The first ever Old Ways Tea Club box! This tea subscription is every two months, started in 2020 October. Old Ways Tea says on average each box will have 125 grams of tea, priced at $45, including shipping. Primarily, the Old Ways Tea club will be oolong and black teas.
The 2020 October club box has 185 grams of tea, all oolongs. I actually quite like this 2 month tea club model as I got plenty of time to drink these and not get swamped.
2015 Da Hong Pao
Of all the teas in the club, 2015 Da Hong Pao is still in the shop at a good price of $21 for 100 grams.
The leaves have a heavily roasted nut and raisin scent. I went hard on leaf here, around 1 gram of leaf per 12ml, filling my gaiwan. Steeped up, the leaves continue with a sweet fruity but roasted scent.
Upfront, 2015 Da Hong Pao is potent (probably because I made it very strong!) and the flavor is mouth watering sweet plum skins, smooth roasted nuts, and wood bark finish and aftertaste. After a few moments, a soft floral plum emerges from the aftertaste. Some sips have a creamy vibe to them. The broth is dense and balmy, causing some salivation.
After six infusions, 2015 Da Hong Pao is starting to wane with some astringency present to dry out the back of my tongue. It is still cranking out a lovely smooth nutty plum and roasted notes and aftertaste.
Overall, Old Ways Tea’s 2015 Da Hong Pao has an excellent balance of fruit and nut, good mouthfeel, and resteep ability – a consistent workhorse of a Da Hong Pao.
2019 Tongmu Da Hong Pao
A Tongmu material Yancha? Whoa! 2019 Tongmu Da Hong Pao has a woodsy and roasted scent.
For the rest of these teas, I followed the directions going 8 grams in a ~100ml gaiwan steeped with boiling water. After a rinse, the leaves have a plum and date vibe to it.
2019 Tongmu Da Hong Pao is a wild mix of milky, lots of dark and rich wood, stone fruit, dark roast, with a bit of tannic. The aftertaste is a bruised plum and apricots that gets sweeter with each iteration. Some sips are a bit of a soapy floral, but the main flavor is dark walnut wood. The texture is slick but there is a bit of astringency adding a bit of a sticky feel.
Old Way’s Tea’s 2019 Tongmu Da Hong Pao is quite consistent across the infusions, but these flavors are awesome with the dark richness of this woodsy tea, which clears to a sweet stone fruit flavor. Steeped longer than usual slams a strong plummy flavor with a dry bite, with twigs. The final infusions have a somewhat sourness to it that reminds me of aged tea somehow. It doesn’t get bitter nor any more astringent despite seven infusions.
2019 Tongmu Da Hong Pao is intriguing – great for those who love black tea or your oolongs dark and mysterious. Aged tea die hards would actually like this one too due to some mysterious aged flavors. What an interesting tea to include in the club!
2020 Dan Gui
The leaves have a sweet floral scent, but in a hot gaiwan, it smells nutty. After a rinse, the leaves switch to smelling fruity.
Immediately I notice how thick and creamy the texture the 2020 Dan Gui has. Dan Gui has this nutty, woody, peachy flavor with a plummy aftertaste. Some sips have a bitter cinnamon bark essence to it.
At the fourth infusion, the tea switched to a citrus floral here, like osmanthus, but potently bitter with a sharp taste of peach pits. After the fourth infusion, the intensity faded to pave way for less bitter, but more fruity notes. The aftertaste is a big strong peach skin and citrus floral.
For the final seventh and eighth infusions, Dan Gui is still fruity and floral but shifted to a stewy herbal bitterness. The last infusion I steeped for 15 minutes and it had little flavor but a good level of fruity aftertaste and aroma.
I love the fruity aroma and aftertaste in this tea! The roast was also well done to enhance the woody notes without going over. Out of all the teas in the 2020 October Old Ways Tea club, 2020 Dan Gui was my favorite.
2020 Zhang Ping Shui Xian
Oh, this is what I call a “pillow oolong”, I love these! I own two big bags of Zhang Ping Shui Xians as they are great for travel, gifting, and they are fun to steep.
The 2020 Zhang Ping Shui Xian in the Old Ways Tea’s club has a strong floral scent.
I didn’t rinse here, but I did around a 45 second steep to start, then went in with the teapot nose picker tool to carefully pry the pillow open, and finally another 10 second infusion.
This is a floral bomb – lots of orchids, with some mineral rocks, and a hint of rock sugar. The orchid aroma wafts up my sinuses as I drink. Each steeping develops more of a spinach note and astringency and a stronger everlasting orchid aroma. The texture is a bit silky on the lips, with a bit of astringency with every infusion. I got six infusions in total.
2020 Zhang Ping Shui Xian “pillow oolong” is what one would think those blooming teas should taste like – lots of pretty floral matching the impressive looks. This 2020 Zhang Ping Shui Xian is fresh, vibrant, and floral, making me lust for spring teas.
(teas provided for review, but I also subscribed as I reliably need this tea club in my life)
