Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Driftwood Teas
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.
Key Flavours: Ripe fruits, honey and sweet muscatel notes combine with hints of warming spices and exotic woods.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Oriental Beauty (Dong Fang Mei Ren) from Driftwood teas does what Oriental Beauty always does for me, surprises me. I am always taken aback by this tea because I adore oolong, but this is never what I expect an oolong to be! This tea is light, sweet, and fruity, with notes that lean toward muscatel, and juicy peach.
Then we have the woody and spicy notes that come forward but very subtle on the spice more strong on the woodsy notes. I do love the wood notes in this tea, it feels so natural and wonderful and makes me long to go hiking!
One thing that is a bit different from this Oriental Beauty is that the honey notes are really thick, as in lay in the back of your throat thick, and so wonderfully sweet. Also unlike some Oriental Beauty this tea does not have that drying sensation in the back of the throat. The tea coats the throat and lingers lightly with honey kissed floral notes.
I can’t mention enough how lovely these wood notes are and with the honey sweetness, and that light touch of floral and spice. This may be one of my favorite Oriental Beauty oolongs, yet I find myself saying that in almost every review I do of Oriental Beauty. Yet then I say that I normally do not gravitate toward lighter oolong. Maybe I am changing in that aspect.
Driftwood Tea certainly does bring us a wonderful example of a high quality Dong Fang Mei Ren with a light smooth taste and mouthfeel. Light, yet so very flavorful! You won’t be wishing for more flavor because this tea has it all from woodsy, sweet, fruity, spiced, and, muscatel, almost in a Darjeeling way, to apricot and floral notes.
This is truly a tea to savor through multiple steeps Gong Fu style!
Tie Guan Yin (Iron Buddha) Oolong Tea from Driftwood Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Driftwood Teas
Tea Description:
Tie Guan Yin or Iron buddha is perhaps China’s most famous Oolong. We sourced this handmade version from a small farm in Anxi County, in China’s Fujian Province, and believe this to be one of the finest Tie Guan Yins, or even teas, any of us at driftwood have ever tasted.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Lovely!
This Tie Guan Yin (or Iron Buddha) Oolong Tea from Driftwood Teas is one of the nicest of its type that I’ve yet to encounter! I’m only on my first two infusions at the moment, so time (and additional infusions) will tell whether or not that opinion remains intact … but I’m liking what I’m tasting thus far!
This first cup (the combination of infusions one and two, following a quick 10 second rinse) is light, crisp and refreshing. There are floral tones but they are not heavy or inundating, and I think that is what stands out most about this particular Tie Guan Yin … so often the floral tones are so heavy that they muddy the complexity of the cup … I like that I can taste the floral tones but they aren’t overwhelming my palate.
The flavor starts out light with a refreshing sweetness. Towards the end of the sip, I notice a nice, creamy, buttery tone that hits the palate, and lingers for a short time in the aftertaste. No bitterness and a moderate astringency. A very relaxing cup.
In the infusions that follow, the floral tones emerge … but they are still not what I would classify as heavy or inundating. I like that they are subdued and emerge slowly, so that the other notes of this tea can be enjoyed fully.
A really nice Tie Guan Yin … yep … definitely a must try!
