Thank goodness my Verdant order got here because I just finished off the last of my previous batch of Laoshan Black. I actually only had enough for about half a cup, so I made up for the rest of it with Wuyi Mountain Big Red Robe. I’m no expert at blending teas or anything, but I thought it sounded like a good enough combination.
So the first steep (Western style) was very much like Laoshan Black. It started off with a punch of chocolate flavor and ended with a nice, sweet maltiness. I was confused that I didn’t taste too much of the oolong, but I figured that LB has a pretty strong flavor, so it was probably just overpowering. Surprisingly, the second steep was totally different. I think the LB took a little step back because I was getting a pretty strong roasty oolong flavor out of it. There was still some malty flavors from the LB, but it played nicely with the oolong flavor instead of dominating.
On my third and final steep, I was getting that kind of generic nutty water taste that I get with both LB and Wuyi when the flavors start getting weak. Even though it is weak, I do like the taste of the nutty water, so I don’t mind too much.
Even though I mixed these two teas together because of convenience, I actually quite enjoyed it. It reminded me a lot of the LB Genmaicha, which I’m pretty sure has an oolong in there with the LB. I may try this again in the future to mix it up a little :)
