Monday, December 31, 2007
Posted by Miss Neddy at 08:45 AM | Comments (1) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Wulong

Dong Ding is both the name of a tea, and the name of a mountain in the Nantou region of Taiwan, in Lugu (Deer Valley) (鹿谷). This is where the first tea plants were supposed to have been brought over from China and planted, more than 120 years ago. The name of the mountain means “Frozen Peak”, and the high altitude, cool weather, and bright morning sunshine are optimal conditions for the growing of tea.

Dong Ding tea is a superb example of a Taiwan wulong, being light, refreshing, and bearing a sweet aroma. The colour of the leaves should be like mottled jade, the brown fermentation marks on the leaves not immediately obvious. Good Dong Ding leaves are roughly spherical when dried, and fairly large for wulong. The colour of the tea should be fairly pale yellow, carrying a light nectar-like fragrance, with the best Dong Ding also subtly floral in scent.

Tea dust in the tea should be minimal, no more than a light pinch when poured into a cup, and any flecks of tea dust should look green, not dark. Dong Ding should glide down the throat smoothly, leaving a soft but distinctive nectar flavor in the mouth. The fragrance should be faint but clinging and not dissipate too soon. Dong Ding lacks the slight astringency of Gaoshan (High Mountain) or the imperiousness of Tie Kuan Yin, which makes it easy to drink for extended periods of time. A good Dong Ding, as most good teas, should tolerate multiple steepings, each subsequent steeping becoming slightly lighter in colour and fragrance, but the taste of the tea should lighten but not turn bland until after several steepings. The soft, subtle fragrance of the tea may seem unremarkable at first, but it is a tea that will grow on you, slowly and surely.

Unlike its name, this is a tea that seems to contain the warmth and sweetness of springtime, but releases the taste and fragrance lightly and subtly.

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