DeRen Tea Jasmine Oolong, Spring 2100

I finally got around to trying my sample of Jasmine Oolong from DeRen Tea, and I'm sorry to say that I was a bit underwhelmed.

The first infusion

As you can see, it produces a cup of light-to-medium strength oolong, with a pleasant jasmine aroma. The down side is that this tastes exactly like my Yamamotoyama Jasmine Green Tea. It has the same taste, right down to the lingering slightly-bitter after taste. A quick price check showed that it is also a more expensive tea than the YMY jasmine, which is kind of disappointing. The only real benefit that was present was that it was much harder to burn this tea, so it wasn't as bitter, and that it held its flavor longer (about 7 infusions), unlike the YMY tea (5 infusions).

When it's all said done, this is a rather nice tea,  but it is nothing particularly special. For a beginning tea drinker, this is nice because it is easy to prepare, but it's something I don't plan on buying again.

Blogging about tea

I decided to start this blog as another was to chronicle my steps into the wider world of tea. I started by ordering some sample packs and some personal favorites, but I must admit that my setup is rather unsophisticated. I have a stainless steel tea ball I got from Stash, a rather stained and well-used mug from Switzerland, and a Black & Decker electric kettle. It is also unlikely that I will be acquiring a more traditional teaset anytime soon, see as college is a rather significant drain on my resources.

Also, I should probably mention that I have a profile on Steepster, under the name Joshua Smith. I actually posted a few ratings there, but I plan to post all futre rating here as well, along with more details and picture. If any of you are members there, feel free to pm me or follow me.

Regardless, I plan on posting my first review sometime this weekend, and it will either be for DeRen Tea's Tie Guan Yin (Traditional Style), or their Jasmine Oolong.