Dark Roast 10 Year Aged Tieguanyin

Finally busted this one out tonight as I ordered hotel reservation for Indianapolis. Apparently without even knowing, there is a convention happening around two miles from my hotel… so I bought a ticket for that :)
Full day of comics, anime, games, cosplay, and general nerding out!

Anyways, I really enjoy my aged oolong teas because they are quite smooth. This one has a nice roasted taste to it and doesn’t leave a dryness in my throat which makes me very happy! Thankfully I have a decent amount of this so I am able to sip away at it for awhile over the next few months.
p.s. that con is called popcon

I was very excited to try this one! I’ve been easing into aged oolongs and this is was recommended to try out. The dry leaf had a very dry chocolate tone, so I thought it to be a little desserty. They were very small brown and black curls. They looked very dry and crumbly. I placed some in my warmed mini Gawain and gave them a shake. My Gawain gave off the scent of raisins. They was no other smell but raisins, hahah. I washed the leaves once and brewed up a cup. The liquor was a deep crimson and had a very roasted aroma. The flavor was incredibly bold. This was a great morning starter! The initial sip was like coffee grounds and charcoal. This was a robust brew and got me going. I was able to get about six steepings out of my Gawain. The flavor kept consistently bold and grew into a more ashy and mineral flavor as the smoke and roasted tastes diminished. I liked this and helped for a Sunday morning riser!

https://instagram.com/p/2OKyqozGUO/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

love the smoked grass ashy flavor

Yeah, another tea that just tastes roasty to me. But this one is not as bad as all the other roasty teas I’ve had. I think that if I ever get off the floral kick I’m currently on and go back to roasty oolongs, I’d end up really liking this one. It’s not too overwhelming or anything. It’s a roastiness that I can live with. xD And that I’d end up really liking.
I’m happy to have gotten to try it!
Thank you so much for the sample, The Cookie Lady!

This tea is a treat. Drink this by itself.

I put on some perpetual groove from 2012 and sat down for a session.

The dry leaf smells amazing. Cocoa. Toffee. It seriously smells like brownie mix. So sweet.

Wet leaf changes to a more roasty bark smell. With some coffee type notes.

Dry leaf is rolled and opens up quite a bit. Single leaf. No stems.

The liquor is amazing. I’m picking up all the smells of the dry and wet leaf combined. Slight astringency. Not much at all. I’m flash brewing in a gaiwan btw.

The liquor is a wonderful dark caramel color. Smells sweet and roasty. Wet leaf is dark dark brown. Dark as a shou puerh. I’m tasting earth, bark, toffee, cocoa, and something I can’t place and it’s driving me crazy. Almost like roasted macadamia nut.

I’ll keep going on this and save this tea for special occasions.

Hmm. So this was not quite as good as I had envisioned, though it was definitely still tasty. I guess I was expecting something with a more aged than roasty profile (or, a more strongly roasty profile), and this is more of a combination. Which I suppose the name indicates, but whatever :P Anyhow, the roastiness here is reasonably gentle, at least in comparison to a few teas I’ve had, and the oolong flavour is good, but a bit mild. I did have problems with astringency in my first cup, but I think I overleafed. I usually use a 3/4 tsp and measure out two per cup, but I grabbed the 1 tsp measure at my parents’ place, and neglected to remember the difference. Whoops. Oh well, lots of tea to try again :)

Terri was amazed at the dry leaf scent. I didn’t really detect much of any. That is OK because the wet leaf more than made up for it. While the leaf was still steaming hot, this was mostly just dark roasted notes but as it cooled a moment it made a magical transition. This aroma of spices and a fruit (maybe apple?) came forth. It reminded me of an incense I burned years ago. I don’t recall ever smelling sandalwood before that that is the description Verdant uses. I’ll agree because I don’t know better :)

I have never had aged on purpose tieguanyin so I did not know what to expect. The taste is far smoother, silky even, than I expected. It has a little side tongue tingle but no harsh edges. The roast and the oolong notes are mild and very well behaved. The aftertaste is sweet like a mix of honey and raisin.

I am not normally a big fan of dark roasted oolong but this was a wonderfully surprising cup. I very much enjoyed it and am looking forward to more steeps. Thanks Terri for sharing.

This is my first aged/roasted oolong full disclosure. The first few infusions smelled and tasted exactly like a dark roast starbucks coffee whether that is a good or bad thing is up to your preferences, I found it to be nice and unique in tea. Over subsequent infusions I tasted more ash and incense. A little later on I could actually taste the TGY which I was relieved because in mind roasting in general coffee or tea should be used as a tool to build the layers of flavor, not the main flavor component unless you are trying to hide bad tea/coffee. Finally it finished off minerally like a wuyi.

Overall not a bad tea Verdant usually never lets down(roasted laoshan oolong was an exception maybe because I had such high hopes) I would not repurchase, once again I am a poor college student so was it worth the +$12/oz probably not but it was an nice change of pace and a unique experience and I will gladly finish off the bag and look forward to exploring the realm of roasted/aged oolongs.