Dong Ding 2014

"Never judge a book by its cover"—we all know the saying. The grayish to dark brown, tightly rolled nuggets of this Dong Ding, harvested approximately in 2014 and rebaked annually since then, showcase that this applies to tea as well. If you leave it at a short sniff, you won't get much more than the deep, dark smell of ground coffee. But keep sniffing, and the full complexity of this tea will unfold like the petals of a flower: dark caramel, coffee liqueur, plum purée with cinnamon, and even some flowers in the background! The same applies to the taste. Once the initial notes of coffee subside, the intense flavor of 100% cocoa chocolate takes over, complemented by a fresh fennel spiciness and wet rock minerality. What else might there be to discover?

Written by Sven