I am one of those people that never wins anything. I do weekly giveaways on my Instagram and I LOVE to give tea samples away! But I never WIN anything. Well, I can’t say that anymore. I entered a giveaway on Totealy’s Instagram page and actually WON! WHAT?! They sent me 4 “mystery teas” and I was so excited to open them!
When I opened this mystery bag I was greeted by an incredible sweet, milky aroma. I could have sat there and smelled it all day. In all honesty, I probably sat there for about 5 minutes. I immediately knew that it was a milk oolong and I was SO excited! I have never had the opportunity to try a milk oolong and I have always wanted to! Just my luck that my first tea from Totealy would be on my wish list! The curled tea leaves were absolutely beautiful. This was going to make an amazing cup of tea.
The instructions on the card are very clear. Steep Golden Jin Xuan at 205ºF for 1.5 minutes. It then goes on to explain that brewing for a shorter time will bring out the floral aromas and longer to bring out the creaminess. It also explains that you can brew their teas multiple times.
Since I could already smell the amazing sweetness of the florals I decided to start with their recommended 1.5 minutes. I could absolutely get the sweet floral aroma when steeped for this time. It didn’t have the creaminess that I wanted so I decided to steep again. I added 30 seconds to the same tea leaves. The flavor completely transformed. It was incredible how smooth the tea was with a perfect amount of sweetness and grassy “tea” flavor. I was able to get 4 solid steeps out of Totealy’s Golden Jin Xuan. I probably could have gotten a 5th but it had lost its creaminess.
Overall, I was thrilled with my first experience with a Milk Oolong. It was exactly as I hoped and expected. Totealy has an amazing quality Golden Jin Xuan that is wonderful from the moment I opened the bag and was engulfed in that sweet floral creaminess to each individual steep.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Totealy
Description
Our sweetest tea, Golden Jin Xuan hails from Taiwan’s Pear Mountain, where it is cultivated at 3,300 ft. After harvest, the Jin Xuan leaves are bathed in natural milk flavors, resulting in a nourishing brew for both tea newcomers and seasoned sippers alike.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Dong Ding / Eco-Cha
Is it possible that tea tastes differently for each person?
Dong Ding is a roasted leaf and said to have hickory, roasted notes. I’m on my third steeping and I’m still not finding much in the way of roasted notes.
Oh wait! I tasted some roasted notes just now!
Much longer steeping was needed in order to acquire the flavor. This is a fly by the seat of your pants steeping as the site doesn’t provide any steeping notes, nor does the bag.
However, I feel that this is the best way to drink oolong. Tasting at various times in order to fully cherish all of the flavors. The roasted notes are faint but delightful. Remind me somewhat of a hojicha.
In each sip there is a sweetness that follows into the after taste. This sweetness can also be found in the aroma. The liquid is a clear, pale yellow that looks as silky as it’s mouth feel.
Besides the roasted notes we also find slight nutty notes mixed in with floral flavors. I wouldn’t say it blows my socks off but it’s a very enjoyable brew.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Eco-Cha
Description :
Rich, hickory smoke, sweet aroma. Robust, tangy, complex roasted character. Lingering heady aftertaste.
Garden: This batch of tea comes from Yonglong Village, just above Dong Ding Mountain. Yonglong is known for its rich soil which differs from other locales in Lu Gu Township. The unique flavor of the Dong Ding Oolong produced here is attributed to this soil quality, along with the fact this region is home to the most concentrated population of skilled oolong tea artisans in Taiwan. This farm is managed by a father and son team who inherited their family tradition as artisans of Dong Ding Oolong. Their tea has been awarded first prize in the world’s largest Oolong tea competition, and they consistently achieve top awards in their local competition of traditionally made Dong Ding Oolong.
Harvest: Hand picked in small batches. Winter 2018. Yonglong, Nantou.
Elevation: 700m
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Fire Roasted Oolong / Esteemed Tea Collective
Tea packaged in a plastic bag is a big no-no for me. Wasn’t expecting much from this tea because of that but this is one of those times when one enjoys being wrong. This is a hidden gem. One of those teas that could easily be messed up at any point in the brewing process or ruined by eating while drinking. And yet… it’s such an easy tea to brew as long as you stick by it and savor every minute of it. My nose is thoroughly perplexed by the dry leaf aroma. It smelled like men’s cologne and it’s really messing with my senses. Maybe I touched something? I have no idea… So the aroma is off for me but the flavor is exceptional. The leaves are exceptional. Tightly wrapped leaves.
So far in this tasting journey it has been tasted every 20-30 seconds after the first minute. The best flavor is experienced within the first 1-2 minutes. The clear and very slightly ambered broth looks as if it would carry no taste but it has this amazing sweetness to it. A slight astringency but it’s almost not worth noting.
The website is impressive. Sleek and stylish but also somewhat Japanese in the way that everything is simple. For a purist like myself I truly love companies like these because they focus on single origin and single batch teas. No blends, just straight up tea, like it’s meant to be.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Esteemed Tea Collective
Description:
Tasting notes: Fresh flavor with a touch of roasted barley, full-bodied with a sweet long aftertaste. This tea has been lightly roasted to preserve the taste and freshness.
Mood/Benefits: A great choice after a meal to clear up your palate and aid digestion, or as a Five o’clock tea to freshen yourself up after the exhausting day. Contains high theine content (tea caffeine), vitamins and minerals.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
2018 Autumn Laoshan Green Oolong / Verdant
An aroma sweet like passion fruit custard.
Appearance twisted, crocodile skin green. Two leaves and a bud attached to a twig. Unfurl, gently, in water not so hot. The steam rises with bouquets of asparagus. They find your lips, those bouquets, and you wonder if you are not drinking a Camellia Sinensis but a Asparagus officinalis broth.
Minerality follows, slight but rounds the flavor out nicely. Cleansing mouthfeel with a bit of astringency in the aftertaste. This oolong has a much lower oxidation level then most.
Mr. He, tea master, has produced this tea to have almost the same percentage of oxidation that a Bilouchun does according to their special note included with the box.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Verdant Tea
Description:
This tea is the He Family’s answer to the challenge that oolong is only for southern China. Despite Laoshan Village only having fifty years of tea cultivation and oolong being the most technically demanding kind of tea in the world to produce, Mr. He comes through brilliantly. The careful kneading and rolling brings out a beautiful, pure expression of the minerality of the soil and the water. This tea is processed without a roast for a true green flavor of Laoshan.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Chinese Fenghuang Dancong Oolong Tea Honey Rhyme Mellow Grade One / AprTea
Ready for a tea test?
Have someone pull up this tea before you look at the type and look at a picture -What did you guess?
I chose black. Wrong. This is an oolong.
While a bit confusing in just appearance, it actually makes sense once you take a look at the processing. This is yet another superb tea by AprTea.
No aroma notes to talk about in the dry leaf. Yet it still is a nice tea to look at. Whole leaves, dark chocolate in color. Twisted with care. The best flavor comes between a minute to three and a half minutes.
The aroma cup reveals scents of sweet honeysuckle mixed with other floral hints. Silky mouth-feel with a very slight astringency in the aftertaste if steeped longer than three minutes. If steeped longer then 6 minutes… don’t do that. Just don’t.
Luckily I save a cup from my previous steep the flavor starts sweet with a mix of floral flavors spring floral leads to summer floral the longer you steep it. Longer steeps also lead to introductions with earthy tones.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Apr Tea
Description:
Fenghuang (Phoenix) Dancong Tea:The main origin place of Phoenix Dancong tea is Chaozhou Phoenix Mountain, it is rare high flavor famous tea whose natural floral tea is the most lofty, has most diverse floral types with mellow and sweet taste, special charm in our tea resources.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!