93

I think everyone knows that I love Dong Ding oolongs by now. I do not drink them all that often, but when I do, I really get into them. I reviewed Harney & Sons’ Dong Ding Light a couple months ago, and while I liked it, I was not entirely blown away. I held off on reviewing this one as a result. I now wish I had not done that.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 195 F water for 8 seconds. This infusion was followed by 14 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 10 seconds, 12 seconds, 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, and 5 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted pleasant aromas of butter, char, nectarine, peach, wood, and osmanthus. After the rinse, I began to note aromas of honey, lilies, magnolia, and petunia. The first infusion allowed a subtle cream aroma and a hint of grass to emerge. In the mouth, I noted a unique blend of cream, butter, osmanthus, nectarine, honey, peach, lily, and magnolia notes balanced by hints of char and wood. Subsequent infusions brought out aromas and flavors of yellow plum, apricot, lemon zest, candied orange peel, minerals, grass, hay, and vanilla. The later infusions were heavy on mineral, grass, hay, butter, cream, wood, and candied citrus notes underscored by ghostly impressions of flowers, honey, nectarine, and apricot.

The whole time I was drinking this oolong, I kept thinking it was odd that it reminded me of a really good Gui Fei. I then discovered that this particular tea was allowed to oxidize longer than many Dong Ding oolongs before the heavy roast was applied. The tea’s unique fruity and floral character was a direct result of this treatment. This tea also displayed a very light, smooth body despite its complexity, and as a result, was incredibly approachable and easy to drink. At this point, I cannot say much else than Harney & Sons knocked it out of the park with this one. It was not what I was expecting, but it was fantastic!

Flavors: Apricot, Butter, Char, Cream, Floral, Fruity, Grass, Hay, Honey, Lemon Zest, Mineral, Orange, Osmanthus, Peach, Plum, Vanilla, Wood

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 6 g 4 OZ / 118 ML
cuddlesmom

Sounds like something I should try!

teepland

This sounds awesome—I will definitely add this to my next H&S order!

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Comments

cuddlesmom

Sounds like something I should try!

teepland

This sounds awesome—I will definitely add this to my next H&S order!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

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Bio

My grading criteria for tea is as follows:

90-100: Exceptional. I love this stuff. If I can get it, I will drink it pretty much every day.

80-89: Very good. I really like this stuff and wouldn’t mind keeping it around for regular consumption.

70-79: Good. I like this stuff, but may or may not reach for it regularly.

60-69: Solid. I rather like this stuff and think it’s a little bit better-than-average. I’ll drink it with no complaints, but am more likely to reach for something I find more enjoyable than revisit it with regularity.

50-59: Average. I find this stuff to be more or less okay, but it is highly doubtful that I will revisit it in the near future if at all.

40-49: A little below average. I don’t really care for this tea and likely won’t have it again.

39 and lower: Varying degrees of yucky.

Don’t be surprised if my average scores are a bit on the high side because I tend to know what I like and what I dislike and will steer clear of teas I am likely to find unappealing.

Location

KY

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