Rare Leaves Black Pearl - Single Estate Taiwanese Dark Roasted Oolong Tea

I recognize the price of this tea isn't for the faint of heart, so I am going VERY in-depth on this review in case it helps someone make a decision. But for a TL;DR:

On first open, the dry tea has a two-note scent of musk at the back of your palate and a delicate fragrance at the front that reminds me of jasmine rice. The taste steeped is markedly different, losing the (very slight) floral fragrance to settle more on the deep roasted notes. It has a buttery, nutty kind of follow-through, like malted barley, and ends on the slightest twinge of a honeyed sweet note. Yes, it is delicious. No, it won't make you or the oolong-hater in your life change their mind about oolong. This tea definitively tastes like oolong. Very good, pristine quality oolong, but still oolong. For anyone else, if you are an oolong lover, I highly recommend splurging on this tea at least once for the experience.

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I was positively giddy to try this tea. Of "pure" teas, oolong is beaten only by pu'erh, in my opinion, in regards to complexity and synchronicity of flavors. But unlike pu'erh, that complexity won't hit you the very second it passes your lips. Rather, you need to take your time and savor and let the flavors build. This oolong is no different, though the roast definitely comes through immediately and gives the leading flavor for the rest of the notes to follow. After the first few sips, you start to get a lovely buttery-nutty flavor which in turn after another few sips and/or resteeping…

I'll admit that the price initially put me off; quality tea is a luxury for me. However, AU is always excellent about working with customers if the tea isn't what they were hoping for, and this, plus my enjoyment of their Eventide roasted oolong emboldened me to try my luck. Glad I did!

My first hot steep resulted in a great flavor that reminded me very much of my grandmother's shortbread; almost buttery, without being heavy. There was no astringency, and only became brisk as it cooled. I did a second steep with the hope that it would retain its flavor, as many AU teas do on a second round, but was actually quite surprised; it was like I had brewed an entirely different tea! It was lighter and significantly more floral and slightly fruity; no hint of shortbread to be found! It was such an unexpected and delightful contrast that I did the same thing the following day in case it was a fluke, but I found the experience repeated itself. This is, to me, is where the real value comes in with this tea; it's a real "2 for 1" investment with contrasting experiences each steep. This is a feature I've only encountered a handful of times, and always with high quality tea. I'm very excited that this is one of them!

PS- I usually don't comment or care about the packaging of teas as long as it retains freshness over time. However, this is a pretty sleek modern container that is quite eye-catching and makes the rest of my tea collection look a little shabby in comparison! If AU ever…