One River Tea

2020 harvest.

7g, 100mL duanni, water off the boil

Like the rest of my roasted oolong reviews, I am still not great at picking out distinct notes. Takes some getting more used to the taste I guess? I don’t dislike them in the way I used to at least, though there is a limit to the amount I am willing to shell out for them.

Smells roasted, can’t pick out specifics.

In the pre-warmed pot, something sweet like cinnamon and smoky and also vegetal like tomato, though the last could be due to the time I used my duanni to also brew kabusecha lol. Haven’t had much time to use it lately.

Wet leaves exude strong smoke. Emptied cup smells sweet in a buttery sort of way.

3s: smoke and light sweetness initially, then a slight sweet aftertaste that lingers.

3s again: stronger on the smoke. a slight touch of bitter and medicinal. a bit of a tickle in the throat, but not sure if it’s because of a slight cough that day.

11s: bitter! Leaves a minty cooling note on tongue.

12s: bitter and minty.

10s 2x: a celery like aftertaste with dark chocolate notes throughout.

15s: something of a berry note.

My notes stopped here, but if I’m remembering correctly, I did do a couple more infusions. An interesting tea, though personal tastes still lean towards lighter roasts for me.

2020 Osmanthus Black
One River Tea
5.1g, 200-205f brita filtered water, 130mL gaiwan

I can’t find any descriptions on their site about this, but it was included as a free 7g sample with the other teas I ordered. A loose leaf black tea with dried osmanthus leaves. The smell is very sweet and familiar, something almost citrus like, though I’m not sure why since I don’t remember ever smelling osmanthus before. The only thoughts I can discern after reading about the smell of osmanthus described is it smells of peaches and dish soap, like an Hermes perfume from the Jardin line (most of which are quite expensive soapy kind of smell).

5s: very floral. Slightly sweet with a slight sweet aftertaste. Leaves smell like a very floral black tea.

10s: hints of smoke. Other than that, similar to before.

Stopped taking detailed notes since this one was fairly linear. A very floral tea (in an almost chokingly floral sense smell wise), slightly sweet, but simultaneously falling flat for me. Wouldn’t purchase. Both of my friends who tried it liked it though.