Malawi Livingstone's Twist & Dry Oolong Tea

Once I finished my 80s action movie binge, I decided to wind down further with a gongfu session. I also decided to challenge myself by picking a tea that was wholly new to me. I ended up picking this one. I had been curious about this tea and felt like I had been trying to come up with both time and a reason to try it for months. I had never had an African oolong before, so this was unexplored territory for me. I ended up finding it to be a very mild tea with an odd texture and unexpected layers of flavors that tended to dance in and out of focus throughout the session.

Obviously, I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a brief rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in a 4 ounce gaiwan filled with 185 F water for 7 seconds. This infusion was chased by 13 subsequent infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 10 seconds, 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, and 5 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of ripe plum, fig, honey, and peach. The rinse brought out touches of hay, malt, black grape, and nectarine. The first infusion brought out a slight butteriness, as well as touches of damp grass, huckleberry, elderberry, and red raspberry. Oddly, the mouth, however, was disappointingly bland. I picked up touches of malt, hay, and butter, as well as slight undertones of plum, honey, and fig, but otherwise, there was not much for me to discover. Subsequent infusions brought out slightly stronger aromas and flavors of plum, fig, honey, malt, hay, and butter. The red raspberry, huckleberry, black grape, damp grass, peach, and nectarine also made appearances. Furthermore, new aromas and flavors reminiscent of cinnamon, autumn leaves, sugarcane, almond, minerals, raisin, spinach, and pomegranate emerged. The later infusions were mild and somewhat sharp. I mostly detected minerals, hay, malt, autumn leaves, and almond underscored by faint wisps of stone fruits, honey, grapes, and berries.

This tea was interesting and displayed some complexity, but I don’t think I would go out of my way to try it again. The aromas and flavors were just so uneven throughout the session. What was perhaps most frustrating for me was just how subtle and timid many of the aromas and flavors were. I was constantly hoping something would really pop out of the mix and grab me, but it never happened. I was also a little nonplussed by how thin and sharp the tea was in the mouth. There was an astringency that built throughout the session that I found somewhat offputting. Overall, this tea was not horrible, but it was an uneven, often confounding experience from start to finish. The other reviews back that assertion up too. I noticed that opinion on this tea was divided. No one seemed to know how to take it and the flavor notes were all over the place. I guess at this point all I can say is that I’m glad I tried it, but it wasn’t for me.

Thin and somewhat drying, with very light notes of hay and an indistinct fruitiness. A vague, peculiar medicinal quality comes out in the finish. This is an altogether unusual oolong with uneven oxidation and mildness of flavor.

This is what an old Darjeeling that lost it’s sassyness taste like.

Taste of dry sticks and autumn hay. Probably would work well paired with a seafood dish but by itself this is not an enjoyable cup since it is very drying with almost not tasting notes that would make it appealing.

The leaf from this tea looks quite similar to the other Malawi oolong I’ve tried – the Father Zambezi’s Mission oolong. Green with lots of visible redness evincing the partial oxidation of the tea. I got this in a swap with JK7Ray on reddit.

This one was pretty interesting. Started out with some light malty and fruity notes. I got a hint of cinnamon in one of the early steeps. By the third steep, the fruity notes started seeming like green grape to me. Through the meat of the session, this tea had a nice and refreshing brisk taste to it. Malty with slight floral notes and a crisp fruit finish, mostly the green grapes. For a couple steeps, the fruitiness acquired a bit of sourness which made it seem more like raisins to me.

Looking at other reviews, I can see how people might taste some tropical fruitiness in this one. I didn’t get pineapple or mango from it, but the sourness could make it seem a little tropical. Good tea either way.

Backlog of notes. I ordered this as a sample, and enjoyed all 10 grams. I will order more in the future.

Pleasantly astringent, nicely offsetting flavors of passion fruit and mango. Not a floral oolong.

I imagine this would be great cold-steeped!

9Apr: And now for something completely different…
5g ish, 185F, 150 ml gaiwan

Dry leaf smells of hay and citrus. Leaves are brown and green and twisty. Damp leaves smell of papaya?
10s- fruits I can’t distinguish, 20s- pineapple, mango, papaya. Taste comes out more as it cools. Sweet. 30s – pineapple.
I like it, but it’s not a favorite. 84

I got to paint today, yay! Yesterday I tried painting and my hands were really hurting, and they are certainly not perfect yet, but I got to get some work done and this pleases me. Winter is always wicked tough on my hands, well on my body in general, so I spend a lot of the colder season busily playing video games and reading. It is my version of hibernation.

Today I am taking a look at another tea from the Satemwa Tea Estate by way of What-Cha, a very unique tea you can only get from What-Cha…seeing this I was understandably intrigued! Malawi Livingstone’s Twist & Dry Oolong Tea is a tea with some massive leaves, seriously I think this tea has the single biggest leaf I have seen in my tea. The aroma of the twisty leaves is woody, strong notes of dry oak wood and apple wood mixed with ripe juicy plums and sweet dried peaches. The aroma is surprisingly woody, which gives it a brisk quality, however the briskness is tempered by the fruity sweetness.

I gave some thought on how to brew this tea and decided to go for gongfu, several of the teas I have tried for the Satemwa Tea Estate I have brewed in my gaiwan, and none of them have disappointed me. The aroma of the soggy leaves is a bit of leather, a bit of nuttiness, and well hello there sweet fruit! It is like sniffing peach jam with hints of lychee and a finish of burnt sugar. The liquid is honey sweet with strong notes of peach and apricot jam and undertones of wood and apples. Very sweet indeed!

There is a lot happening in the first steep! It starts with a slightly dry and tingly mouthfeel and a woody blended with mineral taste. This move to thick apricot jam and dried peaches, the sweetness transforms to a gentle spinach and leather note with a lingering honey.

Second steeping, the aroma is sweet peach and apricot jam with a touch of burnt sugar and a slight spiciness at the finish. The texture of this steep is a strange blend of buttery at the front and dry at the finish. The taste starts spicy and sweet, like gently spiced cooked plums, it moves to woody, specifically apple wood and oak wood. The finish is gentle cooked plums with a lingering bit of mineral.

The aroma of the third steeping has the same fruit jam, burn sugar, and gentle spice but with a touch of woodiness at the finish. This steep is surprisingly woody, notes of apple and oak wood with gentle notes of clean soil and a finish of burnt sugar and spinach. This is an odd tea, some of the notes seem like they would contrast, but they don’t, it blends well and is a wild ride. Plus, the leaf of epic proportions makes a wonderful hat for my teapet!

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/12/what-cha-malawi-livingstones-twist-dry.html

A high oxidation oolong from Satemwa Tea Estate in Malawi via What-Cha.

This quite an interesting oolong. There’s a distinctly fruity aroma on the wet leaves, but with a savory twist. It almost smells a bit like tomato paste… but not in a bad way at all. It almost smells like a tomato pastry of some sort. This is the sort of fruited-savory-sweetness that I’ve seen in Ceylon oolongs as well.

In addition, this Malawian tea has some character that is not unlike a black tea. There’s a twinge of black tea malty aroma, but it is restrained. The body of the brewed tea is full and satisfying. Beyond those subtleties, this tea oozes sweetness. If pushed too hard, or too much leaf is used, a slight bitterness can set in, but again, its mild and totally manageable.