Tag: Tea Ave

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.

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”.

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.

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.

My Overall Impression

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.

Oriental Beauty by Tea Ave
Oolong Tea / Straight
$14.99 for 25g

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

First Impressions

I am a sucker for detailed packaging and Tea Ave does not disappoint. The label for Oriental Beauty gives some details about where the tea comes from, the roasting level, oxidation level, and then the brewing methods (of which there are many). The brewing methods include use of a gaiwan, tea bag, tea pot, and cold brew. Wow. This little sample bag had enough for me to do two cups on separate days.

The tea leaves are lovely with light twists in the leaves. The dry tea has this great sweet floral and fruity aroma to it that isn’t overwhelming. The floral scent is quite light and it smells quite nice. Oriental Beauty consists of qing xing oolong.

Preparation

For the tea bag method, Tea Ave recommends steeping in water at 85°C (185°F) for 1 minute and that the tea can be resteeped up to 5 times.

First Taste

Oriental Beauty steeps to a beautiful clear golden yellow. The aroma from the tea is very much like the dry leaf – a light sweet, floral and fruity scent. The tea itself is smooth, with a mild natural sweetness that doesn’t overwhelm the taste of the tea itself. The sweetness to the steeped tea reminds me a lot of honey, but it doesn’t overpower the natural floral and fruity taste to the tea. The fruity part of the taste reminds me a lot of berries. It’s a very pleasant cup of tea with absolutely no bitterness or astringency at all.

A Second Cup?

Although the directions said to resteep up to five times, I actually resteeped an additional seven times. The mild sweetness to the tea actually gets bolder for resteeps 1 to 3. The flavour of the Oriental Beauty remains true to the first cup for resteeps 1-5. The 6th cup was beginning to taste thin in comparison to the cups before it, and the 7th cup was basically a watery ghost of what the oolong did taste like.

My Overall Impression

I loved Tea Ave’s Oriental Beauty. This is a fantastic oolong as it resteeps very well. While it is one of the more expensive teas that I’ve reviewed so far on One More Steep. I think the fact that it does taste fantastic and can be resteeped many times makes up for the initial sticker shock. I definitely think that this is the type of tea that you should have when you’re not going anywhere though, as you wouldn’t want to leave wet tea leaves laying around to be reused the next day. If you’re going to resteep (and resteep again!), it should really be done all in the same day since it can be difficult to properly dry the tea leaves out (and mold is a horrible thing to ingest). For the value of a great tasting tea that can be resteeped up to 5 or 6 times, I think that Oriental Beauty is a wonderful oolong that deserves a taste if you’re looking for a tea to treat yourself with.

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