretty good.

A very nice tasting tea with hints both savory and sweet. I’m not very familiar with oolong teas, but this is a good one.

Sarah – really really liked
Brad – agrees

Definitely buy and drink again.

Oolong Darjeeling Gopaldhara

Smooth and delicate with a hint of grape sweetness.