Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Beautiful Taiwan Tea
Tea Description:
The premium teas of Taiwan are known for their smoothness, the quality of their soup and their “Chaqi”. Only grown in the highest areas, theses leaves take their time to grow and soak up all the cool mist and the High Mountain air. You’ll feel calm and attentive with this Dayuling sourced High Mountain Oolong.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve heard great things about Dayuling Oolong; and I’m very happy to finally get the chance to try one! The high, high altitude at which this tea is grown (greater than 2500 meters) and limited quantity that can be produced because of the geographical location are a giant part of what makes this tea so special. At $20 an ounce, this isn’t the priciest tea in my cupboard but it’s certainly up there – I can’t help but cross my fingers and hope it’s worthy of the price tag.
I have to say, the leaf is very beautiful; dry the rolled up leaf gives off a very large, ‘thick’ appearance and has a weight in my hands. After the first infusion I could see why; the leaves are so giant – some of the biggest I’ve ever had the pleasure to brew up. Almost every single one is a completely full leaf, and I even picked out a stem that had not one, not two, not three, but FOUR completely intact leaves branching off it. Just stunning!
I certainly wasn’t going to squander this sample by Steeping it Western Style; so I enjoyed a lovely evening Gong Fu session. Sometimes I feel I can get a little stuck in my head when I’m drinking tea or doing Gong Fu in particular and I focus too much on the technical side of things while trying to pick apart flavour – and I didn’t want to do that with this tea so I just kept doing infusions without really taking physical notes; and I just kind of let the tea ‘speak to me’ while I drank it. It’s so delicate and fragile with very lovely, complex nuances! Teas grown at higher altitude tend to be more complex because, due to the altitude, they grow at a slower pace – and that comes through here for sure.
It’s quite a floral tea, that’s for sure – while the infusions I did blend together I remember the first couple had really lovely, pronounced floral notes of orchid, lily, and a bit of violet as well. Incredibly well balanced though; not ‘perfumey’, forced or over the top in the slightest. Other things I noticed were this very cool, crisp freshness. I kind of instinctively want to call that flavor ‘the smell before it rains’ but I don’t know if there’s a technical word for that. I know petrichor is defined as the smell of rainfall on dry soil/earth (and that’s my all time favourite smell) but this wasn’t quite that: it’s the smell of rain before any has actually fallen. No earthiness.
This was such a pleasant, relaxing tea though! I’m not sure how many infusions I got in total but it certainly lasted quite a while and made my evening magical. Probably well worth the price tag just to say I’d tried a Dayuling, but all in all a very delicious, serene taste experience too. I definitely felt a little tea drunk’buzzed afterwards.
Nonpareil Taiwan DaYuLing High Mountain Cha Wang Oolong Tea from Teavivre
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Tea Description:
The Nonpareil Taiwan DaYuLing High Mountain Cha Wang Oolong Tea is grown in the area at the altitude of 2500 meters, in which the climate is cold and forests grow well. This cold and moisture condition is suitable for tea trees’ growth. In addition, the soil here is fertile, meanwhile performs well in drainage. Thus the tea leaves carry a natural scent of flower and fruit.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The fragrance of this Nonpareil Taiwan DaYuLing High Mountain Cha Wang Oolong Tea from Teavivre is extraordinary. It has such a beautifully sweet, floral scent with hints of fruit and a slight vegetal note.
My first cup of this tea – infusions 1 & 2 following a quick rinse of the leaves – is light, sweet and creamy. There are faint vegetative notes with more prominent floral tones. There are subtle notes of fruit in the layers of flavor here too … reminiscent of apricot.
The second cup – infusions 3 & 4 – is not quite as delicately flavored as the first, and it’s a little less on the creamy side and a little more on the floral side. The floral notes seem to be melding with the vegetal tones to create a seamless flavor. The fruit notes seem to be emerging a little more too. This cup is a little more flavorful overall.
I noticed that my third cup – infusions 5 & 6 – was much more unified in flavor. It was still a little creamy and the floral notes are less sharp and distinct. I find that the fruit tone tastes a bit more like an apple now: crisp, sweet, with vague hints of sour. I don’t taste very much of a vegetative taste now, this is more fruit and flower than any other flavor. The texture is very smooth and there is very little astringency to this cup.
Teavivre offers some of the very finest Oolong teas that I’ve ever tried and this DaYuLing is but one example of what I’m talking about. They also provide excellent customer service, and exhibit exceptional care for their product. I cannot recommend them highly enough … you just can’t go wrong with them.
