Leaf Type:
Oolong
Where to Buy:
Fong Mong Tea on Ebay Tea
Description:
Located between Xitou and Ali Mountain in central Taiwan – Nantou County, Sun-Link-Sea is famous for its amazing “sun links sea” scenery. Situated at an altitude of approximately 1600 – 1800 meters, Sun-Link-Sea has an average temperature of 20 degree Celsius all year long. Sun-Link-Sea tea tree mountains, not as high as other high-mountain tea tree ones though, with their distinctive geographic environment, gestate another different fragrance and taste which is another characteristic fine tea of Taiwan high-mountain teas.
Tasters Review:
I have been doing some real soul searching lately! And in conjunction with my favorite time of the year – SUMMER – this tea has certainly helped me along my journey! I LOVE Sun and with a name like Sun and Sea – I don’t think you could go wrong! This is a beautiful named tea for a beautiful tasting loose leaf!
It’s incredibly refreshing and hydrating! It makes your mouth water! It’s near ‘milky’ but has a bit of sugar snap peas type taste in the end-sip! It’s lovely! It’s a great sipping tea or a gorgeous gulping tea! It’s might fine hot or cold! It’s a pure delight!
Taiwan Pou Chong from Fong Mong Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pouchong
Where to Buy: Fong Mong Tea on eBay
Tea Description:
Lightly fermented and also lightly baked, Pou Chong Oolong Tea preserves the most freshness than any other Oolong teas. Fresh tea leaves contain a large number of beneficial elements to human body. Pou Chong Oolong Tea is produced under the most original tea-making procedure, reserving the maximum and most natural fresh nutritions, without any additives, which you can absorb the most essence of the nature, and is also the finest companion to leisure life and health.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
It’s been a while since I’ve had a Pouchong, and it is one of those teas that … every time I do have it … I find myself wondering why it has been so long for me to revisit it. It is so delightful, similar and yet unlike other Oolong teas. And this Pou Chong from Fong Mong Tea is absolutely amazing.
There are those who might argue with my choice to distinguish Pouchong tea in its own category, separate from other Oolong, but there is a reason that I do so. I find Pouchong to be somewhere between green tea and other green Oolong teas. It is not quite an Oolong … but not quite a green tea. It is … a Pouchong. It’s lighter than a typical Oolong, but still replete in sweet, creamy goodness. It has lovely green tones that fall somewhere between sweet grass and mild steamed vegetables, lightly seasoned with melted butter.
With the first two infusions, I found myself enchanted by the sweet, creamy taste while the greenery seemed to peek through, hinting at a more vegetative taste to come in future infusions. The second cup (infusions three and four) delivered the promised vegetative tones without coming off as a bitter grassy taste, instead, it was more like a sweet steamed vegetable complete with a soupy broth. I also noticed a floral tone starting to emerge – is that orchid? or perhaps honeysuckle?
With the third cup, the flavor became slightly more savory, with much of the creaminess having tapered off by this point. It is still remarkably smooth, but in a slightly different way than the first cup. Whereas the first cup was smooth because of the sweet creamy notes, the smoothness now comes from the uniting of flavors – the floral tones are less sharp, the vegetal tones are softer, this cup is more relaxed and soothing.
Overall, I found this to be a really enjoyable Pouchong. One that is really worth exploring – and Fong Mong Tea has prices that makes the exploration affordable!
Sun-Link-Sea Oolong Tea From Fong Mong Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Fong Mong Tea on Ebay
Tea Description:
Located between Xitou and Ali Mountain in central Taiwan – Nantou County, Sun-Link-Sea is famous for its amazing “sun links sea” scenery. Situated at an altitude of approximately 1600 – 1800 meters, Sun-Link-Sea has an average temperature of 20 degree Celsius all year long. Sun-Link-Sea tea tree mountains, not as high as other high-mountain tea tree ones though, with their distinctive geographic environment, gestate another different fragrance and taste which is another characteristic fine tea of Taiwan high-mountain teas.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is the first time I’m trying a “Sun-Link-Sea” Oolong (at least to my knowledge, unless I tried another Oolong that was in fact a Sun-Link-Sea but it was called something different by the purveyor). And as I sip this tea, I am really glad that I finally do have this opportunity to try it, because it is outstanding!
The tightly wound leaf pellets look very much like many other “green” Oolong teas (like Ali Shan or Tie Guan Yin, for example), but this tastes much different. Sure, it has many of the qualities that I often associate with green Oolongs, such as a green vegetative taste (which is very slight here) and amazing floral tones, and even a hint of fruit. But where this one strays from the pack, so to speak, is that it doesn’t have that strong creamy presence that so many other green Oolong teas tend to have. It doesn’t taste or feel buttery or creamy or milky.
Instead, this has a remarkably light and crisp flavor and texture. The floral tone that I mentioned are reminiscent of a magnolia-scented Oolong. The magnolia notes are there, but they aren’t as strong as you might find in a tea that has been specifically scented with the flower. Perhaps a hint of osmanthus flower, and even a touch of orchid. Very exotic floral notes that seem to meld together in a seamless way.
The fruit notes that I mentioned previously are very similar to apple, but not in a conventional way. What I actually taste is what you might experience if you were to drink a sweet-and-sour dry apple wine… if there is such a thing. It tastes light, and the apple-y notes seem to become progressively stronger as I sip, but never become a very prominent flavor.
But that is what I like so much about this tea. It isn’t really strong or distinct in one way, but, hints at so many different flavors that it becomes an exciting adventure with every sip. And I strongly urge you to indulge in multiple infusions … I enjoyed the third and fourth infusion even more than the first. So sweet and amazingly good.
This is in no ordinary Oolong!