Laoshan Roasted Oolong is an oolong from the Laoshan Village in the Shandong Province of China. This particular oolong, if you are familiar with Verdant Teas, is from the He family tea farm. The oolong I’m tasting today is actually the 2013 harvest, but the 2014 is available for purchase at this time.
I purchased Laoshan Roasted Oolong awhile back, yet it has been elusive to me. I keep moving it in my tea stash and when I felt like I was ready to try it I couldn’t find it – this happened at least 4 times. Today I was like, “Okay, we are going to try Laoshan Roasted Oolong! I know I left it in this tin .”… and it wasn’t there. 30 minutes later I found it. Soon, I will have all my tea tins labelled and I will hopefully find all my teas!
Dry Leaf
Laoshan Roasted Oolong’s dry leaf features dark, shiny brown curls of tea with a strong roasty floral fruity scent. The contrast between roasty and fruity is like caramelized fruit with a crust to it.
Steeping Instructions
I decided to use my yixing pot for my Laoshan Roasted Oolong tea session, I love this yixing pot! I went with boiling water, 5 grams of tea and did a quick rinse to start.
Tasting of Verdant Teas’ Laoshan Roasted Oolong
First Infusion: 5 second steep time. Beautiful golden peach color! Laoshan Roasted Oolong has a deep roasty smell, like walking by a roasted chestnut street cart.
The flavor is sweet, very thick, smooth texture with bittersweet chocolate cream flavor. Laoshan Roasted Oolong has a chocolate malt finish with almost a fruity aftertaste. The chocolate malt flavor reminds me of chocolate horlicks or ovaltine, if you are familiar with those products.
Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth Infusion: Additional 5 second infusions. I think the big bad tea owl lured me into the dense woods with the tasty ovaltine drink now I’m in deep into the forest. Laoshan Roasted Oolong is very thick and rich, like a black tea or Pu’er. Flavor notes of woodsy, toasty, barky, sweet malty barley with a dark chocolate finish.
Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Infusion: Additional 10 second infusions. The thickness is staring to clear a bit with the oolong now a bit more of a caramel sweet. Laoshan Roasted Oolong has s sharp rich bark woodsy flavor and walnut nutty with a soft creamy sweet chocolate finish. I can taste a bit of a coconut sweetness and thick texture as an aftertaste. Laoshan Roasted Oolong here seems to get sweeter with each infusion, however a 3/10 Astringent Meter dryness forming and getting more drier each infusion. The dryness here lightly dries cheeks and tongue.
Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Infusion: Additional 30 second infusions. The tea is getting less and less rich thick woodsy chocolately and more light fruity sweet. I’m still getting toasty walnuts but also a yam flavor, the kind served at American Thanksgiving with the marshmallows on top. American thanksgiving food is weird. Laoshan Roasted Oolong is still moderately dry.
Twelfth and Thirteenth Infusion: Additional 1 minute infusion. Laoshan Roasted Oolong is light with sweet nut flesh, marshmallows yams and caramel note finish. The flavor isn’t very nutty now nor thick. The dryness is still going, with me having dry squirrel cheeks and teeth.
Fourteenth Infusion: “Last hurrah” 8 minute steeping. OOOOH MAN, Laoshan Roasted Oolong is really sweet – tastes just like a to roasted marshmallow smore! Vanilla sweet! Roasty thick creamy texture! Best steeping! Why is this awesome steeping the last?!
Fifteenth Infusion: “Surprise Encore” 30 minute steeping. This infusion is pretty close to infusion 14 but a bit weaker. So much vanilla marshmallow like flavor! Very delicious – I just want this infusion over and over again! Put me in a time machine! Wait, isn’t that the plot line to “Plants vs. Zombies 2?” Tea Owls vs…. coffee zombies?
Comments
To sum Laoshan Roasted Oolong: Good things come to those who wait.
I found Verdant Teas‘ Laoshan Roasted Oolong to be an interesting roasted oolong. I enjoyed the neat notes of nutty yam bark. I love the progression of this tea from thick malt to smore sweet. The finish made the tea worth taking long care to gongfu steep it.
I can see Laoshan Roasted Oolong being a great oolong for a black tea drinker. Laoshan Roasted Oolong is not vegetal like jade oolongs are and in the pretty rich, thick smooth spectrum like some black teas can be. An oolong drinker will enjoy the interesting progression of flavors.
Bonus: Hoot, I’m warming my head on the teapot!
