Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Chiang Rai Tea House
Tea Description:
To produce oolong tea is a long and delicate process that involves withering, drying, roasting and rubbing the leaves for hours. The result is a leaf that yields a delicate yet flavorful and aromatic tea. Blossoms from organic jasmine trees are added to give its strong characteristic fragrance that makes it the perfect afternoon tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Wow! The jasmine essence in this Jasmine Oolong Tea from Chiang Rai Tea House is really strong. It’s very aromatic and very strong, and the jasmine dominates the flavor too.
But even though it is a strong flavor, it doesn’t taste perfume-y to me. It’s very floral, but I’m not getting ‘perfume’ from it. That said, I must caution you that if you’re one who prefers a subtle jasmine presence in your tea, this isn’t going to be the right jasmine tea for you. However, if you’re someone who finds the average jasmine pearl or jasmine Oolong to be a bit too soft when it comes to the jasmine notes, you should definitely try this.
I steeped this tea in my gaiwan, following the procedure that I usually do for Oolong tea: a bamboo scoop of tea into the bowl, heating the kettle to 180°F and pouring just enough hot water into the bowl to cover the leaf pellets and jasmine blossoms. I let this steep for 15 seconds and strain off the liquid, discarding it. Then I fill the gaiwan with more of the hot water and let it steep for 45 seconds. For each subsequent infusion, I increased the steep time by 15 seconds. I combined two steeps into my teacup, so my first cup is infusions 1 & 2, my second cup is infusions 3 & 4 … and so on!
My first cup is very floral, as I said. But it doesn’t really taste ‘perfume-ish’ so much as it tastes jasmine. It tastes as though I brewed straight up jasmine blossoms with some Oolong tea.
The Oolong tea is less discernible and seems to be a bit overwhelmed by the presence of the jasmine in this cup. I do get some lovely buttery notes from the Oolong and a really nice texture from the Oolong (soft and creamy!) but that’s about all that I’m getting from the Oolong in this cup.
My second cup was much more to my liking. I like jasmine, but I think that the first cup might have been a bit too much jasmine. This cup is quite lovely though! The Oolong flavors are starting to emerge and the jasmine notes soften somewhat. Still a very strong floral presence, the softer flavor here allows me to enjoy the exotic flower much more because it tastes lovely with the Oolong notes that are now developing. The Oolong is sweet, creamy and a little nutty. It has notes of peach in the distance.
The third (and final) cup was my favorite of the three. The jasmine notes are softer than they were in either of the previous cups, and this cup is much more like other jasmine Oolong teas I’ve had. I prefer the jasmine to be an accent note to the tea, rather than the tea to be an accent note to the jasmine and really, with the first two cups (the first especially) the tea was an accent to the jasmine.
Throughout my experience with this tea, I experienced no astringency, it was very smooth with a silky, buttery taste and texture. A pleasant tea – a little too heavy on the jasmine, perhaps, but fortunately it wasn’t a jasmine oil kind of taste – and if my time with this tea has taught me anything, it would be that there is really a distinct difference between the way jasmine oil makes a tea taste versus the way jasmine flowers make a tea taste.
Nepali Oolong from The Tao of Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: The Tao of Tea
Tea Description:
From a small tea garden and farmer cooperative in the Dhankuta district of the eastern Himalayan region of Nepal. The co-op actively encourages small farmers to not only grow tea, but to bring bio-diversity into their land.
This leaf represents a new tradition and style of making tea in Nepal. The leaves are hand-rolled instead of large conventional mechanical rollers, then carefully roasted over low heat.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’m revisiting this Nepali Oolong from The Tao of Tea because when I reviewed the tea, it was one of my favorite Oolong teas that I had tried up to that point and I’ve tried a lot of teas since then. Because my experience with the Napali Oolong was so memorable, I wanted to revisit it to find out if I still enjoyed it as much as I remember. I wanted to find out if it still deserves that place in my heart as one of my favorite Oolong teas.
In addition, since the time of writing that original review, I have come to learn the joy of brewing in a gaiwan and what a difference it makes when it comes to steeping an Oolong tea. Armed with that knowledge, I measured out a bamboo scoop of the tea leaves into my gaiwan, administered a 15 second rinse, and then steeped the tea for 1 minute at 180°F. I resteeped the leaves, adding 15 seconds onto the second infusion, and then I combined both infusions into one cup.
My first cup (infusions 1 & 2) is sweet and abundant with buttery flavor and there’s a buttery texture to go along with it. I’m tasting strong fruit notes -a note of peach that’s so delectable! This cup is smooth with very little astringency and no bitterness. The fruit notes provide quite a bit of the sweetness but I’m also tasting a honey note and sweet floral notes. It’s has a buttery taste and texture to it too.
So, very much like what my review suggests, although I think I’m tasting more fruit now than I did in my first infusion back then. I’m also tasting the honey flavors that I didn’t notice or recognize back then.
With my second cup (infusions 3 & 4), I noticed that the strong buttery presence has diminished somewhat. The texture is lighter and the flavor is a little less buttery – still there, certainly, just lighter. The honey notes are still strong and the peach notes are still just as strong (if not a tad bit stronger!) I’m also picking up on some notes of plum now – like a fully ripened, sweet plum that’s been dried to retain it’s sugary sweetness.
As I’ve already mentioned, the texture is lighter with this cup and because of that, I’m picking up on the slightest note of astringency. It’s still quite smooth, but this is a little more astringent than the first cup. Don’t let that sway you though, because the first cup wasn’t astringent at all – and now, just a slightly dry, tangy sensation at the tail.
My third cup was delightfully peachy-plumy-yummy! I don’t get much buttery flavor that I experienced with the previous two cups – but this tea is still worth the extra infusions because the sweet fruit notes are so amazing. A light honey note and a floral note begins to emerge, weaving its way in and out of the sip. This cup is more astringent than the second cup, but it’s still a rather light astringency.
A truly remarkable tea – definitely worth exploring – and re-exploring as I have done today. This tea is currently out of stock at The Tao of Tea but please keep your eyes peeled! I consider this tea a must try for all tea lovers!
Honeysuckle Oolong Tea from Dachi Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Dachi Tea
Tea Description:
With tea making methods borrowed from the Sun Moon Lake style, the Honeysuckle Oolong’s deep cocoa and plum aroma eases you into a baked fruit flavor with a lasting honey nectar finish. With its natural sweetness and full-bodied flavor, this is one of those teas which has you constantly sipping and subconsciously craving more.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve been eagerly awaiting the time when I could review this Honeysuckle Oolong Tea from Dachi Tea! This company was launched thanks to a successfully funded Kickstarter campaign that ended at the beginning of January. I managed to do one review of their four teas from their inaugural collection before their Kickstarter campaign reached it’s deadline. Once the campaign had come to a successful close, I held off on doing a review until they launched their new website so that people could get their hands on some of these fantastic teas!
And this Honeysuckle Oolong Tea is amazing. It’s reminiscent of a Sun Moon Lake black tea – in fact, given that this says that it’s fully oxidized, I think this might actually BE a black tea. It’s a little lighter than a typical black tea though, it doesn’t have a really strong, robust, kick your butt into gear type of flavor that say an Assam or even a high quality Ceylon would have. It’s lighter, sweeter and more reminiscent of an Oolong in that way.
The flavor is sweet with notes of flower, so I think that the name “honeysuckle” is quite appropriate. Those sweet, honeyed flavors mingle beautifully with a deep, stone fruit flavor. The description above suggests plum and I would agree with that assessment. I even get a slight ‘sour’ note that arrives about mid sip – similar to what I might experience if I were to bite into a fresh, tree-ripened, juicy plum.
The description above also suggests a chocolate/cocoa flavor and I do get hints of that. The hints of cocoa are hardly something that this chocoholic would call ‘chocolate’ but I do understand the comparison. It’s a subtle insinuation of chocolate and makes me hope that subsequent infusions would lead me to a stronger chocolate-y taste.
Yes! My second cup (infusions three and four) was certainly more chocolate-y than the first. I also noticed, though, that the texture was a bit thinner than the first cup which lead me to surmise that while this tea is certainly a spectacular tea – it’s not quite as ‘go the long haul’ as a typical Oolong. This is more ‘black tea’ in that respect. You’ll get a really lovely cuppa for the early infusions but the flavors begin to wane pretty quickly with this one.
Don’t let that sway you from trying this tea – it’s a lovely Sun Moon Lake type black tea and I’d recommend steeping it as such so that you can get that rich, amazing flavor as a Sun Moon Lake type black, rather than steeping this like an Oolong (in a gaiwan). Next time, I’ll be reaching for either my Kati Tumbler or brewing it in my Breville One-Touch instead. The gaiwan efforts – while absolutely LOVELY – seem a bit more intensive than necessary for a wonderful cuppa when the flavors aren’t going to go for more than a few infusions.
Yet another lovely tea from Dachi – I look forward to exploring the other two with you!
Anxi Monkey King (Ma Liu Mie) Tie Guan Yin Oolong Tea from Teavivre
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Tea Description:
TeaVivre brings you the fresh Monkey King Monkey King Tie Guan Yin which has no heavy roasting flavor. It is from the origin place of Tie Guan Yin, Anxi in Fujian Province. The twisted dry leaves are tight and strong in dragonfly-like shape. Dry tea has the light refreshing fragrance of vegetables and fruits. After brewed, the characteristic fresh scent of Tie Guan Yin comes. The tea liquid tastes sweet and its fragrance lasts long.
Tie Guan Yin has two different kinds of making method, Zheng Chao (正炒,) and Tuo Suan (拖酸), which was introduced in the description of Anxi Superfine Tie Guan Yin. This Anxi Monkey King (Ma Liu Mie) Tie Guan Yin belongs to zheng chao Tie Guan Yin tea, has comfortable brisk and smooth flavor without the sour taste on your tongue, just like the Anxi Superfine Tie Guan Yin.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is a lovely Tie Guan Yin – it’s a little different than the ‘typical’ Tie Guan Yin, at least, those that I’m used to. The leaves above look greener than the leaves that I found when I opened the sample pouch, these appear to be a chocolate brown color with notes of a deep forest-y green. They look as though they might have been lightly roasted or at the very least they appear as though they were oxidized a little longer than the typical green Tie Guan Yin.
To brew this tea, I grabbed my gaiwan and measured a bamboo scoop of leaf into the bowl of the gaiwan. I rinsed the leaves for 15 seconds in 180°F. Then I discarded the liquid and resteeped the leaves for 45 seconds in 180°F water and strained the liquid into my teacup. Then I repeated the process, adding 15 seconds onto each subsequent infusion. I combined the first 2 infusions to create my first cup, infusions 3 and 4 combined made my second cup, and so on…
And after tasting the tea, I think I’m correct with the ‘roasted’ guess because I taste a nice roasty-toasty flavor to this. It’s sweet and nutty and very pleasantly smooth. There is very little astringency to this first cup. It’s creamy and this creaminess develops as the cup cools. I found the first few sips to be crisper, brisker than the sips that followed as the cup cooled somewhat. As the tea cooled, the brisk flavor became more subdued and the creaminess came forward. While I liked that brisk note, I am liking the creaminess even more. I like the way it melds with the nutty flavors.
The second cup was not quite as creamy as the first but I found it to be even smoother. The roasty-toasty notes remind me of notes of charred wood and freshly roasted, still warm chestnuts. The toasty flavors lend an autumnal taste to the cup, evoking thoughts of a walk on an afternoon when the weather is crisp and the fallen leaves are crackling beneath your feet. You can smell hints of smoke in the air from a nearby chimney. It’s a very cozy and comforting flavor.
The third cup almost seemed like a different tea entirely! It’s still smooth, but this tastes brisker and cleaner. I’m not getting as much a nutty tone as I’m getting a fruit-like flavor. Hints of peach with the charred wood notes that I experienced in the second cup.
This third cup is a very refreshing tea – my palate feels clean after sipping it but don’t mistake that for a ‘cleansing astringency’ because I’m not experiencing that. What I’m experiencing is a crisp, clean flavor that isn’t inundated with a heaviness. It is gentle and soft on the palate and doesn’t weigh it down with flavors. It’s an invigorating taste. As the cup cools slightly, some of the nutty flavors start to emerge and these meld beautifully with the peachy flavors.
A really lovely Tie Guan Yin. If you are familiar with the greener Tie Guan Yin, I strongly recommend trying this one for something a little different! This is yet another example of why I love Oolong teas so much – the word “Oolong” can mean a vast number of different tastes and just when you think you’re familiar with one type of Oolong, something comes along like this Monkey King and offers something a little different and makes you fall in love with Tie Guan Yin all over again!
PRODUCT REVIEW: Wabi Sabi Gaiwan from Might Leaf Tea
Product Information:
Product: Spouted Gaiwan
Where To Buy: Mighty Leaf Tea
Product Description:
The gaiwan, or lidded bowl, is a celebrated vessel for the brewing of fine green, white and oolong teas. This 4.5-ounce container is made of ceramic and will illuminate the complex flavors of any high-grade Mighty Leaf tea brewed inside. You can use to infuse loose tea and then pour into another drinking verssel, or you can drink right out of the gaiwan. The lid of the gaiwan has infuser holes built in so that you can lift the vessel to your mouth and drink the liquid while the leaves are trapped inside.
• Handmade Ceramic
• Includes lide with infuser holes for drinking
• 4.5 oz. capacity
Learn more about this tea ware here.
Product Review:
I have been wanting a spouted gaiwan for ages. I have a regular gaiwan and its a bit smaller than this one, but even still my hands are too tiny to properly secure the lid when pouring. Now I do have very small hands but perhaps the blame is really that I just don’t have the skills. Regardless, I have never mastered using a gaiwan properly.
I first found out about spouted gaiwan on steepster and I was so excited to find one! I have to say I searched, and I searched. Sure I found a few here and there but the selection was few and far between. When I did find one it was usually quite expensive and I just really didn’t want to spend too much on one until I knew that the spouted style would solve my gaiwan issues. In addition to that I do not use a gaiwan often. I truly enjoy using a gaiwan, especially now that I have this one, but I prefer to use one when I have time to sit and have a true gong-fu session rather when I am sitting at my computer working, which is what I am doing most of the time.
Alas finally, I found not only an affordable gaiwan but a truly stunning one at that!
I got this Gaiwan for myself, and a second one for a friend. We both adore them! They are so beautiful with colors of browns and greens. Some areas are marbled, some textured. To me it looks like wood and stone. My friend said the same. Truly, it is a stunning piece of work. It is so easy to handle as well. Wether you have abnormally small hands or really large hands (I saw a photo of my friends hands on Facebook – they are really HUGE!) this gaiwan works perfectly! It also has an internal strainer so you can drink from the gaiwan or you can strain easily.
A spouted Gaiwan is the way to go but I looked all over for one, found few, this one is not only gorgeous, but so affordable!
I have inserted a photo that I have taken of my own Wabi Sabi Gaiwan from Might Leaf Tea. I noticed that my friends is slightly different, which is nice to know that each gaiwan, although equally beautiful, has a personality all its own.
I would recommend this lovely gaiwan to anyone who wants a nice spouted gaiwan at a great price. Especially if you appreciate the beauty of nature because using this makes me feel like I am truly in touch with the outdoors.
