Category: Review

Posted on

Tea Ave’s Dong Ding Oolong

Dong Ding Oolong by Tea Ave
Oolong Tea / Straight
$12.50 for 25g

I received this sample of Tea Ave’s Dong Ding Oolong for free, a review of the tea was not requested by the company.

20160212-teaavedongdingoolong1

First Impressions

I have another shiny gold sample packet to try and share with you all! Like Oriental Beauty, Dong Ding Oolong from Tea Ave came to me in a shiny gold sample packet that has a lot of information regarding the tea itself. Dong Ding Oolong comes from Dong Ding Mountain, Nantou, Taiwan, and is a form of qing xing oolong – like Oriental Beauty.

The dry tea is little round balls, very solid feeling and is quite fragrant. Dong Ding Oolong has a very rich fruity aroma to it, it reminds me a lot of ripen lychee with that floral-fruity smell that also smells sweetened. Tea Ave’s packaging states that Dong Ding is “an approachable tea – a good choice for oolong newbies”.

20160212-teaavedongdingoolong2

Preparation

Tea Ave gives multiple steeping instructions for if you are using a gaiwan, tea bag, tea pot, or a cold brew method. I opted for the tea pot instructions because I was trying out my Tea For One. The instructions are to use water that is 95-100°C (203-212°F) and to steep for 1 minute. Dong Ding Oolong can be resteeped up to 5 times, they recommend increasing the steeping time by 30 seconds to 1 minute for each additional steep.

I steeped my tea pot of Dong Ding Oolong for 1 minute for the first steep.

First Taste

Dong Ding Oolong steeps to a pale yellow for the first steep. The tea leaves have barely opened up by the time the minute is up. The tea itself has a nice fruity taste to it, still reminding me of lychee. There’s a natural sweetness to Dong Ding that is pleasant. The tea itself is smooth with absolutely no bitterness or astringency. It makes for an enjoyable cup of tea.

20160212-teaavedongdingoolong3

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Dong Ding Oolong for 5 additional times. Each time the tea got darker in colour to a nice golden yellow. The leaves unfurl a little bit more with each subsequent steeping and you can see how large the leaves really are. The flavour of the tea gets a bit stronger with each cup, with a more pronounced fruity taste to the tea each time. The last steeping (fifth resteep, sixth steep overall), the flavour was beginning to wane.

20160212-teaavedongdingoolong4

My Overall Impression

rating4

I loved Tea Ave’s Dong Ding Oolong. I think this tea is very enjoyable as each steeping gets better. The taste of the oolong is quite good and I think that Tea Ave was right with Dong Ding Oolong being approachable. The flavours get bolder with each cup, which allowed me to get used to the taste and then come back for more. Like Oriental Beauty, there may be a bit of sticker shock involved with the cost per gram, but I think it is worth it. The tea itself resteeps amazingly well and the flavours develop well with each steeping. I think as far as oolongs go, Dong Ding holds its own and makes a fantastic cup of tea. It would be a great tea stash staple for someone who wants a luxurious treat from time to time.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.

Posted on

DavidsTea’s Oolong Supreme

Oolong Supreme by DavidsTea
Oolong Tea / Straight
$19.90 for 50g

20160209-davidsteaoolongsupreme1

First Impressions

Oolong Supreme is a tea that I had been eyeing at DavidsTea for a long time but it is fairly expensive in comparison to the less expensive options like Cream of Earl Grey or Santa’s Secret. The description of Oolong Supreme states that the tea is Dang Cong Oolong tea from the Wudang Mountains of China. It’s a bulky tea, it’s a much larger bag than what I’m used to for 50g of tea from DavidsTea. I picked out Oolong Supreme as a reward with my frequent steeper points. The tea leaves from this tea are amazing, the dry leaves are huge! They have this beautiful fruity smell, which reminds me of a mix of apricots and plums.

20160209-davidsteaoolongsupreme2

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping in 85°C (185°F) for 4 to 7 minutes. I did the first steep for close to 3 minutes (as per the Tea Association of Canada) instead as I felt 4-7 minutes was a long time.

First Taste

Oolong Supreme steeps to a pale yellow with a very mild aroma. It smells very much like the dry leaf – plums and apricots! It has a mild sweetness that mingles well with the taste of plums and apricots. The description of Oolong Supreme mentions notes of shea butter and “roastiness” which I can’t seem to find, but that’s okay because this is just the first steep and I will be trying at least one more steep. No bitterness or astringency to note, Oolong Supreme is a nice smooth cup of fruity oolong tea.

20160209-davidsteaoolongsupreme3

A Second Cup?

Surprise, surprise, Oolong Supreme resteeps well! I resteeped Oolong Supreme a total of five times (so six steeps with the same leaves). Each time I used water that was about 85°C and I added an extra minute or so for each subsequent steep. The flavours developed with each steep, I feel that the flavours were the boldest with the second and third resteep. There was a stronger sweet fruity taste with each resteep – definitely more apricot than plum by the end. The sweetness doesn’t get too strong that it overwhelms the fruit flavours as they develop, they grow a bit bolder together. Try as I might, I didn’t find the shea butter or roastiness in the tea for any of the resteeps. The fifth resteep was when the flavour began to be less strong.

My Overall Impression

rating4

I loved DavidsTea’s Oolong Supreme. The smell of the dry leaf is just how the tea tastes like after steeping, and the tea leaves do amazingly well with resteeping – as one might expect from a good quality oolong. In total I steeped the same leaves six times and got five wonderful steeps out of. The flavours really developed with each steep as the leaves would unfurl just a little bit more and I think it’s a great time to have if you have the time to resteep and appreciate the changes in the flavour. This is definitely not the type of tea that you would steep once and throw the leaves away – that would be a terrible waste! While Oolong Supreme is on the pricier end of DavidsTea’s product collection, I think it’s a wonderful addition to your tea stash if you happen to like oolongs. If you’re unsure about oolong tea and you do live near a DavidsTea, you can opt to purchase a small amount just to try (I’ve gone as low as asking for 10g in a little baggie) or you could use your frequent steeper rewards on this tea if you’ve hit 100 points in a redemption period.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.

Posted on

DavidsTea’s Tea For One

Tea For One (White) by DavidsTea
Glass and Porcelain
$25.00 each

20160202-davidsteateaforone1

First Impressions

I got my Tea For One as part of an online promotion that DavidsTea was having (spend $75 or more and receive a free Tea For One), so I received this in the mail. The packaging is quite sturdy – it comes in a nice cube box that has some details about the product on either side in English and French. The DavidsTea website claims that the cup is ceramic in the title of the product, but in the description it is porcelain, while the packaging states that it is porcelain – ceramic and porcelain are not the same thing! Both are made of clay and fired in a kiln, but porcelain is more refined clay. The majority of the descriptions state porcelain, so I’m going to assume it is actually made of porcelain. The infuser is stainless steel.

20160202-davidsteateaforone3

The tea pot holds 600ml (20oz) and the cup holds 200ml (6.7oz), which is a fairly decent amount. I find that the tea pot doesn’t sit well in the cup because it can rock. But the material feels sturdy, I’m sure it’d break if dropped, but it has nice smooth edges on all the parts that you can touch.

Preparation

Prior to using my Tea For One, I hand washed it in warm soapy water. The bottom of the tea cup states that it is microwave and dishwasher safe. There are no markings on the glass tea pot or stainless steel infuser. Because of the delicate nature of the product, I would opt to hand wash it always anyways.

First Use

I used my Tea For One when I was steeping some oolong (review coming soon!). There was exactly one little piece of tea leaf that escaped the stainless steel infuser on all five of the steepings that I did, I feel that the infuser did a really good job overall. The stainless steel infuser itself does not have a little tab to remove it with, but I find that the edges extend just enough that I can remove it and it did not burn my fingers.

20160202-davidsteateaforone2

The tea pot itself does get hot (it is not double-walled), but the handle remains cool to the touch. The stem of the tea pot lid remains cool, there’s a small hole for venting in the lid as well. The lid of the tea pot does sit nicely in the tea pot with and without the infuser in place.

20160202-davidsteateaforone4

Overall Impression

I love the DavidsTea’s Tea For One. I think that it’s very cute and functions well. While I wish that the tea pot and tea cup fit better together when stacked, I don’t think it matters to me that much that I would rate the product lower. I like the fact that the infuser does have holes on the bottom, and it did a fantastic job of keeping tea leaves out of my cup of tea. I think that DavidsTea could do a better job in the description of the product (ceramic, porcelain), but the fact that the product comes in sturdy packaging and functions as promised does help a lot. I think it is good value for $25.00 and it makes for a more enjoyable tea experience and for better solo tea parties.