Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Beautiful Taiwan Tea Company
Tea Description:
This tea is a premium GaoShanCha. The special reserve teas are grown at very high elevations and take longer to grow. They take their time growing and develop a deeper, fuller flavor. This tea has a heavy liquor, it’s not dry at all or bitter. It’s very clean and refreshing. Explore this tea slowly with many infusions and you might catch such notes as butterscotch. We recommend brewing this tea gongfu style. Like our other teas, this tea is expertly grown, hand-picked, hand-processed and vacuum packed at the source! Only our face-to-face sourcing directly with farmers insures you premium quality!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Wow! This is an amazing tea!
The aroma of the dry leaf is intense. It has a strong, sweetly floral fragrance. The brewed liquid smells much softer, but I’m still able to pick up on those lovely notes of flower as well as hints of fruit.
To brew this tea, I grabbed my trusty gaiwan and measured out a little less than a bamboo scoop into the bowl of the vessel. Because of the intense fragrance, I felt comfortable using a little less leaf than I usually would and after taking my first sip, I know I made the right call. I use my instincts a lot when it comes to tea and more often than not, they have not let me down.
I performed a quick rinse (a 15 second infusion that is strained and discarded) and then infused the leaves for 45 seconds. I strained the tea into a teacup and infused the leaves a second time, this time for 1 minute. I strained the tea of the second infusion into the same teacup; hence what I am enjoying now is the combined first and second infusions.
And it is gooooood!
I drink a lot of tea. And I’ve been drinking a lot of tea for many years. For quite a few of those years, I’ve been writing about tea and before that time, I was creating my own tea blends. So, I feel comfortable in saying that I’m knowledgeable about tea. However, I certainly don’t consider myself a tea expert. I think I could be drinking tea and writing about it for double the time that I have and I’m pretty confident that there is still a great deal that I don’t know about tea. Tea is such a vast and somewhat mysterious subject. Perhaps that’s why it keeps me intrigued.
And the reason I bring that up is this: I am finding myself wondering how closely related are a ShanLinXi Oolong Tea (like this tea that I’m drinking) and an AliShan Oolong Tea? If anyone out there has some knowledge they’d like to share with me, I’d really appreciate comments in the comment section.
In the meantime, let me tell you about what I’m experiencing with this tea.
The above description suggests notes of butterscotch. And YES … I taste butterscotch! I couldn’t believe it at first. At first, I thought that my mind was playing tricks on me. But no. This tea has a lusciously sweet, delectable butterscotch-y taste to it. I don’t often experience a caramel-y/butterscotch-esque note to an Oolong like this so I find myself amazed by this tea.
Sweet. Yes, deliciously so. Smooth. No bitterness whatsoever. No astringency. No dryness at the tail. No tangy sensation. Just smooth from start to finish. When I take a sip, It’s almost as if I have one of those yummy butterscotch candies in my mouth and it’s melting over my palate.
Once my palate became accustomed to the delightful sweetness of the tea, I started to pick up on notes of flower. These are mere whispers of flower and the creaminess of the tea softens what sharpness the floral notes might bring to the cup. I am also picking up on delicate notes of spice that complement the butterscotch notes.
For my second cup, I added 15 seconds onto each subsequent infusion and combined infusions 3 and 4. This cup is less butterscotch-y than the first. Oh sure, I still taste some of those delectably sweet notes. The cup is still creamy and sweet, but I find that the distinct butterscotch has softened somewhat to allow my palate to experience the floral notes that were in the background in the first cup. I like the way the butterscotch and flowery flavors play together on the palate. It’s a really unique and delightful experience.
As I said earlier, I’ve been drinking tea for a long time but I don’t think I’ve experienced an Oolong quite like this.
Later infusions proved to be very enjoyable as well. The flavor kept going strong with each infusion – I managed eight delicious infusions! I found that with each cup, the creaminess softened somewhat from what i experienced in that first amazing cup and it was my favorite of the four cups I drank from these leaves. But the three subsequent cups were quite lovely as well and I enjoyed discovering the layers of flavor that this ShanLinXi had to offer.
If you’re an Oolong lover, this tea should be a MUST TRY on your list. Any tea drinker should try this, it’s an incredible tea!
Asian Beauty Oolong Tea from Beautiful Taiwan Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Beautiful Taiwan Tea Company
Tea Description:
Delicious! This tea is probably unlike any you’ve tried before. We think it’s absolutely pleasant and sophisticated. Lighter bodied and very smooth, you might get hints of honey and cinnamon and there’s plenty of room to explore with multiple infusions. This tea is perfect for a cold winter day or equally at home in the heat of summer. This tea is also known as Oriental Beauty or Beggars Tea. We suggest you don’t add anything to this tea as it will take from it what is already there!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I absolutely adore a good Oriental Beauty Oolong, and this Asian Beauty Oolong from Beautiful Taiwan Tea Company is very good, indeed!
If you’re familiar with my Oolong reviews, you’re probably familiar with how I approach brewing most Oolong teas, but for those who aren’t: I steeped this in my gaiwan. I measured out a bamboo scoop of tea into my gaiwan, and heated freshly filtered water to 180°F. I carefully poured into the gaiwan enough water to cover the leaves and I let them steep for about 15 seconds. Then I strained off the liquid and discarded it. I call this the “rinse” and I think that this simple little process greatly improves the flavor of Oolong teas and some other teas (such as Lapsang Souchong and Pu-erh).
Then I pour more water into the gaiwan, and allow this to steep for 45 seconds and strain the liquid into my serving cup. The cup I use holds two infusions perfectly, so I steep the leaves again, this time for 1 minute, and strain the tea into my cup. I continue this process until I feel like I’ve either had my fill of the tea for that day or until the leaves are spent, adding 15 seconds onto each subsequent infusion.
My first cup (infusions 1 and 2) is light and refreshing. It has a smooth note of honey and hints of peach. I taste a slightly woody note and notes of earth and spice. There is some astringency toward the tail. It’s a very pleasant and relaxing cup.
The second cup (infusions 3 and 4) offers a stronger flavor than the first cup. The notes of wood and earth are beginning to emerge a little more. The honey is present throughout the sip and I’m noticing the sweetness in the aftertaste. The same is true of the peach. The warm spice is still a hint of a flavor at the start of the sip, but toward the finish I taste a little more and it does linger a little into the aftertaste as well. As the tea cools slightly, I pick up on more honey notes. Nice!
With the third cup, the flavors seemed to mellow into a very seamless, united taste. The lines between the layers of flavor have been blurred to create a unified flavor that is sweet, fruity, a little bit earthy and a little bit warm. I think this third cup is my favorite, because the flavors have all become a little less less focused, so I’m able to enjoy the soft texture of the cup and the sweetness seems to be emphasized more now.
I really enjoyed this tea. It was beautifully flavored. This is the tea I’d recommend to those that find Oolong to be a little too “flowery” for their taste. This is more fruity and honeyed than it is floral. It’s best served hot, but allow the cup to cool slightly so that those honey notes pop. It’s alright when it’s cold/iced … but the flavors are much more distinct when the tea is warm.