Qing Tian Xiang Green Style Dong Ding Oolong Tea

I sometimes forget that Oolongs are my favorite tea. Every once in a while I will have a cup of tea like this one that makes my taste buds have a party in my mouth and my brain kicks in saying “This is sooo good! It has to be your favorite Nina!”… And so, I agree with my brain, yeps, Oolongs are just spectacular.

My boyfriend took me out for sushi tonight (lucky me!) and I was in the mood for something smooth and unflavored. Oolong was the perfect culprit!

In the bag the tightly rolled leaves smelled slightly sweet and much like milk oolong. They had a hint of mineral plantiness.

Once brewing the scent was overwhelmingly creamy and sweet. So delicious. I stood sniffing my tea the whole time it steeped, enjoying each breath of creamy promises of tastiness. The liquor was olive green and sparkled in the light of my kitchen as I waited for it to be cool enough to sip.

Once brewed, I was in love. It worked exactly like an Oolong should. First it fills your mouth with creaminess, followed by a slight mineral refreshing flavor and finally has a grand finally of sweet and savory as you swallow. I wish my cup could have lasted longer… Thankfully I have second and third steeps to look forward to! :)

Thanks a bunch to Fong Mong Tea for this spectacular sample!

Second Steep (the tea sat overnight and I am having it with breakfast)- Second steeps are usually my favorite, but this time around, the first steep takes the prize. I am finding the second steep to be a tiny bit more astringent and floral than the first creamy sweet steep. Still really enjoying it! :)

I don’t usually wait so long to post a review, and I hate that I didn’t post it sooner. :// I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few minor mental notes. A special Thank You to Fong Mong Tea for this sample! :))

Right away I knew this was a deeper tea than the Jinxuan tea I sampled previously. While still green, this Dong Ding has more of a roasted aroma that really comes out in the wet leaves [which also exhibit floral qualities]. The cup is slightly darker, with roasty, peach-like fruitiness on my palate that is smooth and delicious. :))

The second cup has more aroma and flavor with the most balanced roasty/peachy character. the flavors are so juicy and smooth on my palate! [1 minute at 180F].

The third cup was more mild yet still flavorful. The wet leaves had more of a green floral character reminding me of honeysuckle. The flavors were lighter as well, with lighter peach notes, and the gentle touch of a white tea [1.5 minutes at 195F].

My last cup was like a white tea with light fruit qualities, and serene smoothness that calmed my spirit. :)) [5 minutes at 212F]. Overall, a great tea, that I enjoyed for it’s slightly deeper, peachy flavor, with every steep showcasing a smoothness that is so inviting and enjoyable! :)) I can’t wait to try the rest of the samples. :))

Cupped: Monday, June 18, 2012.

Reviewed: Sunday, June 24, 2012.

Thanks to Fong Mong tea, who provided this free sample for review. It’s been a while since I’ve had a Dong Ding (or any oolong besides a TGY), so I am looking forward to trying this one. I am following the western steeping instructions that they provide, but I can’t bring myself to steep the tea for 6 minutes. I did bump it to 4 minutes rather than my usual 3 because the Blue Jade I tried from them didn’t seem quite full flavored at 3 minutes.

The steeped tea smells roasty, a bit floral, and a bit vegetal. I have to say that I do think this one is oversteeped, unfortunately. There is a bit of astringency and a hint of bitterness that I don’t think would be there if I had stuck to 3 minutes. Otherwise, the flavor is pretty nice… a tad roasty but not too strong, some nice oolong flavors under there. Unfortunately this bitterness is taking over more as it cools. I ended up dumping out the first steep and steeping the leaves a second time for 3 minutes. This time the flavors are nice and pleasant, no bitterness. Lighly roasty, vegetal, not very floral or buttery, but with a very slight sweetness that lingers in the aftertaste. I like this dong ding pretty well, but like I said earlier I don’t love even lightly roasted oolongs. Most dong dings are lightly roasted, as I’ve found, but every once in a while you happen across an unroasted one. I enjoy this tea (now that it’s not bitter), but it’s not something I would seek out.

Thanks to Fong Mong for this free sample. It’s been ages since I have cold brewed an oolong but I decided to do that last night. This definitely seems to have a roasted, slightly nutty flavor in addition to the nice vegetal quality I am getting. I won’t rate this since I never got to try it hot, but it’s good this way.

Now off to the farmer’s market for some vegetables!

I’m on my sixth infusion now … this tea started out with a very strong sweetness that was very fruit like, tasting like something between a plum and a peach. Very sweet and juicy, with hints of sour. Hints of vegetative notes and toasted grain were in the background, and the floral tones were barely there.

By the fourth infusion, things began to change… the fruity tones had subsided, falling back into the background and becoming more of a memory than a present taste. The floral tones emerged, and there was a savory bitter tone that arrived about mid sip. More like a sharpness that lent a contrast to the sweeter notes. The vegetative notes have become stronger.

Now, the vegetative notes are much stronger than in the first four infusions, and the floral notes are pungent. The roasted notes are a bit like charcoal, and I don’t taste as much of the creamy grain notes that I noticed in the first couple of infusions…

It’s still very pleasant now, and it’s very interesting how much this tea changes over the infusions. I preferred the first couple of infusions, but I also enjoyed the transitions.

Much thanks to Fong Mong Tea for this sample. I had mentioned to them that I had enjoyed both Oriental Beauty and Tung Ting in the past, so I was excited they included this one for comparison. However the Tung Ting I had tried was much darker (not sure if it was more oxidized, roasted or both). So while they are very different flavors, this does taste like very center green part of darker version.

It also tastes as if it has been brewed in yixing, yet hasn’t. At first I thought it was my memory tricking my sense as the Tung Ting I had tried at Essencha Tea House was brewed in a tiny yixing tea pot, but there is definitely a clay-like mineral note that is neither sweet nor metallic. I infused this many times yesterday in my make-shift gaiwan, at first with short steeps, then later much longer trying to draw out more flavors, but the steeps stayed quite consistent. I would say it might to better with long western infusions though. Mildly veg with those odd clay notes, the word bakey comes to mind, but I thought other’s used that in conjunction with bready. On the other hand it might do very well in a yixing pot! Thank you Fong Mong for this unique experience!

Thanks to Fong Mong for this sample. The dry leaf reminds me of a milk oolong…in fact everything about this tea reminds me of that…almost. It is very light and buttery with the something else and I think that would be the sweet (mentioned in the tea description) aftertaste I get on the finish. I really like it! This might be one to add to the mix once I cut down my rather large tea stash!

Toasty-Roasty Oats but on the greener side! Nice!

It’s slightly bitter but in an interesting savory sort of way.

This is pretty goo!

Finally getting to another sample from Fong Mong! This is really good! I didn’t really expect such a toasty flavor. The smell and tast is like oats but also green like my favorite green oolongs. Usually the roasty ones are darker but this one is definitely green. I really like this unusual combo!

I don’t have time to get into details here, but I’m really enjoying this! While the toastyness is novel and fun, I think I still prefer the unroasty green oolongs. I guess I wouldn’t buy this one, but it’s still really tasty.

Edit: second steep. Roasted veggies!

Thanks to Fong Mong Tea for this very generous sample!

Several months ago a friend sent me a sample of a Tung Ting that I loved. Of course, the tea shop is halfway across the country and doesn’t have a website. Since then the memory of that tea has been sitting there in my head, and I’ve tried oolong after oolong looking for a similar one… but I was always disappointed.

Until now.

Oh, I love this. The leaves are small and tightly rolled, shiny and bright and soft green. I used the whole 6 gram sample for 16oz, brewing western style because the bowl part of my tasting set has disappeared!

The scent is very light, sweet and a little green, with light floral notes. And the flavor is also very light and sweet, with a base “oolong” sort of flavor – warm and green. It’s like a spring day, when the air is cool and the sun glints through the grass and the wind smells vaguely of the sea.

Fantastic oolong, and I’m so glad to have tried this! Thank you Fong Mong Tea!