45 Tasting Notes

A high oxidation oolong from Satemwa Tea Estate in Malawi via What-Cha.

This quite an interesting oolong. There’s a distinctly fruity aroma on the wet leaves, but with a savory twist. It almost smells a bit like tomato paste… but not in a bad way at all. It almost smells like a tomato pastry of some sort. This is the sort of fruited-savory-sweetness that I’ve seen in Ceylon oolongs as well.

In addition, this Malawian tea has some character that is not unlike a black tea. There’s a twinge of black tea malty aroma, but it is restrained. The body of the brewed tea is full and satisfying. Beyond those subtleties, this tea oozes sweetness. If pushed too hard, or too much leaf is used, a slight bitterness can set in, but again, its mild and totally manageable.

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This is my first GABA green tea, and as I enjoy GABA oolongs, I was quite excited when this arrived.

The dry leaf fragrance is a nice mix of toasty and buttery aromas. Not at all unusual for a green tea, but perhaps a little more on the buttered toast side of things.

I gave the dry leaves a quick rinse (probably 10s in total contact time) with 85*C water. The leaves gave off a plume of more attractive buttery/toasty smells, but now with a starchy hint of plantain chips. That plantain character is clearly the GABA processing peering through. It is not vegetal (sweet potatoes) like some GABA oolongs can get. In fact, it feels right at home in the fragrance of a green tea.

After letting the leaves rest for 10 minutes or so, I steeped the tea for 30 seconds at 80*C. A hint of floral character starts to peak through in the aromas off the leaves. The body of the brew is thick, and the flavor is a buttery with some savory complexity. Subsequent steeps are consistently pleasant.

All in all, while this tea isn’t very complex, it is clean, quality material that is quite satisfying and does keep my interest throughout due to its well defined character. In addition, the GABA character doesn’t overshadow the tea flavors and aromas at all, but rather enhances the existing, comfortable green tea flavors and aromas. With each steep I slip a little further down in my chair (that is to say, it is indeed relaxing). I’m not usually big on green teas, and was maybe hoping for something a little “weirder,” but I certainly have been enjoying this.

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85

This is a bright, floral, vegetal tea! The floral aroma is HUGE and unique relative to other highly floral teas, like jade oolongs from Taiwan. This floral fragrance is closer to the fragrance of a rose, or some other deeper, more sultry floral aroma. The vegetal tone is also quite demanding, with a slight peppery edge, but it is not overwhelming. I enjoy this most when I do shorter steeps, which keeps the intense character in balance

Flavors: Floral, Peppercorn, Rose, Vegetal

Preparation
3 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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This is one of two teas that were my first real foray into quality tea. I stumbled into Red Blossom without any prior knowledge of who they were or the teas they sold. After friendly welcome, I started smelling as many teas as I could.

It should be noted, I’m a coffee roaster, and have been entrenched in American specialty coffee culture for a solid 5 years or so.

As soon as I smelled this ~35 year old oolong, I was intrigued. Muted florals sat underneath a slightly pleasantly musty black tea-like sweetness. I asked the helpful staff to purchase a bit, at which point she insisted on sitting down for a tasting, and offered to taste a 2015 tung ting side-by-side. Yes please!

What a wonderful experience, contrasting a 35-year-aged and fresh-crop from the same area.

I’ve brewed this in many ways, but my favorite way so far has been to do small, short infusions with sufficiently hot water, gradually increasing my time with each steep. With the first infusion, the aromatics are amazing, with a cotton-candy like sugary aroma (may be what others are referring to as plum/candied plum). Subsequent steeps lose the extreme sweet smell, but still carry a lot of complexity.

Flavors: Caramel, Cotton Candy, Musty, Roasted, Sweet, Tannic

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec 2 g 3 OZ / 85 ML

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