Summary of Tasting Notes from the last three cuppings for Week 3 of “Tea 103”:
The final three cuppings I had to do were an Orthodox Assam, 2nd Flush Darjeeling, and a lightly oxidized oolong. Regarding the oolong, my ‘prof’ said she wasn’t 100% sure what kind of oolong it was, but that the flavour profile was very similar to Tung Ting. I actually liked all three of these teas, which means when combined with the Pai Mu Tan I did earlier in the week there wasn’t a single tea I didn’t like – though I’d definitely say the darjeeling was my least favourite and the oolong my favourite.
The Orthodox Assam had very generic Assam notes; malt, cocoa, honey, etc. so nothing really particular to note with that one.
The Darjeeling displayed characteristic Darjeeling notes; a muscatel/raisin note which was really pronounced with this one and some spicier/cinnamon type notes. But the most note worthy thing was the strong metallic taste – it reminded me of pennies. When I brought this up in class today I was told I was probably interpreting the astringency and the way it made my mouth feel as metallic – and honestly I kind of felt like that generalization devalued my taste experience. I’m familiar enough with ‘astringency’ to know it when I’m experiencing it, and this brew wasn’t actually really astringent at all. More than that, what we’ve learned in class is that astringency differs from bitterness because it is a feeling and not a flavour, and I not only tasted those metallic notes but I could smell them too.
The oolong was really lovely; the quality of some of the leaves/teas we’ve cupped have been a bit questionable (I’d call out the black teas over anything else, to be honest) but this was definitely a very nice oolong. The leaves were very long, and finely twisted up and were this really beautiful dark green colour. The flavour was initially very floral, but transitioned into a smokier toasty finish with really pronounced buttery artichoke notes. Absolutely delicious! And, I get to taste the same tea again this week so I’m really excited for that.
