Tung Ting Vietnam

Wow I also have to highly recommend this delicious oolong!

I got the $1 pack from DT and steeped it for 5 minutes in my perfect mug. I haven’t had the chance to try multiple short steeps, but I did resteep the leaves for another 5 minutes after. Oh bliss!

A hint of mineral/rocky flavour and texture all wrapped up in a sweet blanket of rock sugar (let’s stick with the rock theme!) and it.. um.. ROCKS! I’m not getting any bitterness with 185 degree water – but definitely some sort of spice. Not getting any floral notes at all.. hmm what is that spice… it definitely has a kick! I’ll keep thinking about it :)

ohhhhh man, finally a tea from DT I love! this is amazing. Well the first steep was. Bright and sweet, and complicated! just the right amount of fresh “green” and oh sooooo good. The flavour really pops in that mineral like way I’ve come to adore and interacts with the sweetness in just the right way.
Second steep was just ok. Had a delightful corn aftertaste. Made with tap water though, and likely oversteeped as well. We are replacing the carpets in my office so we had to pack up the entire place before leaving today. Chaos. but it will be so nice when I come in on Monday. Too bad I’m only there for two more weeks.
Anyhow, I’m at a friends place and typing on her wacky keyboard is making this review a little choppy haha. Ciao for now! :P

Shared a pot of this with my roommate tonight thanks to the DT $1 packet of tea promo. I admit that my expectations weren’t super high, but apparently I need to change my views!

The dry tea of this one is a fairly nondescript green oolong. Larger-than-usual rolled balls of tea, but with no particularly notable aromas (or rather, nothing different than any other green tea/green oolong). We were skeptical of the 5-minute infusion recommendation, but decided to just go with it…. definitely not a decision we regret!

I went to take a sniff of my cup of tea after my roommate poured it out, and was completely blown away – the smell of this one is deliciously sweet and reminds me quite a bit of Verdant’s Laoshan greens. Delicious! Entirely not what I was expecting at all! The flavour matches perfectly, and definitely makes me think of Verdant’s Dragonwell-style Laoshan green, with a sweet rock sugar flavour and light green bean sort of flavour. The tea also is very smooth, and a light oolong flavour emerges at the tail end of the sip.

If you’re looking for a straight oolong from DavidsTea, I highly recommend this one! It is an absolute treat, especially given the price of a tiny sampler packet right now. Hoping the next infusion is as tasty, although we won’t find out until tomorrow :)

ETA: Second infusion (~6.5 min) is not bad, but I think that’s all these leaves have to offer. The flavour is still a touch rock sugary and much like the first infusion, just lighter and with a bit of astringency.

I’m not sure what happened with this tea. At first it seemed as though the first steep had a lovely green oolong flavor which quite enjoyed, but with each successive sip I tasted an increasing bitterness which made my forehead crease with confusion and crankiness until reached the bottom of my up. By time I finished it, I looked like the Grinch.

I didn’t leave the tea leaves in and I didn’t change anything in the cup (other than some natural cooling of course). I’m guessing something happened to my taste buds between my first sip and my last one? I’m not sure? I’m really trying to get a better appreciation for straight teas, but sadly this one didn’t win me over – oh well!

Dry Leaf Nose: Fresh and floral, with a warm and exotic spice note.

Liquor: Light golden green.

Flavour: A prominent floral note permeates through hints of pine and shea butter, the whole of which is complimented by a slightly sweet spice note. The overall mouthfeel is perfectly balanced and the liquor leaves a great ‘oolong glow’ on the palate, awakening the mouth, and leaving it feeling fresh and vibrant.

This was a little rougher around the edges that the Verdant oolongs I’ve tried, but it was a pretty good, especially as a sample for 50 cents!

I seem to always be smelling oolongs at the front of my nose first, more forward than any other teas I’ve had so far. This one hits me there and then migrates to the front of my mouth, where I pick up a bitter greens taste (not unpleasant bitter) along with the oolong creaminess I’m starting to really love. The mouthfeel is a little dryer and rougher than the Verdant oolongs. It ends in a very bright taste and feel again very forward in my mouth, slightly astringent.

The biggest issue I have with this tea is that I smell something spicy, but don’t quite get that in the taste. You don’t hold up to your promises, you sneaky little tea!

Thanks to MissB for this surprise free sample! A Vietnamese tung ting/dong ding oolong sounds really interesting.

I have to say I’m impressed by the quality of the leaf here. I pulled them out after steeping and they are almost all nice full leaves, with hardly any shredding on the edges. The scent of the brewed tea is nice and floral, with some sweet cream butter notes as well. The flavor is quite good; not too vegetal, but with some grounding leafy notes. Mostly sweet, with florals and a bit of butter. It’s definitely a sweeter, unroasted dong ding and not the slightly toasty variety. I am enjoying it quite a bit! Thanks so much for sending it along, MissB!

So I’ve tried 4-5 oolongs now from DavidsTea. All of them flavoured of some sort. And I didn’t enjoy any of them. Agh frustration. So tonight on my trip to DavidsTea I picked up this one to determine if it was the flavours OR the actual underlying oolong tea I wasn’t loving. So here goes.

YES! This one I’m enjoying. It’s certainly got a distinct taste, but I am liking that. PHEW. I was worried there for a moment it was the oolong. And I bought 2 more flavoured oolongs tonight as well (Vanilla Orchid and Happy Kombucha) so perhaps I will enjoy those. Or perhaps for me it will be unflavoured oolongs. I’ll keep you posted.

2nd steep just as delish :)

Sipdown….

Uh yeah this is an oolong alright but while it doesn’t have tht oolongy taste that I dislike, it’s not really a pleasant cup of tea either. There’s a weird after taste in this that is slightly bitter but mostly just kind of gross lol

I have a hard time describing oolongs to begin with but this is just…no.

Just getting out of the dentist i stop at my local David’s tea to buy the glass Gongfu Teapot and some Tie Kwan Yin to try when they ask me if i want to try this one too ( i don’t care for them try to sell more thing if they don’t get pushy and they don’t) it’s was smelling good so i bought 25g to try also.

Perfect tea to try my Gongfu teapot ( and my first try at Gongfu for that matter ) I can’t say if my technique was good or not and how that affect the tea but i did find that one good a little earthy but just enough for me to like it I didn’t get the pine taste they talk about before the third steep when a little hint begin to appear.

I run out of water after 1 rinse and 3 steep and was to lazy to go get more with my mouth hurting i will get more water later and try more steep

Will give that one a Note after trying it also western style in my steeper

I’m gonna love that little teapot :) a yixing one will take is place probably someday lol

Update Western style : Just made a cup western style in my steepster following the instruction they gave on the bag water at 92 for 5 minute i can detect some bitterness but also some sweetness that was not in the Gongfu If i have to choose this one if better Gongfu less bitter but overall it’s good i still prefer Tie Guan Yin