Greek Mountain Tea from Klio Organic. . . . .

My family carries on the old school art of drying flowers to “preserve” the heartwarming memory from when they were given, and this bag of Greek Mountain Tea from Klio Organic is a full on bouquet of petite yellow love from Mount Olympus!

The thick flowering stems smell of basil, and crushed mint, but feel fuzzy like sage leaves versus the roughness of traditional camellia Sinensis tea leaves. Quite a bit smaller as well, with dozens of tiny pale flowers, light green buds and silver glistening leaves.

I brewed at 175 F and immediately the scent morphs towards the hints of sage I got earlier. There are a lot of essential oils on top, and a good amount of natural sweetness in this veridian brew that would probably be fine for most folks, especially given the light citrus aftertaste. My sweet tooth, however, preferred to add a few drops of plain stevia.

Being naturally caffeine free, this is a mind clearing tea, as it’s unique flavors make you step away from the daily grind and focus on the surprise in your mug.


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Klio Organic

This variety, Sideritis Scardica, comes from the legendary Mount Olympus, in the Balkans, situated between Thessaly and Macedonia. It has been tested for antioxidants by Brunswick Labs, (www.brunswicklabs.com) the leader in bio-analtyical testing. It has a mild and very pleasant taste and aroma.

One ten ounce serving of our certified organic Mount Olympus Greek Mountain Tea has an ORAC 5.0 antioxidant score of 6,600 and 160mg of polyphenols.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Jade Oolong from Little Red Cup Tea Co.

I was looking for a greener tasting oolong and I think I have found just that in this Jade Oolong from Little Red Cup Tea Co.

Not only does this Jade Oolong from Little Red Cup Tea Co. taste like a greener oolong it also has beautiful floral flavors on the end sip and a very pretty aroma from start to finish.  It has a glowing gold color of tea liquor that sloshes in the cup.  This was delightful sipping hot, cool, or cold!  The cooler or colder it gets the more I can taste the floral notes.

If you haven’t had a good, solid Jade Oolong in a while try Jade Oolong from Little Red Cup Tea Co. and even if you have it’s a great time to compare it with others because I find this one to be exceptional!


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Little Red Cup Tea Co.

lrc-wide-logoDescription:

Jade Oolong (Wu Long, 乌龙) is a marvelous mountain-grown tea from western Hunan Province. It has an appealing aroma, a beautiful green color and a forceful presence. It has a taste profile characteristic of greener oolongs, complex and just a little woody.

Our Jade Oolong is pure whole leaf organic Chinese tea, Fair Trade certified, and utterly delicious. This is a tea to be enjoyed on a regular basis, but also a tea to bring out for special occasions. It is at once familiar and yet a cut above ordinary oolongs, a tea we are certain you will love.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Milky Jinxuan High Mountain Oolong from Oollo Tea

MilkyJinxuanTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Oolong

Where to Buy:  Oollo Tea

Tea Description:

The true milky Jinxuan oolong tea with natural cream milk accent and luscious texture. The Alishan family farms tea trees that were bought from our family in 1990. They practice zero pesticide natural farming.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

It’s no big secret that I absolutely adore a good Milky Oolong tea.  This Milky Jinxuan High Mountain Oolong from Oollo Tea is one of the very best I’ve tried thus far.  It’s so delightfully sweet and creamy but the creaminess isn’t heavy.  It’s not overwhelming my palate.

I love the texture to this first cup (infusions 1, 2 & 3 – yes three infusions in one cup, I’m using a smaller gaiwan today), it’s very silky and softly creamy.  Smooth!

The flavor is sweet with notes of orchid.  It’s not sharply floral because the creamy buttery taste helps soften the floral taste without overpowering this delightful flowery essence.  It’s not bitter or astringent.  It’s just … lovely.  Oh so delightful.

My second cup (infusions 4 – 6) still has some of that silky texture, although much of the milky taste has waned.  This is much more floral than the first cup.  It’s sweet with spun sugar notes.  I taste light vegetal notes to this too.  I am also tasting a light nutty flavor that almost tastes “popcorn” like to me.  As the tea cools slightly, some of the creamy notes seem to develop so it’s not completely without that milky note.

My third cup (infusions 7 – 9) was softer in flavor than the second.  Not as creamy as either the first or second cup, but still beautifully floral with more nutty flavors and even a hint of peach can be detected!  I still get that light, spun-sugar type of flavor that I really like.

What a lovely tea!

Limited Edition AliShan High Mountain Black Tea from Oollo Tea

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  Oollo Tea

Tea Description:

Alishan Mountain is known for its amazing mountain oolong teas however it also produces small limited batches of black teas. This particular 2014 harvest brews a prominent cacao chocolate flavour with wooden musky aroma.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

Ohhh … lovely!  This Limited Edition AliShan High Mountain Black Tea from Oollo Tea is absolutely wonderful – just exactly the tea that I needed this afternoon!

This isn’t as robust a black tea as an Assam or even a Ceylon might be.  Instead, imagine an AliShan Oolong meets a top-quality Fujian black tea.  That’s what this tastes like to me – like the love child of a marriage between an AliShan Oolong and a Fujian Black.

I get those sweet notes of cacao that I’d taste in a Fujian Black but I get the soft, almost creamy body of an AliShan Oolong.  It’s rich and full-flavored but not as robust and aggressive as a typical black tea.

And it’s smooth!  Oh so smooth.  I am getting very little astringency and no bitterness.  I taste notes of a woodsy flavor and the aforementioned cacao.  Hints of sweet, buttery caramel.  Notes of flower and peach.

A truly remarkable tea.  This is the kind of black tea that I’d recommend for afternoon tea drinking – it isn’t as robust as I would want from a breakfast tea.  But don’t let that dissuade you from trying this tea – because you really should try this tea.  It’s so good!

Sky High Oolong from Dachi Tea

skyhighOolongTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Oolong

Where to Buy:  Dachi Tea

Tea Description:

Fresh and delicately balanced with a lotus flower and magnolia bouquet aroma, the semi-oxidized Sky High Oolong is the original High Mountain Oolong. The Sky High Oolong is notable for retaining its nutrients and the flavors of the unspoilt environment in which it is grown. Soft elements of crisp mountain air, natural earth and spring water pair well with its smooth mouthfeel and sweet aftertaste.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

This is my fourth and final tea to try from Dachi Tea’s inaugural collection – Sky High Oolong.  As I often do, I saved the one that I thought I’d enjoy most for last.  The name of this tea suggested to me that this would be an AliShan and indeed, it is!  And you know how much I love me some AliShan Oolong!

Oh!  My!  Goodness!

I’ve tried many Alishan High Mountain Oolong teas in my years as a tea reviewer, and I’ve loved all that I’ve tried.  At least, I can’t think of any that I disliked.  But this Sky High Oolong from Dachi Tea might just be the very best Alishan High Mountain (not to be confused with Jin Xuan Oolong) that I’ve yet to try.  If not the best – then it is in the top three and one that YOU SHOULD TRY for yourself!

skyhighOolong1

To brew this tea, I measured 1 bamboo scoop of leaf into the bowl of my gaiwan.  Then I heated the water to 180°F.  For the rinse, I poured in just enough of the heated water to cover the leaves (the gaiwan was about 1/3 full) and I let the leaves steep for 15 seconds and then strained the liquid off the leaves and discarded it.  Then I filled the gaiwan with heated water and let the rinsed leaves steep for 45 seconds.  For each subsequent infusion, I added 15 seconds onto the steep time.

I strained each infusion into my YiXing mug that is designated for AliShan Oolong.  The mug is large enough to hold at least 4 infusions and sometimes I can fit 5 infusions.  This time, I stopped at 4 infusions.

My first cup (infusions 1 – 4) is absolutely EXQUISITE!  It’s creamy and buttery.  Not quite as milky as I’d experience from an AliShan Jin Xuan, this has more of a silky, buttery taste and texture than a heavy cream flavor/texture.

There is a lovely floral tone to this cup.  The Dachi website suggests a balance between the flower of a lotus and magnolia blossoms, and I’m inclined to agree with that assessment, although every once in a while I also pick up on a note that is distinctly honeysuckle-ish.  The sweet floral notes are really beautiful.

Something that I’ve picked up with this particular AliShan that I don’t often notice with AliShan Oolongs is a light ‘crispness’ that evokes thoughts of the air you might ‘taste’ when hiking in the mountains.  That clean, exhilarating freshness that you’d experience from the air that surrounds you on such an excursion.

Further, the texture of this, while it is indeed creamy/buttery/silky – it isn’t a heavy texture that you might experience in another Alishan Oolong – it doesn’t feel heavy and ‘coating’ to the palate.  It feels rather clean and light.  In the aftertaste, I pick up on light mineral-y notes.

My second cup was a little lighter in texture than the first cup.  This cup isn’t quite as creamy but I found that with the lighter texture, some of those floral notes really emerged strongly.  This is a delightfully floral cup – light and refreshing – with an incredibly smooth character.  I get next to no astringency and no bitterness, just a very smooth flavor that is floral and sweet.  The aftertaste is sweet with only hints of the mineral notes I noticed with the first cup.

If I were to have to choose which cup I preferred, I’d say the first, only because I really enjoyed that silky creaminess, but I like this second cup too.  I love the floral notes.  About mid-cup, I start to notice a subtle fruit note that evokes thoughts of peach and just a hint of sweet citrus.

Overall, a truly amazing tea experience from Dachi.  If you’re a fan of AliShan tea – this should be on your “MUST TRY” list!