Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: T-Oolong Tea
Tea Description:
This quality Hsin Chu Oriental Beauty Oolong (#3) is from a very experienced tea farmer. This tea is all natural, handpicked, handcrafted and produced from Qingxin Dapa varietal grown in Hsin Chu county in Taiwan. The aroma and taste of this tea is very fruity, rich, complex and satisfying, and the aftertaste is fruity, sweet and long lasting. It is a very enjoyable Oriental Beauty we recommend.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
While Ali Shan tends to be my favorite type of Oolong tea, I’m still rather fond of Oriental Beauty Oolong teas, and I’m really enjoying this Hsin Chu Oriental Beauty Oolong #3 from T-Oolong Tea. I love the fruity quality of this Oriental Beauty! So sweet and delicious!
It is a delightfully complex Oriental Beauty, with delectable fruit overtones that are reminiscent of a sweet, tree-ripened plum, bursting with juicy flavor. There are very subtle hints of earth and wood to this cup as well, and I like the way these notes add to the depth of the overall cup. My first few sips, I could have sworn I tasted a vague smokiness to the tea as well, but, now that I’ve finished my first cup (infusions 1 and 2) and working on my second cup (infusions 3 and 4) I find that the smokiness has disappeared, and it makes me question whether or not I actually tasted a smoky tone or if it was just my imagination.
I love how the flavors develop with this tea. The first cup was light and smooth, and the second cup seems to be richer in flavor. It is still remarkably smooth though. It has a silky mouthfeel. The aftertaste is sweet and lingers. The third cup (infusions 5 and 6) is smoother than either the first or second cup, and the flavors seem to have married into a more seamless kind of taste.
Each new infusion brings a new adventure, and that is why I love Oolong teas. This one is definitely worth trying – and it is one I’d recommend to those that tend to shy away from Oolong teas because of their strong floral notes. This one is much more fruit-like than floral. It’s a beautiful, contemplative cup.
Yunnan Beauty Oolong Tea from Mandala Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Mandala Tea
Tea Description:
This tea is a variation on a Taiwanese oolong named “Oriental Beauty”, utilizing large-leaf wild arbor Yunnan grown leaves. Nearly black leaves and silver tips impart a dark, sweet, wine-like flavor unto the water. Great no matter how you choose to brew it. This tea is quickly becoming a favorite in the tea thermos. It will keep well and develop new flavors over 2-3 years.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This Yunnan Beauty Oolong Tea from Mandala Tea is a very forgiving tea! I accidentally brewed it at too high a temperature (boiling water!) because the sampling that I received said “Yunnan” and I saw leaves that were large and black and I thought … Alright, this is a black tea. So I brewed it the way I would normally brew a black Yunnan!
But the flavor is amazing, regardless of this oversight on my part. The flavor is sweet, rich, and has a lovely woody tone to it. The sweetness is fruity with notes of molasses. I also notice a toasty nutty taste to this as the tea starts to cool down a little bit … still warm, but, not quite as hot as it was when I started sipping. A hint of caramel also weaves its way through the sip every once in a while, too.
There is a very pleasing sweet wine-esque note, complete with a muscatel-ish taste that … had I tasted this without knowing what it was, I might have guessed a Darjeeling, or at least an Oolong that was grown in the Darjeeling region. After reading my Sister’s review (Azzrian!) of this tea, I see that she’s probably not going to agree with that last part, but, that’s OK. Since I brewed this tea “wrong” … perhaps the way I infused the tea brought out the flavors I’m experiencing.
The mouthfeel is silky smooth. This is one of those teas that I’d want to brew up a big pot of, and just keep sipping on all day long. The leaves will submit several infusions as well, so be sure to resteep!
A really delightful tea from Mandala, I’d recommend this to all Oolong enthusiasts out there – it’s a deliciously different Oolong that will delight your palate!
Oriental Beauty from Zi Chun Tea Co.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Zi Chun Tea Co.
Tea Description:
This exotic “Champagne of Tea” is probably the most fascinating of all the oolong teas. Its rich taste & sweet, smooth honey aroma gives it a unique flavor, not unlike a fine mellow, black tea.Its processing is characterized by heavy oxidation (60% to 70%) and heavy withering (13% to 25%). The oxidation process is initiated before the leaves are plucked by nature’s assistance in the form of small insects biting the tender leaves. See this article in T Ching for more information on this amazing tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’m really enjoying this Oriental Beauty from Zi Chun Tea Company. Of course, that comes as no surprise to me, because I love Oriental Beauty Oolong teas!
What never ceases to amaze me though, is just how amazing the flavor is of an Oriental Beauty. It’s so different from other Oolong teas. It has a bright fruit taste, rather than a floral one (although there are some floral tones), and this particular Oriental Beauty offers not just a sweet fruit note, but also a compelling and contrasting sour note, providing a very savory tea experience.
I brewed this the way I typically brew an Oolong – in my gaiwan! – using short steeping times. I start with a quick rinse (10 – 15 seconds), discarding the liquid, and then I steep the first infusion for 45 seconds. I pour this into my cup, and then I add the water to my gaiwan for the second infusion. I add 15 seconds to each subsequent infusion, so this second infusion is steeped for a minute. After a minute has lapsed, I pour the liquid into the same cup as my first infusion, combining the two infusions. I like to combine the infusions, as it makes for a very satisfying tea flavor. Each infusion of an Oolong tends to have slightly different qualities, and when I combine the two infusions this way, it provides a rich, lovely flavor.
Subsequent infusions of this Oolong reveal slightly more floral notes, but these are slight. I find that the fruit tone remains strong here, and by the third and fourth infusions, I start to notice a honey-esque note emerge. This gets stronger with the third cup (infusions five and six). By this time, the flavors have become more seamless, and the sour tones have softened significantly. It is a very soothing tea to drink.
I really enjoyed this Oolong – it truly is a beauty!
Oriental Beauty Tea (Dong Fang Mei Ren) from Driftwood Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Driftwood Tea
Tea Description:
Oriental Beauty is also know by several other names including: Dong Fang Mei Ren; White Tip Oolong; and Champagne Oolong. Whatever name it goes by this is perhaps Taiwan’s most special tea and cited by many connoisseur as one of the world’s finest.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is a rather unusual Oriental Beauty – and I mean that in a very good way.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Oriental Beauty Oolong teas, they are one of my favorite Oolong varieties, but, I have come to expect certain things with Oriental Beauty and this one surprised me with some of the flavors I’m tasting here.
Normally, I expect a strong essence of a fuzzy, ripe peach, and I do detect some peach-y notes here, but I’m also tasting a strong muscatel note – so much so that it’s almost Darjeeling-esque! It tastes of fermented grapes, with a hint of wood and musk, and a sweet, apricot/peach note.
The aroma of the brewed tea offers a floral note as well as a woody tone, but I don’t taste a strong floral essence. There are some flowery notes to the flavor, but, the majority of the floral tones remain in the fragrance, and do not translate so much into the flavor.
But that’s alright, because I’m loving the way the flavors come together in this cup, with its strong fruity presence and background notes of wood and musk, hints of spice and whispers of flower. It’s a beautifully complex cup, and offers some surprises to what I expected might be an ordinary cup of Oriental Beauty tea. And while there’s nothing wrong with the typical cup of Oriental Beauty – I love Oriental Beauty Oolong! – it’s nice to have a tea challenge me and question what I thought I knew about this tea!
I love this!
Taiwan Oriental Beauty Oolong Tea from Nuvola Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Nuvola Tea
Tea Description:
Oriental Beauty Tea is a full-flavoured tea with an extraordinarily rich fruity aroma, and a floral and honey sweet finish. It is an awesome tea to relieve anxiety and boosts your energy level. A few drops of Brandy could add a champagne-like note to create a bright alternative out of this great tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This! This is the flavor that I tasted with my very first cup of Oolong so many years ago. This is the flavor that I first fell in love with when I tasted it. And for many years that followed, this is the tea that I thought WAS Oolong. That is to say, I didn’t realize that there was a whole world of Oolong teas out there. I thought that this was it – and I was fine with that because this was so AMAZING that I didn’t need anything else.
Since that time, of course, I have discovered that there is an immense world of Oolong teas out there. So many delicious options for many different types of tea drinkers – whether you favor a roasty-toasty flavor, or a floral flavor, or a fruity flavor to your Oolong. I personally like all three of these options, but I must say that Oriental Beauty Oolong will always hold a very special place in my heart if for no other reason than the fact that it did introduce me to the world of Oolong.
However, there are so many other reasons to love this Oriental Beauty! The sip starts out sweet – almost like a cross between brown sugar and honey! This sweetness touches the palate for just a moment before the other flavors introduce themselves. I notice next the intense peach-like flavor that matches the peach and apricot aroma of the tea. Then, there is a sharp floral tone that contrasts beautifully with the sweet peaches and indulgent honey-esque tones. This floral note leads the palate into the finish, with just a hint of the honey tones that linger into the aftertaste. The aftertaste is very delicately sweet – but very enjoyable.
This is such a lovely Oriental Beauty Oolong – one that has managed to relax and calm me after a busy day. It is a restorative tea that allows me to collect my thoughts, and just enjoy the moment.