Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Tea Description:
Taiwan Ali Shan Oolong is a typical kind of Taiwan High Mountain Tea. This tea is from Ali Mountain, which is the birthland of High Mountain Tea.
The tea garden where Taiwan Ali Shan Oolong Tea grows locates at the altitude between 800 meters to 1400 meters. On the high mountain, climate is cold and cloudy. Sunshine time is short, as a result, the astringent substance in the tea leaves is reduced, thus the tea becomes sweeter. In the mean time, temperature in daytime and in night is distinctive, which make the tea tree grows slowly. Therefore, the leaf is soft and thick with high content of pectin substance. This is the unique feature of Ali Shan Oolong Tea as being a type of Taiwan High Mountain Tea. What’s more, the tea trees are irrigated with spring water on Ali Mountain, making the tea carries a sweet flavor of spring water.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Yay! Ali Shan! I love Ali Shan tea!
Yeah, I know you’ve heard that before from me.
But I get very excited when I get to an Ali Shan Oolong in my stash of teas. And this Superfine Taiwan Ali Shan Oolong Tea from Teavivre is certainly worth the excitement! It’s so good!
I brewed this the same way I’d typically brew an Oolong tea – in my gaiwan – but with one significant difference. Instead of combining the first two infusions in my first cup, and the next two infusions in the second cup, and so on, I combine the first six infusions into my special “Ali Shan” Yixing mug, and then, infusions seven through ten are combined in my mug for my second cup. Because of this, I’m unable to really delve into the individual infusions as much as I would do with other Oolong teas.
My first cup was creamy and sweet and floral, with hints of vegetation and distant notes of fruit. The floral tones were much more up front and mingled with the creamy notes that were a bit more like milk than butter or heavy cream. I like the way the smooth feeling glides over the palate. The sweet creamy notes linger into the aftertaste. This creaminess is a light creamy texture, thugh, and it never feels overwhelming … I never feel like my tongue is being weighed down by the creaminess of this tea.
The description of this tea from Teavivre suggests notes of gardenia and I’m getting that. It’s a beautifully fragrant tea – a lot of fun to steep! Not just to watch the tightly wound pellets of deep, forest green leaves unfurl in the hot water, but to experience the beautiful aroma.
My second cup was not as creamy as the first, but there was still plenty of flavor in this cup – and this is infusions seven, eight, nine and ten! I would have thought that these leaves would have been exhausted of their flavor, but, they delivered ten very flavorful infusions! Bravo!
The second cup was still floral, and as I said, not quite as creamy. I noticed more of the fruit and vegetative notes in this cup. It is still a pleasantly smooth and creamy experience … and certainly worth the effort to brew these extra infusions!
A truly magnificient Ali Shan! What else can I say but: Teavivre delivers a top notch tea yet again!
Taiwan Lishan High Mountain Oolong (Wulong) Tea from Fong Mong Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where To Buy: Fong Mong Tea
Tea Description:
Lishan High Mountain Oolong Tea is one of the most unique and highest quality Oolong. Grown in the Li Mountains of Taiwan, this tea is harvested at the elevation of 1200 meters in an isolated area. Due to the cold weather and relatively harsh environments, the plants grow at a very slow rate and in small quantity. The tea is either harvested during the winter or summer and sometimes only once during the entire year. After the harvest, the leaves are carefully handled and aerated during the long ride to the nearest tea maker. Despite the difficult growing conditions, the leaves are selected as the highest quality of Oolong.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
There are few teas that get me as excited as Oolong teas, and my favorites are by far the AliShan and the LiShan type Oolong teas (is there a difference between the two? I love them both, and I would be hard-pressed to be able to determine a difference between them. I mean, I know that there are differences, but I really enjoy both of them almost equally.) So, when it came time for me to sample this Taiwan Lishan High Mountain Oolong (or Wulong) Tea from Fong Mong Tea, I was a very happy tea drinker!
The dark green tea leaves, wound into tight pellets, took their time to completely unfurl. It took about six infusions to completely unfurl … but that’s quite alright with me … that just means more tea time enjoyment for me! The aroma of the brewed tea is sweet and floral, with notes of “green” … what I mean by that is … you know that smell that you experience when you walk into a forest after a rainfall? How it smells of sweet, green leaves? I smell hints of that in my teacup.
But it’s the flavor of a Lishan Oolong that captures my heart every time I drink it. It’s so sweet, smooth and creamy. It’s a complete joy to sip … so relaxing and restorative.
At the start of the sip, I notice sweetness, with notes of flower and cream. As the liquid washes over my palate, I notice the softness of the texture. Toward mid-sip, I notice hints of fruit notes. Nothing really distinct … just … hints of what could be apple. As the sip progresses toward the finish, I start to notice a vegetative note.
It is at this point where I notice vague spice notes – this is a very faint taste, but I notice it more toward the finish of the sip … as if the spice sort of settles onto my palate. Just a hint.
A lovely, complex Oolong from Fong Mong Tea! If you like your Lishan teas like I do … this is one you should try!
Gao Shan High Mountain Black Tea from Yezi Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Yezi Tea
Tea Description:
Bittersweet moments often make for the best memories, and there’s no reason to assume that it should be any different for tea. Yezi is proud to bring you the bitter yet sweet Gao Shan high-mountain loose-leaf tea.
Gao Shan is grown high in the Nanhu Mountain range on the outskirts of Fuqing City in the Fujian province of China. At these elevations, the near-incessant fog cover and the extreme temperature difference between night and day help make for teas with a complex and diverse flavor palette. Gao Shan is a deep red-brown tea, and its strong, satisfying flavor makes many a tea connoisseur compare it to Kung Fu black tea. A brew of Gao Shan is ideal for firing you up on a dreary day when you could do with a burst of acceleration.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Oh, yeah, now that’s what I’m talking about! This Gao Shan High Mountain Black tea from Yezi Tea is a seriously awesome tea! I’m loving every sip of it.
The dry leaf smells earthy with notes of leather. It’s a very pale scent … I was about to say “delicate” scent, but the aroma is so masculine that I didn’t feel that delicate was the right word. The fragrance isn’t in your face, it doesn’t blow you away when you open the package because it’s so aromatic. It’s a soft masculine scent. The brewed liquid smells very much like the dry leaf, although the brewed has a stronger aroma than the dry leaf.
I think that the above description did a really good job at describing the flavor of this tea. It is a strong, satisfying black tea with plenty of gusto. There are sweet and bitter notes … but that’s not a “oops, I oversteeped the tea” kind of bitterness … rather, it’s more like the bitterness you’d experience from a dark cacao.
This is a complex black tea with caramel-y undertones and stone fruit notes, reminiscent of a ripe plum. The flavor is earthy, rich and it has that delicious fresh-baked kind of quality, like the chewy, caramelized crust of a freshly baked loaf of bread. There is a fair amount of dry astringency.
A very rewarding cuppa. This is the kind of tea that I’d turn to when I want something to help shake me to alertness. It’s invigorating and delicious. This is my first experience with this company – Yezi Tea – and it’s a very positive experience indeed! I look forward to trying the other teas that I have from them!
High Mountain Red Tea from Foxfire Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Foxfire Teas
Tea Description:
This beautiful black tea from the Yunnan Province in China has a beautiful dried leaf appearance and once steeped it has a wonderful robust aroma with slight fruit notes. This tea is part of the Limited Collection, so we have a very small quantity available and once it is sold out, we may not see it again until it is next harvested.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Oh. My. Goodness!
This is soooo good.
Once upon a time … (Once upon a tea?) I tasted Dawn from Simple Leaf. Dawn is one of the very best teas I’ve ever had the privilege to sample, and of the pure black teas I’ve sampled, it is definitely in the top three if not at the #1 spot. Unfortunately, Simple Leaf is no longer in business. (sob) But every once in a while, I will encounter a tea that reminds me so much of that amazing experience that I had with Dawn.
This moment with High Mountain Red Tea from Foxfire Teas is one such experience.
The dry leaf is beautiful – long, curly, wiry leaves of dark chocolate brown that smell of sweet fruit, notes of chocolate and hints of caramel. And after the tea brews, that is the fragrance that surrounds my olfactory nerves when I take a deep whiff of this magical brew.
And that’s what I taste too. The flavor is sweet, rich and smooth. Well-rounded. Notes of cacao. Undertones of sweet, luscious caramel. Sweet fruit notes that are reminiscent of apple, plum and currant – but with no tartness. Just the sweet tones of those fruits! There is a pleasant … what I’m going to call “savory” quality … toward mid-sip. This “savory” quality is not bitterness, it is not sweetness, it is not tart or tangy … it’s just … smooth and robust and … well, savory.
There is no bitterness to this cup … and virtually nothing that resembles astringency. There might be the slightest twang of a tangy pucker towards the finish. But this is so slight that if you’re not paying very strict attention, you’ll miss it.
Easily one of the best cups of tea that I’ve had in a very long time – and I’ve had a lot of really, really good tea lately!
Taiwan Li Shan High Mountain Oolong From Life in Teacup
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Life in Teacup
Tea Description:
Production Year – 2012
Production Season – Spring
Production Region – Taiwan, Taizhong County, Li Shan Range, Gu Mai Tea Farm, 1800-2200m
Style – Modern green style
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Yeah, I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – Li Shan/Ali Shan Oolong teas are among my favorite teas … in my top three! (#1 is Yellow Tea, and the Li Shan/Ali Shan Oolong teas would be #2 … and probably my favorite Earl Grey would be #3.) And THIS Taiwan High Mountain Oolong from Life in Teacup is one of the VERY best that I’ve ever tried of this type of Oolong.
I mean … Oh Wow! This is so delightful! Sweet, creamy, lush! Beautiful layers of flavor. The high notes are that of sweet cream … so smooth that it feels creamy as well as tastes it. Melding with that note of cream is the faintest hint of vanilla. Just beneath the creamy tones is a hint of exotic flower that develops as I continue to sip. Sweet honey-esque notes as well as a slight vegetative tone lie just under the floral tones. There are quiet notes of earth in the distance.
I love how smooth this tea is … no sharpness! There is a slight astringency that develops as I continue to sip, but it is so slight that unless I’m really focused on the nuances of the sip (which is something I need to do to write a review!) … the astringency can go unnoticed. There is nothing bitter whatsoever about this tea … it is so pleasurable to sip from start to finish.
Do yourself a favor and brew this tea in a gaiwan (or Yixing teapot) to get the most out of the leaves. I managed TEN very flavorful infusions … making this tea not only a wonderful treat for the palate, but also a very economical one!
If you like Ali Shan/Li Shan High Mountain Oolong Teas – this one is one you MUST try!