Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: What-Cha Tea
Tea Description:
A delightful oolong tea which evolves and develops with each subsequent brew. A great fruity nose with a complex taste of orange and spice.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I was really happy to try this Darjeeling Oolong from What-Cha Tea. Darjeeling Oolong teas tend to be a bit more difficult to find and they’re so lovely that whenever I have the opportunity to try them, I’m excited!
And my excitement was justified because this second Flush Goomtee Oolong is really quite delightful!
I brewed this Darjeeling Oolong the same way I’d brew other Oolong teas, using my gaiwan. I heated the water to 180°F and measured out 1 bamboo scoop of leaves and placed them in the bottom of the gaiwan bowl. Then I gave the tea a quick rinse (15 seconds) and discarded the liquid, and then proceeded to infuse the tea for 45 seconds for the first infusion and then for each subsequent infusion, I added 15 seconds onto the steep time. My first cup was composed of a combination of the first two infusions; the second cup was a combination of infusions 3 and 4, and so on.
My first impression of this tea? Deliciously sweet and fruity! I taste the promised notes of orange and spice. I also taste a sweet, grape-y note. It’s quite smooth and very pleasant to sip. A little earthy and woodsy, with delicate spice notes that are peppery and warm.
Later infusions offered even more fruit notes. I started to pick up on an apple-y note in the second cup (infusions 3 and 4). The sweetness of the cup reminded me almost of a brown sugar sweetness. The cup is smooth yet crisp and vibrant. The light spice notes perk up the flavor.
What I love about Darjeeling Oolong teas like this is that they offer the best of Darjeeling and of Oolong in one cup. It’s smooth and creamy like I’d experience from an Oolong, but I am still tasting notes that are familiar with a second flush Darjeeling teas. I can taste notes of muscatel and the wonderfully warm spice notes and gentle woodsy tones.
With the third cup (infusions 5 and 6), the flavors became a little more unified and soft. The spice tones were not quite as defined as they were in the first two cups, but I found the sweetness from the fruit notes as well as that sweet brown sugar-y note more than made up for the waning spice notes.
This is a really lovely tea. I enjoyed its many infusions (I infused this tea a total of eight times!) finding that the 2nd cup was my favorite because the spice notes were still quite zesty and I liked the way these spice tones married with the fruit notes.
I highly recommend this tea to both lovers of Darjeeling and of Oolong! You’ll really enjoy this tea!
