Golden Bridge Tea

Bought this at my local Asian supermarket. This is not a tea to brake out for company but I enjoy it almost daily. I brew 2tsp at 212f for 4 min to get a strong green taste with little astrengancy. The jasmine aroma and taste really comes out at a lower temperature, alongside a light, aromatic, grassy green taste. This is not a kosher certified tea, but I am unable to edit my mistake.

This is the first open leaf jasmine tea I’ve had (have only had jasmine tea balls in the past). I found a few ounces of this for fairly cheap at a store called “Oriental Mart.” I believe I am getting what I paid for here haha.

It’s not that this tea is bad. It is probably a fine every day tea and it’s going to have to be for how much of it I now have. However, the rolled jasmine tea balls that I have had up to this point have been so darn good and aromatic that it makes this tea look like someone wasn’t trying all that hard.

The good news is that this is a very smooth, sippable tea. It isn’t harsh or bitter, as I have brewed it. It does have a slightly sweet under note. I am just feeling very underwhelmed and missing that heavenly jasmine aroma and flavor I was hoping for.

I’m on the border as far as recommending this tea. On one hand, it isn’t something that will knock someone’s socks off. On the other hand, for the price, it is actually fairly decent… again, for the price.

Dry Leaves: This tea smells very sweet. It is somewhat like dried fruit covered in sugar. The most similar smell is probably a mix of plum and prune. The leaves look good and are around an inch to an inch and a half in length.

Wet leaves: The smell of this tea after water is introduced is intoxicating. It turns from dried fruit to fruit syrup and candies.

Taste: The taste is light but delicious. It is sweet and has fruity notes, along with a light vegetal flavor.

This tea surprised me to it’s overall tastiness and quality. The dry leaf is molasses coated in fragrance. Not quite molasses, but they smell really nice and sweet. The leaves are long, slender and hand rolled, with an average length of about 1 1/2". There are several around 2" in length, plus the extra bonus of plenteous tippy golden leaves in the bag.

The liquid is medium brown and very smooth, with very low astringency. This Dan Cong has less of the stronger toasted notes, but an overall balance of roasted sweetness. Its very similar to walking in the warm breeze of late Indian summer day in the middle of Autumn. It’s refreshing and invigorating.

I’m pretty certain this stash will not last long. I can’t leave it along! :)

Farewell Ginseng Oolong! I drank the last bit of you today. I am getting a bit lazy to log my teas onto steepster. oops! This tea is so good, especially when steeped a short time. If I steep this very long, I start sneezing… it might be ginseng overload! :) Yummy tea! I’ll try to look for this or something similar at the H-Mart closeby.

My stash of this is twindling. I drank this cool today, which was very tasty. Very refreshing and has a nice nutty taste to it.

I made 2 steepings of this tea today for breakfast with my boyfriend. It is so good! The “shells” started to break apart and open up. There were some nice leaves unfurling underneath. Very pretty. I’m saving it to steep them up again later and to examine them!

This was a nice sweet treat! Thanks to The DJBooth for sending me a sample! Delicious and light. I love the little green coated pellets. The taste and scent wasn’t overpowering, but it was delicious, light, and sweet.

This started my morning with a sweet little kick. Really enjoying this tea.

I saw this at a market and wondered if it was the coated Oolong like Dr.Tea’s Oolong Liquorice and I believe Tea ect. I had them both. Dr. Tea’s in the Oolong sampler and the other at a local coffee shop that serves loose leaf tea. I found I have quite the liking for these coated Oolongs. I took a chance on it $7 for 8oz eventhough I shouldn’t be purchasing more tea right. So I get it to the car open the canister and….jackpot coated Oolong! I couldn’t wait to get home and try it. The first steep I don’t know how much tea was there, because it’s kinda like M&Ms you gotta get through the candy shell. However the subtle sweatness of the ginseng came through. Second steep starting to get some Oolong….five great steeps from this tea. The only disappointing part about this tea is that it’s not compete leaves. They are smaller pellets so I’m sure they are cuttings maybe even fannings. Still though a great ginseng tea at a fabulous price!

Good fragrance, somewhat dry – might be too dry for some people.