Tea Side – Page 2 – One More Steep

2016 Moonlight White Tea by Tea Side
White Tea / Straight
$9.00USD for 50g

Tea Side has provided me with 2016 Moonlight White Tea for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

I received 2016 Moonlight White Tea from Tea Side in a silvery foil package (not resealable, which is unfortunate!). The leaves are big, they look like they were just laid out to dry and then were scooped up into the package. There’s some visible downy feathers on some of the leaves, which vary in shades of brown.

2016 Moonlight White Tea has a very subtle floral aroma to it, and it’s fairly obvious that there aren’t any other ingredients in with this tea. As per the Tea Side website, the 2016 Moonlight White Tea was harvested in Thailand at 1200m above sea level from tea plants that are between 300 and 500 years old.

Preparation

I couldn’t find any steeping instructions for 2016 Moonlight White Tea, so I opted to steep in 85°C (185°F) for 2 minutes. If you’re ever stumped for trying to figure out how long to steep a tea for and in what temperature, check out my steeping guide! And if you’re steeping a tea blend (e.g. white and green tea), always opt for the temperature and length of time that is less.

First Taste

2016 Moonlight White steeps to a beautiful light golden yellow. I found the aroma to be floral, which did match the flavour. There’s a light floral flavour with a smooth texture. This white tea is easy to drink with the slight sweetness that lingers in the mouth. I think it would pair well with each sweet or savoury dishes with how clear it tastes.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped 2016 Moonlight White Tea a total of 5 times, adding an extra 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. I found that the flavour intensified for the first resteep and then slowly started to fade with each steep. The colour of the tea became more of a deep golden yellow for the first two resteeps.

My Overall Impression

I loved Tea Side’s 2016 Moonlight White Tea. I found the flavour to be really enjoyable, and the white tea resteeped really well and kept a good flavour throughout the steeping session. The floral notes and the light sweetness throughout really made for an enjoyable steeping session, and the fact that the leaves resteeped so well was a nice touch and really showed off the quality in the tea leaves.

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

2014 Dong Ding Oolong Tea, Medium Roasted by Tea Side
Oolong Tea / Straight
$12.00USD for 50g

Tea Side has provided me with 2014 Dong Ding Oolong, Medium Roasted for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

The 2014 Dong Ding Oolong Tea, Medium Roasted came to me in a pink foil packet with minimal information about the tea. I did glean some information about the product page from Tea Side’s website. For instance, I learned that this tea was harvested in the spring of 2014 and was processed in traditional Taiwanese methods despite the tea being grown and processed in Thailand.

After opening the packaging, the first thing I really noticed was the fact that the leaves are look like they’re huge. As with most oolongs, the leaves are bunched and rolled together, but the dried tea looks like the leaves are very large. There’s various shades of browns that go from dark and fade all the way to a cream colour. The dry leaf of the 2014 Dong Ding Oolong has some nice floral notes, as well with a light, sweet fruity aroma. 2014 Dong Ding Oolong Tea, Medium Roasted is a straight tea.

Preparation

I wasn’t able to find any steeping instructions for the 2014 Dong Ding Oolong Tea. But knowing that it is an oolong, I referred to my steeping times and temperatures chart. I opted to do an initial steep in 90°C (195°F) water for 2 minutes.

First Taste

2014 Dong Ding Oolong Tea steeps to a lovely light orange colour after the initial 2 minute steep. The aroma of the steeped tea is primarily that of plums and apricots, the floral notes still remain. When I tasted the tea, I noted a mild astringency at the end of each sip. The combination of the floral and fruity notes reminds me of a lot of tropical fruits that come out of Asia – in particular lychee and mangosteen, with a hint of freshness that you get from dragon fruit. There’s a touch of deeper fruit flavours in this tea that I get from time to time that remind me a lot of apricot and plums. It has a nice sweetness to it, thanks to the floral and fruit notes.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped 2014 Dong Ding Oolong Tea, Medium Roasted a grand total of seven times. My usual method of resteeping tea is to add an additional 30 seconds for each steep, which is what I did here as well. I found that the floral and fruity notes got strong for the first two resteeps, and started to lessen in intensity after that. The mild astringency at the end of each sip turned to a slight sourness as I continued to resteep the oolong.

My Overall Impression

I loved Tea Side’s 2014 Dong Ding Oolong Tea, Medium Roasted. I really enjoyed the intricacies of this oolong in how the flavour changed from steep to steep, as well as the balance of fruit to floral in this roasted oolong tea. I would highly recommend resteeping this tea if you’re drinking it, it does so well with resteeping continuously. I found the flavours to be really well balanced, and that fruity sweetness would lend itself to being paired with sweets or desserts quite easily.

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