Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Aftelier Perfumed Teas
Product Description:
Organic Muzha Tieguanyin oolong tea, from Taiwan, is a rare tea that is oxidized and roasted for two days by a traditional tea master. This full-bodied oolong opens with ripe fruit notes and finishes with a smooth aftertaste, blending beautifully with the spicy rose flavor that Mandy creates with our Aftelier Chef’s Essences: Fresh Ginger and Turkish Rose. These tightly rolled leaves unfurl during the first steeping, and may be re-infused up to 4 times, retaining their fragrance.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I reviewed this tea previously – well, no, not exactly. I reviewed a tea that is similar, but since writing that review, Mandy from Aftelier Perfumes changed her recipe for the tea blend slightly to use an organic Muzha Tieguanyin Oolong tea rather than the Tieguanyin she used for the tea that I sampled for that first review.
And I’ve come to learn (and greatly appreciate!) that organic definitely DOES make a difference. It is especially noticeable (by taste) with tea bases (tisane bases) like rooibos, but I have also noticed differences between conventionally grown Oolong teas versus organically grown Oolong teas. Yes, the possibility exists that the differences are only mentally imposed differences – that is to say, I think, “Oh, this is organic and therefore it is better,” but even with that mentally imposed difference, I still taste something better.
Hey, let’s face it, organic IS better. It’s better for the earth and I believe it’s better for the tea drinker as well.
But really, I don’t need to justify revisiting this tea, because it’s a remarkable tea and I love the teas that are crafted by Aftelier.
I steeped this the way I typically steep an Oolong – in my gaiwan – performing a 15 second rinse and then I steeped the first infusion for 1 minute and added 15 seconds to each subsequent infusion. I combine two infusions in each cup, so therefore the first cup was composed of the first two infusions and the second cup was composed of the third and fourth infusion, and so on.
I love the way the rose and ginger play together on the palate. It is sweet, floral and just a little zesty from the peppery notes of the ginger. The ginger does not bring a strong, heavily spiced presence to the sip, just a gentle, peppery warmth. However, after sip is gone, the ginger lingers in the aftertaste and I can taste (and feel!) the ginger on my palate. It’s still a fairly mild heat. I really like it because I generally think of rose to be a summery type of tea essence, it seems to bring a sense of summer to the cup, but the ginger gives this a cozy sort of flavor that is distinctly autumnal.
As does the Tieguanyin, which has a delicate earthiness and wisps of smoke in the background. The Tieguanyin has a light creaminess to it and a slight buttery taste that with the roasted notes offers more of a sweet, browned butter flavor rather than a fresh cream buttery type of taste. I also like how the roasted notes seem to diminish the presence of a strong floral and vegetal tone to the Tieguanyin, because it allows the rose to really shine through without competing with other strong floral notes. This roasting process also allows the natural fruit tones of the tea to develop and intermingle with the essences of Turkish Rose and Fresh Ginger!
The slightly smoky, roasty-toasty notes emerged a little more prominently in the second cup (infusions 3 and 4), and I was very pleased to find that the rose and ginger notes remained for these infusions. The rose notes are softening somewhat in this cup and is more reminiscent of the taste of the air that surrounds while strolling through a garden of roses. The smell and flavor of the rose is distinct and definitely there. 
The ginger is warming on the palate, especially in the aftertaste. The Tieguanyin is sweet, not quite as creamy as the first cup, but still quite toasty tasting with wonderful notes of stone fruit. Warm and sweet and beautifully fragrant, just like summer, but also cozy and comforting like autumn. A really beautiful cup.
I was surprised to find that those wonderful rose and ginger notes were still present in the third cup (infusions 5 and 6)! With many flavored Oolong teas, the flavoring tends to be indistinguishable by the time I’ve reached the fifth and sixth infusion. The tea is still delicious, of course, because the Oolong is still flavorful on its own, but usually the flavors have softened to the point of barely noticeable. That is definitely NOT the case with this tea, though.
The rose is still lovely and the ginger still warm and peppery. Sure, these flavors are softer now than they were with the first cup, but, that’s alright, because I am getting plenty of flavor from the Tieguanyin – sweet, fruity, toasty, nutty flavors – but I can also still taste sweet floral notes from the rose and zesty notes of ginger.
This is a really lovely and unique flavored Oolong – you’re not going to find another one like this anywhere!
Rice Fragrance Santikhiri Green Tea from Tea Mania
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Tea Mania
Tea Description:
Rice tea is a specialty of Northern Thailand. The tea is similar in taste to Genmaicha but is produced fundamentally different. Genmaicha is made by steamed green tea which is enriched with roasted rice. Originally, this was done to stretch the expensive green tea. Nowadays, this days Genmaicha is a popular specialty in itself.
In contrary, for our rice tea we use is green tea from Doi Mae Salong which is enriched with a wild-growing Thai herb that resembles the taste of jasmine rice. The green tea itself is Chinese-style roasted and then rolled into beads like Oolong. The tea can be infused several times and keeps the typical rice aroma till the end.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Wow! This Rice Fragrance Santikhiri Green Tea from Tea Mania is a really unique tasting tea! Yes, it is quite similar to Genmaicha, although I can taste differences between the two.
Perhaps the biggest difference to me is that this tea has a softer flavor. Genmaicha tends to have a more “roasty-toasty” kind of flavor, owing to the popped rice, perhaps? Sure, I still taste hints of a toasty note here, but, this tastes more like a sweet rice. It kind of reminds me of the cereal that I make of left-over rice.
After I’ve made a batch of rice, there is usually a little bit left over, and rather than allow that to go to waste, I save it and then reheat it. First I “rehydrate” Craisins with a little bit of water, and zap it in the microwave for a couple of minutes until it’s hot and the Craisins have absorbed most of the water. Then I add the left-over rice and reheat the rice. The remaining water that hasn’t been absorbed by the dried cranberries helps hydrate the rice. Then I add a little bit of milk and cinnamon. It’s quite yummy, reminiscent of rice pudding but easier to make!
That’s what this tea tastes like, except that I don’t taste any Craisin or cinnamon flavor! But I taste the sweet rice notes and it’s quite delicious.
I taste subtle vegetative notes from the green tea – which has been wound into little pellets resembling a green Oolong. In fact, had I not known that this was a green tea, the appearance of the dry leaf would lead me to identify this as an Oolong tea. The vegetative notes are quite delicate here, and if you are one who tends to shy away from green teas because you don’t care for that “green” flavor, I do believe you would find this tea to be agreeable.
I also taste distant jasmine notes which further enhance the rice flavor. Such a sweet and unique tea. It really is AMAZING. I’d recommend this to all tea lovers, if for no other reason than because it is truly exceptional. I don’t think I’ve ever tasted a tea quite like it, and I’m really glad that I got the opportunity to try this!