Dobra Tea

Definitely feeling the euphoria. Not too astringent, a light lovely green.

I chanced upon Dobra tea while visiting Asheville. I was surprised by their really decent selection. This was the only tea I tried and was again impressed by its quaility. The staff was great and was very tolerant of my two year old son running all over the teahouse and playing in the fountains. I will definitly be back next time i’m in asheville.

Smooth oolong… I tend to brew a lot of this in my 21oz personaliTEA pot by Adagio, maybe about 2 minutes. Typically oolongs don’t like really hot water but I use boiling water for this one, and rinse the pot first. 2 minutes. Not particularly good for a second infusion but I’ve done it occasionally since it’s a bit on the expensive side. Similar to Da Hong Pao (same source) but I think Da Hong Pao is a bit deeper of a flavour and, to me, better.

This is one smooth brew! sweet and well-rounded, this puer is a velvet elixir in my mouth and in my cup. can withstand 20+ brews (although I need help from others if I try to make it past 15 on my own) there are hints of fall leaves and root veggies all topped of with a brief caramel undertone. I look forward to this tea keeping me warm through the long winter.

Full bodied and bold with a hint of sharpness that isn’t found in similarly made Chinese greens, still never quite reaching astringency. Flavors of baked carrots and potatoes.

Beautiful—wonderful complexity in nose, flavor and aftertaste. Very fresh taste with hints of nuts Quite surprising in such a light tea. A favorite!

A green tea for a gray sky.

The brilliant color and aroma of a wet summer forest prepare the mind for the nutty, crisp, and mouth-filling flavor of the first cup. The mind is soothed, the body is warmed. This season’s tea (2011) is really representative of a classic Long Jing with no astringency and just the slightest hint of dryness in the aftertaste.

Fresh Green Oolong. Good. Two steeps will do. I added a slice of ginger. Looking forward to my next cup.

Greatly comforting. Soothes the digestion on a hot and humid day just as well as it warms the body in the winter. Roasted to a sweetness that lingers on the tongue until dissolving into a hundred patches of dry warmth. Dark red in the cup (true to its name). The musty aroma of the wet leaves has a high note of a damp autumn day. Just the thing to prepare for a coming adventure.

Earthy and comforting as always. No deep flavors here, but an almost limitless number of infusions and the magical stomach-soothing effect of a shou puer is exactly what I want after a heavy meal.

Dark and soothing. Earthy without being overpowering. An excellent tea after a large evening meal. I also find that Shou puerhs do not keep me up at night like a pot of green tea. I received four infusions now, and I’m sure there’s another 10 in these leaves.

Well, this tea is certainly past its normal time frame, so I was pleasantly surprised by its bold sea-green flavor. The tea was vacuum-sealed until recently and is still sealed with a desiccant package, so I’m certain that helped. A gentle taste of salt water and nori seaweed mixed with the taste of fresh cut grass after a rain. There’s no aroma to speak of, wet or dry, and its prior rich body is long gone, but still a pleasant cup for a spring afternoon.

Very close to black tea, but has that Oolong flavor as a foundation. I was impressed how the flavor came thru into the 3rd infusion. Very nice, would go well with chow mein. An easy to drink oolong on the oxidized side…with smoother energy than black tea.

One of the first teas ive ever had..Delicious!

The wet leaves really do have the aroma of watermelon seeds, or at least pumpkin seeds. Their appearance is that of steamed spinach. Rich green large leaves with a real depth of color and a delicate curl. The infusion is sour-sweet, again reminiscent of fresh steamed spinach. The second infusion is even more rich, a golden-green glow to the bottom of the cup.

Brewing this tea in a gaiwan with hot water for a very short time (gong Fu style) is a luxury. I did about 10 second infusions and the flavor is so chocolatey and rich, the aroma brimming with hints of coffee beans. The liquer is red-gold, just like the glowing wet leaves. At the moment the tea fills the mouth there is also a roasted chestnut quality to it that draws you in. I’m on infusion two and I suspect I will get many more to come!

Superb Oolong, tasted like a Roasted Jade Oolong if you can imagine that. Medium roast. First steep was outstanding, 2nd steep – wish it was like the first. 3rd, let’s do another pot…

I had this tea on a winter afternoon at Dobra. It was a lovely version of the Big Red Robe. Not roasted as dark as one would think. That was the really nice part…it had all of the nice warming characteristics of a heavily roasted tea from Wuyishan Mountain while maintaining all of the interesting notes of lilac common to a much greener Oolong. All around very nice indeed. Steeped 10+ times and was still going just fine. Well done Dobra!

I hate to over-inflate ratings, but this tea is well-deserving. I originally ordered this tea on a whim about a year ago because it was pretty cheap for how much tea you received (think of it like a loose-leaf Arizona tea). The Tea Blag swears by this tea as if sweet baby /t/sus made it with his own two hands.

The tea looks like honey (there are pictures in the full review for proof). It has a great malty smell that kind of reminds me of a good brown ale or stout. And once you taste this stuff, you’ll realize it’s fairly smooth and has a lot of honey and nutty overtones. There’s rarely any dust as you continue to re-steep the tea.

Pro tip: we at The Tea Blag add a little honey to each new brew. That way, as the malty-ness of the tea disappears (after 5+ steeps, mwahaha), you’re left with a tea that’d do pretty well for deserts.

Full review here: http://theteablag.blogspot.com/2011/01/this-t-could-be-savior-of-middle-east.html

Had a pot of this at the Asheville Dobra tea house, flavor came thru very well over three infusions. It had a classic Oolong taste with a roasted flavor. Very Dark, smooth and easy to drink. Dobra is a nice place to sit & chat over a cup of tea.

this delicate green is hard to explain to anyone who hasn’t had it before. it’s both steamed like a japanese green and pan fried like a chinese green. the resulting flavors are a hybrid of vegetal body with sweet and nutty notes making each infusion crisp on the end of your tongue. for me this tea is a special occasion or a once in a while tea. not an everyday staple like a dian lu or a da hong pao. it also makes each brewing more enjoyable and savorable. I’ve been drinking a lot of Mao Jian recently and that’s comparable flavor wise. Mao Jian is more buttery and sqaushy though. this style of curled greens is really nice this time of year