Tea Type:
Black Tea
Where To Buy:
Teavivre
Product Description:
Origin: Fuding, Fujian, China
Ingredients: Black and gold coloured pine-needle shaped
Harvest time: Hand-picked in April, 2011
Taste: A rich, full bodied sweet tasting tea with a hint of caramel
Brew: 1-2 teaspoons for 8oz of water. Brew at 185 ºF (85 ºC) for 2 to 3 minutes (exact time depends on your taste – a longer time will give the tea a stronger taste and color)
Health Benefits: A good source of antioxidants and so will help reduce the risk of cancers and lessen the affects of aging. Black teas such as our Bai Lin Gong Fu also are considered to help prevent tooth decay and help lower your cholesterol levels.
Tasters Review:
As I first opened this package I was amazed! It’s DOUBLE Packaged – for extra freshness!! At first sniff – the first word that came to mind was “Crispy”.
Awwww-yeah! This is Nice! VERY nice!
As the air hit the loose leaf the aroma was enhanced to a Croissant-like aroma!
The color post infusion is a medium brown.
The taste is brilliantly bold! Very defined! It’s smooth yet chewy and leaves a semi-sweet aftertaste that I really like!
This is VERY memorable! I like this VERY much! So much so that’s it’s easy to say it’s made it to my personal upper 90s percentile and not many teas have been put in that category!
Fujian Wild Oolong from Life In Teacup
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Life In Teacup
About Life In Teacup:
We are enthusiastic tea drinkers and students of tea culture. As tea drinkers becoming tea sellers, we have in depth understanding of tea drinkers’ expectations and will always strive to provide you with the best options. We carefully taste every incoming tea product and only offer you teas that we truly enjoy.
Our Mission: We are committed to providing tea drinkers with high quality teas at affordable prices, introducing more Chinese tea varieties to the world and promoting discussions on tea culture.
Taster’s Review:
Before writing this review, I attempted to locate this particular tea on the Life In Teacup website, but could not. This was a tea that I received as a tea-blogger sample, and I do hope that Life In Teacup plans on offering this to a wider audience because it’s a delightful Oolong!
I find these “wild” teas to be extremely interesting, because I can actually taste the “wild” in the teas. It tastes less refined and a little rugged.
The sip starts out sweet. It’s a slow kind of sweet, as if it takes its time to fully express itself. I can taste a nutty flavor, as well as a hint of flower (honeysuckle?) and a distant fruit-tone that reminds me of a fresh, juicy plum. Toward the end of the sip, a sour note hits the palate. Not a pucker-y kind of sour, but more like a sweet-and-sour sauce kind of sour. Savory and sour, but not so much that it overpowers the sweetness.
Another extraordinary tea offering from Life In Teacup!
Wuyi Rock Oolong from Shanti Tea
Tea Type: Oolong
Where To Buy: Shanti Tea
Product Description:
One of the purest teas available on the world market.
Organic Wuyi Rock Oolong is one of the purest teas available on the world market. This rare oolong hails from Mount Wuyi in Nanping Prefecture, Fujian, up along the border of Jiangxi Province. In 1999, UNESCO listed the mountain as a World Heritage Site in part owing to its outstanding biodiversity. According to the UN, Mount Wuyi is one of the world’s finest, intact, subtropical forests. Further complimenting the region’s reputation, Mount Wuyi is registered with the Chinese government as a biodiversity conservation zone. The climate of the region is relatively humid due to the fact that the mountain prevents cool air from entering the valley, and the presence of the 9 Bend River meandering through its valleys. Living with this subtropical paradise is an almost unaccountable number of species of flora and fauna. Many of the plan species living on the mountain are considered relics of a bygone age, no longer found anywhere else on the planet. In amongst this jewel of biodiversity grows the world famous organic rock tea. The tea bushes, like many other plant species, are ancient, having grown amongst the mountain’s rocky outcroppings for generations. Cultivation of the plants is almost impossible given the topography, so exceptional care is taken when handling and plucking the fresh tea shoots. The harvesters typically wear light cotton gloves when handling the leaves, which are harvested in small quantities so as not to tire the bushes. The fresh leaf is then allowed to naturally semi-ferment. The resulting flavor is at once rich, delicate, and laden with floral nuance.
Tasters Review:
Right out of the envelop this smells nutty to me…much like almond, actually! As if infuses it starts smelling more woodsy almost like a damp twig.
As for the taste…this is a hearty brew! It’s quite masculine, woodsy, slightly peppery, and a little like roasted or toasted nuts! It has a gentle-semi-sweet after taste to it too!
This is interesting, different, and pretty good! Certainly a conversation piece – no matter which way you look at it. As for me…I look at it with a smiling face! This Oolong is very nice!
Purple Bamboo from Rishi
Tea Type: Oolong
Where To Buy: Rishi
Product Description:
This tea is an experimental oolong from an organic-in-conversion farm from Fujian, China. It is harvested from a white tea bush varietal and processed similar to Taiwanese Bai Hao Oolong and Fuding Gong Mei White tea. The dry leaf shows a unique and colorful style with a silvery, white, dark green and tippy appearance. One serving of Purple Bamboo can be infused many times and offers deep, complex fruity flavors and floral aromas. The rich mouth feel and upfront and lingering aroma suggests Darjeeling Muscatel, Lilac, Gardenia, Pit Fruit, Grape and Hops.
Use a porcelain guywan, or a Ho-hin. Add 2-3 tablespoons per 5-6 ounces of water. Infuse with 185°F-190°F water. First infusion is 2-3 minutes, second infusion 2-3 minutes, 3rd thru 5th infusions should be 4-5 minutes. Depending on the amount of tea and the water temperature, you may infuse this tea many more times.
Tasters Review:
This one certainly intrigued me. And let me tell you…the curiosity didn’t end with my cup!
The dry smell of this before infusion was a floral yet earthy-sweet smell. The post infusion was more of a manly grape or maybe a drier wine type scent for description purposes. It’s very light brown in color.
The taste is woodsy yet fruity and floral! To describe the fruit like tastes I would probably say a combination of grape, apricot, maybe a hint of plum. It’s also floral like Lilac or even lily – if you can imagine that. And let’s not forget the woodsiness of the taste! Towards the end of the sip I get a surprisingly semi-chewy taste, too!
This tea is very memorable and made me think. I like that. And I like this tea a great deal!
Iron Goddess of Mercy (Ti Kuan Yin) from Utopian Tea
Tea Type: Oolong Tea
Where to Buy: Utopian Tea
Product Description:
Straight from the Fujian province in China, this premium 1st grade Ti Kuan Yin is a true prize to be shared as the best of our collection here at Utopian Tea. This lightly oxidized oolong is one of the most popular, and we were very lucky to get this special high grade selection of this variety directly from the tea plantation.
Savoring it’s bold floral and honeysuckle-esque flavor over several infusions is the best way to go, as the strength of this tea lasts for what seems like an eternity. You’ll quickly realize that the taste perfectly reflects the lingering smell as if it were planned by a higher power. This is truly the essence of Earth.
Tasters Review:
Utopian Tea. I just LOVE the name of this company! And I must say…this tea is darn near Utopia!
Iron Goddess of Mercy (Ti Kuan Yin) from Utopian Tea smells like a gentle perfume when it comes to the dry leaves, that is. The liquid after being infused smells a little bit like flowers from a distance.
This is very light in color.
I can taste the honey-suckle likeness and the more I drink it the better I like it. It’s very clean and crisp and thirst-quenching.
I would certainly drink this one almost any time of day and give it an A+ on any report card! LOVELY!