Dobra Tea

Good basic green tea. I like it in the afternoon. Not as sharp as some greens.

I left the kettle on a little too long, so the water was a bit hotter than the recommended temp of 90C. I personally couldn’t taste a difference between that and previous cups with the correct water temp, though. Increased steeping time slightly with each infusion (started around 1min) for 3 infusions.

This tea definitely has the mouth feel that I expect with a milk oolong – very creamy. (Not quite as creamy/milky as the one from DavidsTea, but still pretty pronounced.) It’s also quite vegetal, but I’ve found that can be reduced with shorter steeping times. The recommended steep time is 1.5min, but for my taste, I like it best at just 45s. The reduced steep time tends to give more of the “milkiness” that I like without tasting like I just steamed some spinach in my mug.

Overall, a good milk oolong, but not the best I’ve had.

(Note: Purchased at the Dobra Tea in Burlington, VT.)

I love this tea. It has a creamy texture and toasted scent. A beautiful tea to wake up to in the cold mornings of winter. I find brewing it on the cooler side brings out more of the nuances in flavor ~70C

Had this tea at the shop in Madison. Very earthy, vegetable qualities, and a bit brothy and egglike. Enjoyed the tea, and stayed pretty good on the second infusion (but became a little astringent during subsequent infusions). Light and calming.

Revisiting this TGY from 2011’s harvest. This roast is subtle but enough to come through on the finish. Some of the more floral flavors have mellowed in it’s almost two years since harvest. A nice night cap of something different than my usual Wuyi oolong.

This is a pretty good yunnan. I tried it at 3, 2 and 2.5 mins with the latter being the best. Not too astringent with a mellow malt to it.

I doubled the tea per cup to 2 tsp. The shop recommended 1.5 minutes, but I found that weak. I infused at 3, 3.5 and 4 and found this to be better. Nice tea to drink whle studying all day

Very tasty. Bought at dobrateame in Portland. 3 infusions at 1.5, 3 and 4 minutes.

Oh the memories! Haricot verts, fresh spring asparagus, sweet corn! A season in a cup. Sweet and toasty on the tongue. The wet leaves smell like the perfume of flowering lilacs, although that doesn’t come through in the infusion except for a delicate aroma. Characteristics of Yunnan Mao Cha definitely are present, but they do not define this tea. It is much more delicate.

Infused Chinese-green-style with leaves floating in a tall glass, this tea makes a long-lasting cup. A little sweet with a gentle body and a bit of the “smoky” taste I attribute to Yunnan teas.

Dark stick-like leaves. This tea is loose. Aroma of sweet hay and citrus fruits. A red amber color in the cup. Sweet tasting but with a light body and an amazingly long smooth finish. Reminiscent of some very short-brewed Shu puer of impressive quality. In lower quality Shu bings I have tasted, the flavor is earthy and muddy without much nuance to the aroma other than getting heavier as infusions progress. This tea shares the soft body and comfort to the stomach, but the flavors and aroma are delicious. Not being a brick, I think this will not give many infusions (when compared to similar Puer) but the infusions that exist are very much worth the sacrifice.

Rich, but with a light body. That’s the contradiction of this delicious small-leaf variety. Usually I attribute this sort of rich texture to large leaves like Liu’An Guapian or Tai Ping Hou Kui. And yet these small leaves really soak into the water for a cloudy and mouth-filling infusion. This tea is also fairly tippy, which definitely accounts for its airy body and artichoke green flavor. There’s a hint of dryness in the aftertaste, but the light vegetable flavor stays on the front of the tongue for a while.

Very clear, light gold infusion. The aroma of a much richer and darker black tea, maybe reminiscent of a Chinese Dian Hong (滇红). A gently sweet and soft taste with a hint of dryness in the aftertaste which implies that the lightness of body is inherent and not due to under steeping. Whereas I usually expect a rich body underneath quite a punch of floral flavor from a First Flush Darjeeling, this is much more mellow and it’s a good thing.

Light and a little toasty. The mouth aroma is surprisingly fragrant in the manner of a Gui Hua (osmanthus) green, but there aren’t any flowers in this tea. I did not rinse these leaves before brewing, and as such the second infusion had much more body, but still that mysterious squash-like osmanthus blossom taste. I hesitate to say “floral”, because these florals are nothing like Ali Shan. I can definitely make the connection to a richly aromatic Tie Guan Yin on the third infusion of this tea, but it definitely holds a unique place in itself as I generally expect Tie Guan Yin to be… darker in some way. I really should do a side-by-side some time.

Vegetal, but without that green “force” that you’d feel in most sencha. Definitely Japanese, but the leaves are a deep dark forest and the body is lighter than I remembered. The hint of sweet in the aftertaste is a real gift for a chill day.

When asking for brewer’s choice tea at Dobra, I’ve received this twice in two days. It must be a sign. I think the message here is that I forget just how delicious and rich this Japanese green can be. So vegetal and creamy if brewed well I can even mistake the first cup for a gentle Gyokuro.

Admittedly a bit vegetal, it’s a clean tea that won’t make much of a mess. It goes down easy and doesn’t smell too bad. It’s worth having in your collection, but not a tea I’d drink all of the time.

I generally eschew scented or flavored tea, with some notable exceptions. A high quality jasmine pearl green is one such that has followed me even into my relative tea snobbery. The aroma is delicate and not overpowering, but still heady and immediately soothing to my body. Both the leaves and the liquor are in constant supply of aromatics, making the second and third cups as pleasurable as the first. Left to linger in the mouth, the light taste of a vegetal and round green leaf appears just under the jasmine scent. The texture has just a hint of dryness to it, as if to remind me that what I’m drinking is still camellia sinensis and not some ambrosia of flowers. The leaf quality is quite good; I see whole two and three leaf sets once the pearls unroll. Decently sized and hearty, I believe this is a Fujian leaf, but I wonder about the cultivar. The leaves are all of a color when wet but before steeping there were definite steaks of silver among the green.

Oh so happy to see this beauty return. After experiencing Bai Hao in Taipei my whole perspective on the tea was shifted to properly honor this unique treasure. Dobra’s new batch does not disappoint. Not quite as sweet as the tea I found at Hua Tai, but with a delicate honey flavor that soothes the mouth and the stomach. The second infusion was much more round, although still with that light touch in the mouth-feel. I suspect that this is a harvest that is best infused for longer than my customary 1.5 minutes. Next time I’ll try starting off at 2 minutes and moving upward from there.

This year’s Bai Hao is fantastic. the always sweet and robust infusion fills the mouth with a warm glow of flavor. i taste a little bit of cedar and a little bit of vanilla. the leaves are sprinkled with silvery tips that our little buggy friends have created. can’t wait to drink this on a Cha Xi

This brew has that freshly opened package taste without the sharpness that often comes with a newly harvested crop. the sweetness is matched by a tippy nuttiness that reminds me of lightly buttered green beans.

While Tie Guan Yin is always a pleasure, this infusion was just impressive enough for me to write about it. I won’t add infusion details because the first cup was made for me at the tearoom.

Floral and soothing, the bright green wet leaves seemed to have just been harvested, even though I know this is a fall Oolong from 2011. When I’ve tasted this batch previously I think I may not have used enough leaves to get this fullness of aroma.

The scent actually reminded me of walking around the streets of Maokong in Taiwan, which I guess makes sense since this cultivar is grown there as well. Dobra’s offer, however, is a Fujian tea, which I don’t usually associate with such intense floral aromas.

Much of the soothing character of this infusion was probably a very good roasting. There was still plenty of green and rich, but the hint of smoke and caramel that is indicative of a skilled oolong roaster. I will definitely have to experiment with this tea further.

On a side note, I’ve finally learned the tones of this tea’s name (pinyin: tie3 guan1 yin1) which is very pleasing. There’s so many teas that I still don’t know how to properly pronounce, although I guess knowing the names at all is pretty good for most Westerners.

Bright and bold but charming and sweet at the same time. The leaves are toasted just to the crispness of a winter day.

Crisp and toasty with a sweetness gently delivered through the aroma. The first infusion offers a floral bouquet and a creaminess reminicent of high mountain Taiwanese oolongs. Further infusions are more subdued, more dry, and lacking the sweet touch, yet still soothe the spirit.