On a shop visit outing a few weeks back the shop owner, of Ju Jen in Paradise Park (in Bangkok), gave me a sample of a Thai version of Oriental Beauty / Dong Fang Mei Ren.
It's been awhile since I've drank anything related to this tea type. I've tried Thai versions before; in the notes I compare this version to those. It could be a later version from a main Thai producer, or something else. It was this shop outing:
Review:
First infusion: a little light yet, but this is really nice. The profile is just as it should be, including warm notes and cinnamon, and a fruit layer beyond that. I think it will work better unpacking that as a list next round once it opens up more. The feel is already rich and full, sweetness is great, and flavors are clean; this should be very well-balanced, intense, and refined. There is already a creaminess effect, and pleasant aftertaste, even brewed light.
Second infusion: I brewed this around 20 seconds to bump intensity and it definitely worked; it's much stronger. Some warm mineral base tone and astringency even picked up, of course mild in form. Cinnamon is really pronounced, one typical range for this category of tea. Fruit is still a bit dominated by that. It might include raisin, and a touch of citrus, along the line of dried orange or tangerine peel. Sweetness resembles honey, seemingly coupled with that warm and rich flavor.
This is pretty good. It has been quite awhile since I've tried any OB / DFMR versions but it had come up regularly in the past. A decent average or slightly above average quality version expresses pleasant flavors, good sweetness, complexity, and pleasant feel, without negative aspects, and this is at least that good. More refined versions can add even more intensity and complexity, more unusual flavor aspect range, or exceptional feel structure and aftertaste. Balancing warmer tones and lighter fruit can be quite pleasant, as this accomplishes. I'll try a slightly lighter brewed round and see how that changes effect.
It goes without saying that any brewing times are tied to proportion, that a much lower proportion 20 second infusion would be light, and with this maxed out a bit (maybe 7 grams in a 90 /100 ml gaiwan) 10 to 15 seconds is already quite a bit of infusion time. Plenty of people would brew 4 or 5 grams instead, and still stick to that 10 to 15 second infusion time, at least for early rounds.
Third infusion: this is even more pleasant brewed a little lighter; intensity comes across well, and brighter tones stand out more. It's still undergoing round to round transition, so that factored in as well. OB / DFMR doesn't tend to go through a cycle of changing a lot across rounds, but it can shift some.
That flavor list is what is showing through, cinnamon, honey, raisin, citrus, light warm mineral base, but that doesn't do justice to how pleasant or complex this tea is. Rich feel adds an extra dimension, and it carrying over to a decent range of aftertaste lengthens and deepens the experience. It's a much softer and more subtle experience than sheng pu'er blasting your palate, and carrying over to as strong an experience as tasting most teas, but it still conveys depth. A tisane or varied spice aspect or note adds a little extra complexity, bordering on warm wood tone, in a pleasant form that balances well.
Fourth infusion: shifting just a little in the proportion between those inputs but not changing too much. The dried fruit tone shifts to become a little broader, and cinnamon fades just a little. This might be closer to dried persimmon than raisin at this point.
So how good is this? Hard to specify, especially for me not trying any of this tea type for years. I think it's above average, even for Taiwanese standards, but with sourcing and tea grades varying it's hard to place what that means. Quality and value end up being related to cost (and rarity, and whatever else), and I think this is not inexpensive tea, that it would probably push on past the 50 cents a gram level. A main Thai plantation had made versions of this, and I suppose this could be that, and if so it might not be that expensive if purchased directly, but this is a good bit better than what I've tried from them of this type before. Maybe they improved processing, or it was a particularly good year? Or else this is from a much smaller producer; that would make sense.
I might mention how this could be better; that could help place it. Feel and aftertaste are pleasant, and support the overall experience, but those could be dialed up quite a bit. Intensity and complexity is fine, but this could be more refined, with even more intense fruit flavors, and distinctive spice notes (although a solid dose of cinnamon is a great start). Citrus tone can give exceptional versions a little more pop than this has. All that is splitting hairs, in relation to this being a generally pleasant and novel experience. People get hooked on trying better and better versions though, and I think as more mainstream outlet products go this already is that, but there are more exceptional versions out there.
I didn't catch the backstory for this, or even a clear price, at least one that I remember. We met in the shop where the owner had given me this sample, Ju Jen, with a few other people, and most discussion was between two or three others, and in Thai. My Thai is ok for eavesdropping a bit, and basic conversation, but I also miss a lot.
Oxidation level is normal for this, up towards the edge of black tea range, or maybe even as oxidized as a light oxidation level black tea. That's normal, and the main thing is that it works, and it does.
Fifth infusion: it's good but fading a bit; from here I'll need to push this a little harder to maintain the intensity. More oxidized or roasted teas often tend to express rich and novel flavors at the cost of not being as durable as "greener" versions. This will keep going, for a number of infusions, but it seems its basic story has already been told.
It did produce a couple of very nice rounds using longer infusion times. It's a good sign that flavor and character didn't seem off in any way, even for soaking it for awhile.
It seems like this has summarized and concluded enough already, so I'll skip adding an extra section here. It seems pretty good. Good is all relative, and there was that limited range for improvement, but this goes a bit beyond a basic decent version.
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