This is a free sample provided by Nuvola Tea for review. Thank you!
As far as I know, this is my first Da Yu Ling Oolong, unless I have had it by another name. Opening the pouch, I sniffed the dry leaves. Buttery! I knew I would like this one.
I rinsed the leaves as they suggest on their site, pouring the water off immediately and letting the leaves have just a moment to awaken. There is a lot of dust and fine particles so I opted to put my finest infuser in the pot, as I knew the little built in strainer wuld not catch the smaller particles. My first steep in my little gong fu pot was 30 seconds. and that was plenty of time! In just 30 seconds this cup is full of flavor.
The liquor is yellow with a greenish cast. The flavor is buttery, smooth, and has a hint of mild tender greens flavor. I thought at first by the dry leaf aroma that it was going to taste very similar to Premium Silky Green by Bird Pick, but it doesn’t. This is more vegetal and has that nice little edge that makes it pair well with food, and gives a long lasting flavor.
The second steep was for forty seconds. The leaves are now well opened up. The liquor is still a solid yellow with green cast. The flavor is unabated. The flavor rises past the soft palate. Do other people swallow their tea and then make a sort of chewing motion to swirl the heat and flavor that remains through their mouth and sinuses? I do, and this tea carries a nice, continuing flavor. There is a slight, dry tingle on my tongue, a bare hint of the astringency that is highly regarded for clearing the palate.
The third steep is 45 seconds. The liquor is a brighter yellow, losing some of its green cast. I am slowing down, as I have consumed 16 ounces already! This is smooth, and I think I detect a light walnut taste now as well, as the vegetal flavor fades. There is a light sweetness rising in the aftertaste. As this cup cools, it becomes sweeter, not more astringent. The butter flavor is very light now.
This is smooth, sweet, has enough body and flavor to go with food, but isn’t aggressive enough to turn anyone off.
I recommend using scissors to open your pouch. This is very well sealed to preserve the flavor and I appreciate that, because freshness is everything with a tea like this, but the strength and elasticity of the outer layer make it difficult to tear and you don’t want to spill any of your leaves!
Thank you, Nuvola Tea, for allowing me to sample your tea!
Edited to add: On giving it a bit of thought, I suspect that this tea had a lot of fine particles due to being sent through post office machinery! When I mail a small amount of tea in an envelope, I always carry it into the post office and request that they hand cancel it and mark it “Non-machinable.” They hand stamp it twice. If you ordered this tea, I don’t think you would have fine particles.
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Oh boy, I just got my sample too. 2500 meters is 8202 feet!
(Got me thinking about the Highland games next week I’m going to at 7522 ft. I’m used to the altitude but I’d hate to be blowing bagpipes at that altitude if I was from Halifax or somewhere else!)
Tossing the caber, are ye? ;)
Butter. A note which pretty much automatically guarantees I will like a tea. Yep.
I have not made that chewing motion, but now I am going to have to try it.
Daniel, I call it a chewing motion, and it is a bit hard to describe. Unfortunately the best thing io can come up with is to tell you to act like you are going to imitate a pig oink! You are pushing air up past the soft palate and helping the aroma saturate the sinuses better. Slurping the tea atrociously helps on the sip, too! Mike Harney says when tea buyers are tasting tea, the seasoned ones know to SLURP loudly in order to aerate the tea in the mouth and send the aroma swirling to the nasal passages.
This just sounds SO good!
Buttery – walnut – oh yes please!
Azzrian: if I had more I would sure send you some to try, but I used the whole sample!
Geographically, “Da Yu Ling” is located in the Central Mountain Range of Taiwan.
It is the highest tea plantation in Taiwan around 9,000 – 9,240 ft.
Generally, starting from 95k to 105.5k of the Taiwan Central Cross-Island Highway or Provincial Highway No.8 is claimed as “Da Yu Ling”.
Since it is located on the steep slope and unstable terraces, only few tea gardens can be established. In winter, temperature is always below 32F and annual average temperature is below 68-70F.
Tea leaf is growing slowly in this unspoiled region where can produce only a small amount of Taiwan Da Yu Ling Tea each year.
Da Yu Ling’s tea gardens are required lots of manpower to take care
of tea trees on such extreme environment. It is difficult to be developed by
government officials and business sectors. The road is narrow and curve.
Tea leaves of Taiwna Da Yu Ling is thick and plump.
It is distinguished by its delicate scent and subtle taste well-balanced with an exceptionally rich, full body and a sweet flavor.
Taiwan Da Yu Ling (Google Map)
https://maps.google.com.hk/maps?hl=en&ll=24.17706,121.323137&spn=0.060214,0.077162&t=h&z=14&brcurrent=3,0×0:0×0,1
Oh boy, I just got my sample too. 2500 meters is 8202 feet!
(Got me thinking about the Highland games next week I’m going to at 7522 ft. I’m used to the altitude but I’d hate to be blowing bagpipes at that altitude if I was from Halifax or somewhere else!)
Tossing the caber, are ye? ;)
Butter. A note which pretty much automatically guarantees I will like a tea. Yep.
I have not made that chewing motion, but now I am going to have to try it.
Daniel, I call it a chewing motion, and it is a bit hard to describe. Unfortunately the best thing io can come up with is to tell you to act like you are going to imitate a pig oink! You are pushing air up past the soft palate and helping the aroma saturate the sinuses better. Slurping the tea atrociously helps on the sip, too! Mike Harney says when tea buyers are tasting tea, the seasoned ones know to SLURP loudly in order to aerate the tea in the mouth and send the aroma swirling to the nasal passages.
This just sounds SO good!
Buttery – walnut – oh yes please!
Azzrian: if I had more I would sure send you some to try, but I used the whole sample!
Geographically, “Da Yu Ling” is located in the Central Mountain Range of Taiwan.
It is the highest tea plantation in Taiwan around 9,000 – 9,240 ft.
Generally, starting from 95k to 105.5k of the Taiwan Central Cross-Island Highway or Provincial Highway No.8 is claimed as “Da Yu Ling”.
Since it is located on the steep slope and unstable terraces, only few tea gardens can be established. In winter, temperature is always below 32F and annual average temperature is below 68-70F.
Tea leaf is growing slowly in this unspoiled region where can produce only a small amount of Taiwan Da Yu Ling Tea each year.
Da Yu Ling’s tea gardens are required lots of manpower to take care
of tea trees on such extreme environment. It is difficult to be developed by
government officials and business sectors. The road is narrow and curve.
Tea leaves of Taiwna Da Yu Ling is thick and plump.
It is distinguished by its delicate scent and subtle taste well-balanced with an exceptionally rich, full body and a sweet flavor.
Taiwan Da Yu Ling (Google Map)
https://maps.google.com.hk/maps?hl=en&ll=24.17706,121.323137&spn=0.060214,0.077162&t=h&z=14&brcurrent=3,0×0:0×0,1