Wuyi Mountain Big Red Robe

Very smokey and sweet. I always like a tea that can resteep well, and tastes as good cold as it does hot. Different, but good.

The first steep was a deep brown and very well balanced between the flavours of the roast, earth, and wood. Very smooth. No astringency. The second steep was a bit milder, with a funky tangy taste to it, but it eventually settled down into more roastiness, this time with a fruitier undertone. The final steep of 40 seconds was the lightest in both colour and flavour, with a deep amber tint and creamy/floral notes coming to the fore. Overall, this was a remarkably smooth Wuyi oolong.

Full review at: http://booksandtea.ca/2015/10/verdant-teas-5-for-5-sample-pack/

This is a really good oolong (and I’m not a huge fan of oolong). By third steep, I was in love! It went from strong and even a bit bitter, to very floral and happiness and sunshine by the third and final steep (one minute, three minutes, five minutes). Next time I’ll try even shorter steeps to see just what the flavor does.

This was disappointing. I’ve been waiting to try this for awhile, so I finally picked it out. I opened the package and took in the sweet tang and heavy wood aroma. So far so good right? I poured out the tea and then I became saddened. It was just short of a full gongfu session (so I reduced water) and the “leaves” were mostly dusting. I washed the bits once and watched as most of them poured away. I was mostly turned off at this point. A big thing for me is presentation and quality. I wasn’t really feeling the gongfu session to much, but I preceded thinking “don’t judge a book by its cover” sort of thing. The leaves gave off a roasted oak and burnt sugar scent. The liquor was dirty. There were tons of little bits everywhere, hahah. It was quite a mess. The flavor was good. This wasn’t a phenomenal Wuyi, but it was still fairly decent. The initial sip started with a sharp tang and smoothed with dark fruit tones. The session proceeded into a deep caramel and rum flavor. I was able to get about five steeps out this small package, which inst that bad. Altogether, I’m glad I was able to try it, but I wont be jumping to get anymore of this.

https://instagram.com/p/6plWPlTGXr/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

I picked out the whole leaves for the photo…

Backlog, and the next few I do for a while are going to be backlogs.

So, I liked this one, and it made me realize that I’m kind picky when it comes to Wu Yi dark oolongs. I maybe should have rinsed this one to get more flavors, but what I got is a slightly fruitier rock oolong.

Water at 195 degrees F.

#1. 30 second first infusion.
What I get- woodsy, smooth, a little nutty, roasted, and bits of cocoa. It’s so close to being a black tea to me. It’s also like a less astringent version of the Irie Wu Yi Oolong.

#2. 20 seconds. Cherry, but still woodsy. Not bad. Not Great.

#3. 45 seconds. Still cherry, some wood-which is skewed because I had chocolate. Way better.

#4. 1 minute. Much better. More cherry, with a hint of cocoa-very smooth and better lighter. It’s like cooked cherry really. The wood is not as strong and it’s sweeter. Really, this is more like cherry wood vs. Irie’s bamboo like oolong overall.

#5. Stored some in the same Teavana container (glass one) overnight in the fridge, and it was a refreshing iced version of steep four that was surprisingly sweeter.

Consensus-I really have to be in the mood for a dark oolong to really like it. The woodsy notes are welcomed, but get overwhelming at times. I have to be especially choosy when I get them from now on.

Steeped in gaiwan. A medium-amber tea with heady aromas of marzipan, peaches and celery along with roasted notes, wet branches and a very light dusting of cocoa. Even something floral in there, though don’t ask me what. Quite minerally and roasted on the palate with a lingering finish. and touch of lemongrass?.
Full bodied with very fine astringency.

A hearty, complex tea with plenty of flavour.

Despite my meh feeling towards roasted oolongs, I still buy Wuyi because I like it in bubble tea and a few have been quite memorable. This tea wasn’t much to brag about initially until I ignored brewing directions and dialed the leaf quantity way down to about 1 tsp/1 gram.

That may be weak for some, but for me it was perfect. It brought out the tea’s best flavor without the overbearing roastiness that can ruin it. There is a smooth, roasty oak flavor complemented with a slightly sweet minerality and notes of cacao nibs. I’ve noticed the latter is characteristic of many of Verdant teas. As it cools, it develops more sweetness and complexity.

Bumping up my rating as I now enjoy this after finally getting the steeping right.

The dry leaf aroma is dark chocolate, malt, and walnut. The aroma of the wet leaves is rock and mineral. The taste is a lovely combination of the two aromas. It’s at first mineral-y with a great, oaky, rock oolong flavor. Then it becomes silky smooth with a bit of caramel or honey. There’s even more honey in the second infusion and now a creamy vanilla note is seeping in.

I don’t usually like rock oolongs but this is delicious! It’s more honey and oak than mineral, which is a plus in my book. The tea liquor is a gorgeous amber. I’m gongfu brewing this in my gaiwan, slowly increasing the infusions by 5-10 seconds. I just fed the baby before starting this and luckily she’s being good for the moment. Thank you for allowing me to enjoy some tea, my darling!

Of course, the second I typed that she started fussing. ;) Now I’m carrying her in my Ergo and bouncing while the tea steeps. I think I’ll be enjoying the rest of these infusions with a baby strapped to my chest. :) This is great tea and I’d say the leaves are probably a good year old. I think Fujian oolongs are growing on me!

Wow, there are a lot of flavors listed for this tea, but when I tried it last night, I didn’t get much complexity. I’ve been interested in exploring yancha lately after trying and enjoying the DHP from Nannuoshan. I still think of the ones I’ve tried, I like that one best. This one and the one from Teavivre had a nice roast flavor and were sweet, but not much else. This one also has a nice medium viscosity. It was good, but didn’t seem special. I ordered two other yancha from Verdant with this one, so I’ll see if those are more interesting. Overall, not terrible, but not exciting.

Really a lovely oolong. Some nice floral notes, and really delicious. Will enjoy this one!