I’m on an oolong kick! When am I not on an oolong kick? Behind the scenes here at oolong owl there is quite a bit of oolong being consumed, though pu’er is high on the list! Today’s oolong is a fancy high end one – Dong Ding Jade Oolong tea, sold by Palais Des Thes! This tea is from Taiwan and is hand rolled which is pretty cool as hand rolling takes quite a bit of effort! Dong Ding Jade Oolong is from Palais Des Thes Grand Cru line of rare and limited stock teas.
Dry Leaf
This Dong Ding Jade Oolong is super fragrant smelling of floral and sweet. The dry leaf is tightly rolled balls of oolong.
Steeping Instructions
Palais Des Thes has the steeping instructions at 194f for 5 to 7 minutes for a western style steeping. However for $42 for 3.5 oz of tea I rather gong fu steep it to get out every bit of flavor out of this oolong. With that said, I did a 200F water temperature, rinse and started the infusion at 20 seconds.
Tasting of Palais Des Thes’ Dong Ding Jade Oolong
First Infusion: The colour of Dong Ding Jade Oolong is a pretty pale yellow cream. The scent of my cup is amazing as it is super crazy fragrant floral like I got hit by the cosmetics counter of teas. I hate perfumey cosmetics counters but would love to walk through a tea one!
Taste of Dong Ding Jade Oolong is smooth, thick, creamy and sweet from a fruity Asian pear note. The tea is moderately floral, 4/10 on the Floral Meter. The floral is a little jasmine and baby’s breath which add a nice delicate feel over the thick texture. Very delicious first infusion.
Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth Infusion: I did quick infusions here, 10 seconds added to each infusion. The colour got a bit darker yellow. These infusions of Dong Ding Jade Oolong taste more floral – 6/10, the floral is potent but not crazy town floral. The brew is still milky sweet under the the delicate floral, however now with notes of leafy vegetables, sweet peas, acidic and sweet fruit notes of pear.
Sixth and Seventh Infusion: I increased the steep time to 30 seconds. The tea has shifted to be much sweeter and mellow. It is still delicate creamy floral and little vegetal. A little dryness has developed at the end, 1/10 Astringency that sticks to the tip of my tongue. This infusion reminds me of a really good white tea but with massively more body and texture.
Eighth and Ninth Infusion: With these final steepings, I did longer infusions, adding 1 minute. The flavor is soft sweet floral and white pear with a dry finish, 4/10 Astringency giving me dry cheeks. I find the floral is lighter and delicate giving a soft feeling and contrasts the dry finish which grounds one back to earth.
The leaves look pretty good. Most of them are a moderate size with a few small cute ones. All intact.
Comments
Palais Des Thes’ Dong Ding Jade Oolong is a real treat for oolong lovers who love a delicate, floral tea. This one has great creamy body and lots of flavor! I think this tea would be very friendly for white and green tea lovers to branch into oolong. The quality is quite nice and very easy to drink, especially in the early infusions.
I love the delicateness of this Dong Ding, the pear notes and the milky texture. I did enjoy the light dryness at the end which brings one back from the heavenly perfume cloud and back to earth. This tea does have a high price point as it is from the Palais Des Thes Grand Cru line, but is an awesome tea when you want to treat yourself to something lovely.
(tea provided for review)
