After so long, I finally found some time where I was ready to get to know a new tea! This tea is a 2019 Dong Ding Oolong from Augur Tea Affairs – I talked about their 2009 Dragon Balls of Bulang recently and this was from the same tea haul.
The description:
“A restrained floral nose suggesting orchids intermingled with ripe fruit and nuts. Soft, rounded flavours, with burnt sugar/toffee on the mid-palate/finish.”
First Impressions
The leaves seem partially rolled – the leaves are rolled while the stems are sticking out. The dry leaves give off delightful roasted and floral notes, and I just became more excited to try it.
Tasting Notes
Rinse: I wasn’t intending to drink the rinse because I was pretty sure I’d get a nice long session from this, but there was such an enticing aroma of fruits that I gave it a little sip. Even though I literally just rinsed the leaves with this, what came out was a smooth and flavourful liquid.
First round: The tea was a light yellow colour but had intense sweet and fruity notes in the fragrance. The taste was just as strong as the fragrance, with an intense sweetness and fruitiness mingled with the floral notes. It’s pretty clear that this oolong has a deeper roast compared to the lighter roast high mountain oolongs that are so popular nowadays and I like it all the better for having it – I felt that the roast added some ‘warmth’ (if that makes sense??) and depth to the flavour.
Second round: I gave this to my dad who liked it but didn’t give further comments.
Third round: The leaves had unfurled by this round so the tea liquor darkened from pale yellow to light amber. The tea has some weight to it but still little to no astringency. The sweetness, fruitiness, and floral notes are still present, and I’m also getting the impression of something that I can only describe as ‘milky’. I think it’s related to the mouthfeel?
Fourth round: The tea is still floral but slightly less sweet. It feels like the leaves are starting to get tired.
Fifth round: This was similar to the fourth, but with slightly more tiredness from the leaves/less flavour in the cup. I decided to stop here and do an overnight cold brew to see what that would look like.
Cold Brew: Compared to rounds 1-5, the cold brew was a disappointment. The sweetness and fruitiness was gone, and a weird woody/medicinal note (similar to the Volcanic Rock Tea from O’Sulloc) appeared. It wasn’t terrible, but I didn’t like it.
Spent leaves: As expected, all the rolled leaves were whole (no broken bits) and attached to the stem. The leaves were pretty thin, which was surprising, but I didn’t notice much else other than that.
Conclusion
I’d definitely recommend this tea, and recommend that you brew this hot instead of cold. It’s a delicious tea that I think will appeal to people who are looking for something naturally sweet and fruity. I’m super happy with my two teas from Augur Tea Affairs and would definitely get more if Kenny decides to sell more of his teas!