I received this sample for free on /r/tea, along with a couple others from Origins Tea. The dry leaf on this one had a pretty robust, roasty nose. After a rinse, I smelled a bit of charcoal and some light fruity notes.
I tasted the roast pretty heavily, especially in the first three steeps, with a bit of sweetness on the finish. By the second steep, the tea was quite drying. There was a bit of a floral quality to the sweetness I suppose. I wasn’t a huge fan of this tea at the start, as the roast was really quite intense – I figured it was recently roasted or something, and that once I got through these steeps I’d be done with that flavor.
For the next three steeps, the roast flavor was a little bit less sharp, but still left an almost ashy taste in the tea. I started to pick up a bit of nuttiness and astringency, kind of reminding me of almonds in a way. I only took the tea a few more steeps after this, as I just wasn’t enjoying the flavor very much – ashy, a bit astringent, quite drying in the mouth. There were a couple steeps toward the end where I picked up more fruity/floral sweet notes which gave me hope, but they just couldn’t shine through.
I wasn’t a big fan of this tea – I definitely preferred the roasted tgy I tried from an Aliexpress vendor a few days back. I think the roast was off, or hadn’t been given enough time to rest or something. Other roasted rolled oolongs which I’ve tried have a nice and creamy texture – this tea was quite lacking in body. It’s not the worst tgy I’ve ever tried, but it certainly isn’t my favorite.
Flavors: Ash, Astringent, Floral, Nutty, Roasted
