Dark Roast 10 Year Aged Tieguanyin

My love affair with roasted oolong tea began a year ago when I tried Dark Roast 10 year aged tieguanyin from Verdant Tea for the first time.  I enjoyed oolong tea before that but roasted oolong is definitely a tea in its own category.  The strong floral notes of regular oolong take a back seat to the bold, full bodied flavour of the roasted kind.  It is a very different tea indeed.

This roasted oolong I like to prepare by a gong fu method in part because I'm never satisfied with just one or two steeps.  I like to have it over and over again.

I use boiling water and 7 grams per 6 ounces of tea leaves.

I steep it many times starting with very short steeps of 3, 6 and 10 seconds each.  At this point the liquid is light brown and the taste is roasty, fruity with a hint of floral notes.  Afterwards I continue increasing the steep times until I get bored or there is little flavour left.  At the 30 second mark the tea is dark brown with rich, roasty, full body flavour and a hint of caramel.

Currently my stash is at dangerously low level.  Fortunately, after checking Verdant Tea website I was able to confirm that this incredible tea is in stock. Let me tell you how much my heart jumped for joy when I saw it listed.  I will have to re-order soon.  Dark Roast 10 year aged Tieguanyin has become a staple in my tea cupboard.