Eastern Beauty

My third and final gongfu with DinoSara
THe dry leaf smell like a light ceylon
First steep 5 seconds, no rinse: Smells like a light black tea. The flavor reminds me of the smell of a peach cobbler, or maybe like sweet mash for horses, a grainy, molasses-y kind of flavor. It is very sweet once it cools off a little.
Second steep, 8 seconds: Sweetish/fruity note in the smell of this steep. It is slightly salty/smoky while hot and more like bitter oak when cooled. A slightly darker molasses on the breath.
Third steep, 8 seconds: It’s getting woody, but a malty flavor lingers. It smells like spend brewers’ mash.
Fourth steep, 10 seconds: Not quite as sharp as the last steep, more malty-floral. The floral is a different floral than my green oolongs, much more grainy.
Fifth steep, 10 seconds: Even breadier; the sweet is gone. Much like weak lipton.
The combined mug is much better all around. All of the depth of the last steeps combined with the honey and up-front florals of the first, which lingers a little. I think we have a western-steeper!

Our third and final gongfu of the afternoon. It definitely reminded me of a more delicate Taiwanese black tea. It started out with some honey-ish grain and malt notes, and by the second steep that weird fruity-floral note in Taiwanese blacks that I can never properly describe showed up. That note isn’t my favorite, so in the end this wasn’t really the tea for me. The note ebbed and flowed a bit in the steeps, being stronger in some than others, but overall it was just too similar to Taiwanese black teas.

This is an awesome oriental beauty oolong – it’s pretty sweet, with tasty honey, peachy, nutty, malt, brown sugar, and caramel notes. I got 11 infusions out of this oolong, with one messed up long one in the middle. This tea can take a beating! However, later infusions it does get moderately dry.

My only beef is my sample leaf looked pretty smashed up. Otherwise the taste was pretty good.

Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/eastern-beauty-oolong-green-terrace-teas/

Dry leaf is medium sized and twisted, varying in colour from dark brown to tan with some silver tips. There’s a faint sweet smell, and a dry, musty note that reminds me of old books, but it’s very light.

Steeped for 5 min in 90C water. The dry leaf unfurls into a mix of small, whole leaves, pieces of leaf and a few segments of two leaves and a bud. The colour is medium brown and the steeped leaf smells faintly of soy sauce.

The liquor is a clear, deep amber. It smells of honey and brown sugar. The flavours feel a bit muddled. There’s a “hot water” quality to it that makes me feel like I should steep longer, though the brew is already starting to develop a slight astringency. Some generic fruity notes, squash and then honey and brown sugar on the finish.

It’s an interesting tea to be sure – a bit different than anything else that comes to mind. I can’t decide if I like it or not. Perhaps another cup is required before I can rate it.

This is not quite what I was expecting.

It’s not a green oolong, and dry it smelled somewhat overwhelmingly toasty and earthy. It’s not, though! It’s really nice. There’s toasted notes, but it’s also very fruity and a little spicy.

I lack the words to describe this tea. It reminds me of the Big Red Robe I have from Silk Road, only better. It has more layers and dimensions.

I highly recommend trying this if you like slightly toasty oolongs. And even if you’re not 100% sure about them. This is so drinkable, and I will be doing at least a couple more steeps of this tonight.

Backlog:

This was the first of the teas that I sampled from Green Terrace and what an amazing introduction to this company.

A delightful peach note – sweet! – and a sharp floral note. A soft mouthfeel. Earth and wood. Very little astringency to my first cup (infusions 1 and 2, combined).

I got six wonderfully flavorful infusions out of this tea, please read more about them here: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/07/10/eastern-beauty-oolong-tea-from-green-terrace-teas/

I am drinking the last of this sample from Green Terrace Teas this morning at work. Sometimes when I take teas to work I get a completely different experience than at home. Water temp/method of preperation, who knows. This morning I am wishing this wasn’t the last of this sample. It is very smooth and creamy with a burnt sugar/honey taste at the end of the sip. Yum! This might need to be in my cupboard sometime in the furture. Thanks again for the awesome samples Green Terrace Teas!

EDIT: I am steep #4 and this tea just keeps on giving.

How have I not reviewed this tea yet? My sample is almost gone! Thank you Green terrace again for the sample!

Yum. Sweet and smooth thoughout multiple steeps. An extraordinary tea, and my first Eastern Beauty! I don’t usually drink tea with food, I think it doesn’t let me enjoy the tea properly, but this brew is robust enough to power through sweet or savory foods. Also good on it’s own to enjoy throughout the day.

I received this as a free sample and am very happy with the choice, 10g is a lot for free.
I used 4g to 4oz of water and it make a solid 6 steeps before giving up most of its flavor.
It tastes like raisins dipped in a hint of honey or syrup. It was never an overwhelming taste, it went together nicely each time. The finish was wet with a slight honey aftertaste that didn’t stick around long.
Steeps 2-5 were my favorites as they had the most flavor and changed slightly with each steep. Even the leaves had a fun smell after each steeping since they kept changing too.
The color was a beautiful deep gold color at its peak, and smelled sweet to the nose.

This is a free sample from Green Terrace – thank you
I received my samples yesterday. They are very generous. So exciting.
Prepared gongfu method
4g 100 ml gaiwan 190F
Rinse/10/10/15/20/30/45/60 sec etc
I love Taiwanese teas, they are so resilient and perfect gongfu style .
The color of the brew changed from pale yellow to yellow-orange. Smells fruity and nutty.
I’ve noticed longan fruit, apricots and chestnuts. It’s slightly malty, some honey and some spice at the end of the sip. I have to admit that some sips I combined in one cup, but tasted all of them before combining. Now I’m thinking maybe I need to use more leaves. I want it bolder but not bitter.
Thanks Green Terrace for sending a huge sample to try multiple ways. Always a plus in my book.