1991 Da Ye Aged Oolong

very high 4/5

Used this to break in my new kettle. (It’s finally here! Hallelujah! And provided it doesn’t break as soon as I blink I already LOVE it—it has all the right variable temp presets for the teas I’ve got, good accuracy—I tested the different temps—a keep-warm-at-set-temp function, loud enough beeps for me to hear in the breakfast nook, a small countertop footprint, and no plastic in contact with hot water…it was crazy on sale too, whee…going to be excellent for gongfu sessions!)

Today was kind of strange as all the working for Brewster in Animal Crossing and so hearing about different types of coffee and how villagers take their coffee drove me to brew a cup for myself this afternoon, something I haven’t done in ages, and it was amazing (manual pour-over, freshly ground cafe d’arte velletri alderwood roasted beans from our trip to Seattle, a smidge of almond milk…heaven, absolute heaven) but I’ve been jittery as all get out the rest of the day (when you don’t drink coffee or soda much, whew!—like being on hard drugs, I swear). Kinda worked out in that my husband decided last minute (like this evening) to throw a party Saturday to watch his copy of a new kickstarted synth documentary that finally came out, so I spent all evening menu planning (a big task, but also fun when I’m in the right mood for it, which I am).

So making this was sort of not the wisest idea maybe, but I don’t regret it—everything works just as it should, and this tea’s great. It is so roasty, probably the roastiest oolong I’ve tried so far. The bark, chestnuts, and cinnamon I definitely notice too. Can’t believe it’s so old (I was 9 years old in 1991!)! I could be imagining it but it feels like you can sort of taste that it’s aged somehow. It has a depth to it I can’t find words for right now.

Seems very forgiving when done western-style, but maybe that’s just my new kettle doing all the temp work for me that I’m noticing, ha.

EDIT, 2nd infusion: even better than the first, yay oolongs. The minerality is coming in now, and I didn’t think it possible but even more roasty toasty deliciousness. This is a really fantastic oolong; maybe the age is what sets it apart, I don’t know, but it’s not wispy and straightforwardly peachy like others I’ve had, but silky smooth while also full of deep rich roasted chestnut and wood flavor. Love it.

Once I got home from the holidays this was the first one I grabbed from my ginormous butiki order from BF. I loved it!!!! So so so much!
I steeped 10oz of this in my DAVIDsTEA Steeper. 1 1/2 TB for 4 mins at 180 degrees.
At first, I tasted the ever so sweet honeysuckle taste. Oooooh then came this earthiness, smoky flavor? Is that the chestnut? Hmmmm… Then there is a tangy tartness! This tea is complex! I love it!

The second steep was for 5 mins.
This one was bold! Yet sweet! Buttery… Something I can’t depict. I liked the first steep better…

I did brew a third steep for 6 mins. But… I forgot to drink it. :(

This oolong is sooooo yummy! I never knew oolongs could be aged. Now I am sad to find out that they are ‘rare’ and might go extinct. I sure hope not!!

I don’t even know where to begin with the description. . .
It brews up really dark and smells like a roasted oolong. I wasn’t expecting much. Dark-roast oolong wasn’t a favorite as it was all roast and nothing else. But this is roasty and creamy and sweet and so much more! It’s like a sweet, creamy houjicha but with an aftertaste and texture like Verdant’s Laoshan Black or Butiki’s Caramel Assam (both of which I wasn’t thrilled about mostly, I thought, because of that texture). The flavors,texture and smell of this gem all come together nicely.

And gosh darn-it to me for trying Butiki samples only days after I place an order. Soon I’ll be spending more at Butiki than at the grocery store (^^)

Break out your windbreakers and fanny packs because this oolong is so good its worth invading Kuwait!

I wasn’t aware that roasted peaches and cream was even a flavor until this wonderful tea delivered some to my taste buds like a SCUD missile… YES! Outstanding and truly something special, the Gulf War-era flavors are robust, savory, sweet and buttery all at once with a thick mouth feel and slight roasty mineral-mint aftertaste. Rating this very highly because of its uniqueness and sheer excellence. Will be buying more 4 $ho!

Ohh this is tasty! Especially paired with a piece of dark chocolate! I find that the roasty notes in it are so strong that it reminds me of genmaicha even though it doesn’t contain any toasted rice. It has great depth of flavour. It was exactly what I was craving after dinner. And I just found out that this tea is the same age as I am :o So special!

This tea is amazing, I could drink it all day every day and enjoy every last sip. The aroma is earthy, almost dirty – turned my roommate right off, until she sipped it. It is the perfect example of a medium-bodied flavor, not too subtle, and not too strong. The off-putting aroma has nothing on the creamy and satisfying flavor. I got this one just as a sample, but I will definitely be ordering more to keep this around.

Another much beloved tea that I’ve been (very!) slowly drinking through my supply of.

It’s such a delicious, steady drink throughout a long session, gradually revealing it’s lovely buttery flavours, with underlying hints of that mature, smoke-adjacement note coming through. Delicious. I still have enough for at least a few more long sessions and I’ll treasure it whilst I do!

This was my first aged Oolong!
Everything about this tea was faint and subtle: smell, liquor, and taste.
While it was a wonderful tea, I just wanted something that was more distinguishable as something that sets it apart from other teas- in this case being an aged oolong from 1991.

Just got home with my second date with Face Eater! I’ll expand on it again in later tasting notes (it was a tea date; so there are notes that accompany the date/fit the timeline better) note but the general consenses is that it went a little better than the first one (the date and the kissing) but I don’t know, the connection is… Not wholeheartedly there?

This isn’t a new Butiki blend; but it is new to me. I’ve been curious about it for a long time, but I don’t think without Butiki closing I would have ever ordered it. I likely would have been stuck in a permanent state of “window shopping”. It was the idea that I could actually lose my chance to try it that got me. Honestly, my reasoning for wanting to try this one is maybe a little bit silly; but the fact it’s actually older than I am just entertains me so much and I can’t explain why. There’s something infinitely fascinating about trying a tea that has been around longer than I have.

It helps that lately I’ve been trying to explore straight oolongs a little more thoroughly; I’ve enjoyed the ones I’ve had, especially the darker/roastier ones, but my exposure has been relatively limited. The dry leaf for this one already smells quite different than oolong I’m familiar with; it has a really distinct dill smell to it! And then nuttier notes as well. It’s the dill that gets me though; why is that there? I’ve never heard someone use dill to describe the smell of an oolong blend (MAYBE a green?) – is that unique to this tea? But I swear it’s there; and I feel like I’m already learning things because of it!

Wow; this is surprisingly more complex than I was expecting. Even upon my first few initial sips I was registering such a large variety of flavours it was almost a little overwhelming; they all tie in quite well to one another though. It seems like the general backdrop of flavours in a combination of soaked/damp wood and moss. Very earthy, and very natural. On top of the general taste, which carries throughout the sip, was a lovely arrangement of roasty and nutty flavours, with a very slight and enjoyable dryness. The combination of all of these things is coming together to remind me of petrichor.

For those who don’t know; petrichor is the smell of rain on dry earth. It’s my absolute favourite smell in the world and I’ve been looking for a tea that accurately conveys it for as long as I can remember; this does the job better than anything else I’ve tried. And the revelation of this was such a pleasant surprise; when I placed why the flavour was so familiar I almost dropped my mug in excitement and shock! Lastly, this tea finishes with a sweet dill note that tickles that back of the throat. I’m liking how the dill plays into all of this!

My second steep was good too; many of the flavours I observed with the first cup were still there but in different levels. I found the wood flavour was less pronounced as well as the dry nuttiness, but the moss was a little more accentuated. The dill was also a lot more strong; instead of just tasting it in the finish I was tasting it in the body of the sip as well. I also registered a very subtle floral note.

Unfortunately because of a prior commitment in the day I didn’t have time to continue with additional steeps; but I’d love to find a day to dedicate solely to this tea because it’s strange, and wonderful and very complex and I’m so smitten with it!

This one is now sold out; but if you find yourself with the chance to try it I definitely recommend doing so!

Oops, a tea that was part of a group order quite a while ago that got lost in my mess of samples. Hoping it’s not contaminated!

By the aroma and flavour of the first sip, I would say it’s probably just fine. Both are quite roasty, and the flavour is a bit creamy as well, with that characteristic roasted oolong burnt flavour. It’s a touch light, but I’m sure spending a year in a tiny plastic baggie will do that to you. Still good though, but I’m ok not having purchased more, because it is (was?) rather expensive, IIRC. Similar to Verdant’s 10 Year Aged TGY, I think.

Happy to have tried it, though!