Did you ever try a tea and it doesn’t taste like the description? So you aren’t sure if you’re crazy?
No?
FINE.
This tea, 1995 Aged Tieguanyin, is supposed to taste like cream, caramel, marigold, and cherry. I am getting spicy (!) and nectar. So I guess the nectar/slightly flowery taste could be the marigold and the caramel? But there’s definitely a little bit of a hot zing in here.
The flowery nature is definitely in there. According to this tea’s (very frou-frou) description, “Master Zhang’s terraced fields on the cloud-enveloped peaks of Anxi are overgrown with wildflowers, and fed by naturally sweet and clear mountain spring water.”
I see the combination of the flowers, the spice, and the aging as a movie in which a woman gets kidnapped by a salty old pirate (hot). He tries to woo her with flowers (flowery) on his creaky boat (aged). She comes to realize that her old life, with its cross-stitching and frills, was stuffy. She comes out as gay and spends the rest of her life being platonic best friends with the pirate and mastering the sea. The credits roll on her climbing up into the rigging to do some sort of, you know, adjusting the sails thing or whatever. At sunset.
This tea wasn’t what I thought it would be. But if weren’t for the tea, we wouldn’t have that nice pirate story, now would we? Sometimes you have to take an unexpected adventure.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Verdant Tea
Description
This 1995 aged Tieguanyin varietal harvest already has over twenty years of aging. Master Zhang’s terraced fields are overgrown with wildflowers, and fed by naturally sweet and clear mountain spring water. The natural complexity of his tea makes it a perfect candidate for careful aging, which involves yearly re-roasting and sealed storage. The result is a classic rich dark profile that brings out the rich fruity creamy notes in Tieguanyin.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Discovering Nunshen’s Oolong. . . .
G’day, tea-ple! It’s time for another foray into the Land of Oolong — a lush valley between the mountains of Black and the rolling hills of Green. (Disclaimer: this is not literal.) Oolong is like Doctor Who: it can travel between green and black at will. You never know where it will be. It will always surprise you.
Today’s pick comes from Nunshen, which has a really chic Bauhaus-style logo.
The pouch that held the tea sachet was made of a fine matte plastic that felt like a high-end business card. The sachet itself was made of a nice cotton/linen sort of material and had the stitching turn into the string that held on the tag. (David’s Tea’s sachets have similar construction. I was always impressed by those, too.)
I’m sharing this because I LOVE good design. It shows, right from the get-go, that these people care. (Well-packaged tea might not always be delicious, but you know that they had some meetings and they WANTED your experience to be nice, at least.)
The oolong that came out of this hella-chic packaging is surprisingly earthy. It’s like I momentarily entered the world of Helvetica/Bauhaus and forgot that tea existed. All of this smooth black-and-white sans-serif typography is covering up… plants for me to drink. RIGHT. I WAS HERE FOR THE TEA.
More than anything, this tea tastes like healthy cereal. The descriptor on the bag uses the word “oats” and “long.” I’m absolutely getting the oats. When I ran out of my own cereal once, I tried substituting my mom’s, some kind of uber-fiber keep-you-regular comes-from-the-earth blend. This is that. If you love oats and earthiness, this is for you.
I do not, for the life of me, now what “taste: long” means. I actually opened up Dictionary.com and typed in “long” thinking there was some kind of secondary meaning. A Google search on “long taste” offered up a jumble of results, including one that mentioned aftertaste.
So I stopped sipping, and yes, I do still taste this in my mouth a moment later. So maybe they mean it’s a lasting flavor?
REGARDLESS, if you love some malty oat flavor, you’ve gotta get on board with this tea. And then report back to me on what you think “long” means. Please help.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Nunshen
Description
Get closer to nature with fresh grassy flavors and scents that will remind you of an open meadow in the spring.This blend is guaranteed to cœrce your mind and body to feel at peace and one with the Earth.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
“Calm Fragrance” November 2016 Mi Xiang Oolong from Global Tea Hut. . . .
Every tea I drink is an experience but when I drink a tea from The Global Tea Hut it’s more like a meditation. “Calm Fragrance” November 2016 Mi Xiang Oolong from Global Tea Hut is the tea I am writing about at the moment.
“Calm Fragrance” November 2016 Mi Xiang Oolong from Global Tea Hut was part of the November 2016 Issue and Package. This oolong is a gently roasted oolong that – indeed – does have a calm fragrance. This oolong hails from the Mingjian, Taiwan area and is a 2016 Mi Xiang Oolong. Elevation-wise we are talking roughly 500 Meters!
Once the leaves unfurls in the strainer I was shocked at how BIG the leaves actually were. This just proves how tightly rolled the leaves were to begin with! I know it would be even more stunning to see if infused and unfurled Gongfu Style. Next time I will surely try it that way!
The color of the post-infused tea liquor was a lightly-tanned brown. The natural flavor is absolutely delicious! This will certainly be going on a future Top Ten List of mine!
The flavor on the tongue is of medium strength but there are equal parts woodsy and sweet happening. I can’t decide which part of the sip I enjoy more!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong Tea
Where to Buy: Global Tea Hut
Description
To learn more about the amazing experiences Global Tea Hut has to offer, click below.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Nonpareil Taiwan DaYuLing High Mountain Cha Wang Oolong Tea from Teavivre. . .
My daughter asked me what tea we were drinking tonight. When I told her the name of this one, I got quite a stare, followed by “All righty then.” What a delight this was to make and to drink. The tea is gorgeous before you even steep it – tight, hard twists and knots of deep army green and the most delicious aroma. And then you steep it and those hard knots become giant green leaves packing the infuser basket and promising many more steeps to come.
The tea is pale in color, but a buttery fragrance wafts from the cup. The taste is smooth and creamy, not quite a milk oolong but close. And a floral fragrance lays on top of the buttery aroma. No roasted oolong this, but a fresh green one. After the sip, a soft vegetal taste rises and lingers.
I love tea like this when I am going to be drinking it for an extended time, resteeping and sharing. This is a tea that the seasoned tea drinker can enjoy, but also would be a great introduction for those who are new to fine loose leaf and oolong. Interesting, flavorful, and accessible. Although it is a more expensive tea than some, the fact that it resteeps so well makes it well worth the price for the green oolong lover. And if anyone asks what you are drinking, look wise and mystical and impress the socks right off of them as you rattle of the name of this one!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Description
The Nonpareil Taiwan DaYuLing High Mountain Cha Wang Oolong Tea is grown in the area at the altitude of 2500 meters, in which the climate is cold and forests grow well. This cold and moisture condition is suitable for tea trees’ growth. In addition, the soil here is fertile, meanwhile performs well in drainage. Thus the tea leaves carry a natural scent of flower and fruit.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Orchid Oolong from Art of Tea. . . .
Spring is just around the corner. At least in my neck of the woods it is. It seems like everybody is tired of lugging around the winter coats and heavy sweaters and are ready for the change of seasons. Even I’m ready to open up some windows and let the fresh air in.
With the coming of the seasons, also comes (for some of us) a change in our tea drinking habits. I’ve noticed that I’ve been craving more bright spring like teas with a floral touch lately. So the other day I prepped up my kettle and checked out Orchid Oolong from Art of Tea.
Orchid Oolong has been a tea that I’ve had my eye on for a bit so I was quite ecstatic when this tea arrived with our other Art of Tea samples. With fresh pops of floral notes coming from my Wall Tea Infuser, I knew I was in for a treat.
First sip into this tea and I couldn’t resist just gulping the rest of the tea down and devouring several infusions. A rich smooth silky texture, buttery rich touches, and a gorgeous floral finish. . . This tea couldn’t get any smoother, richer, or more alluring. This oolong yielded such a beautiful flavor that you can instantly see where this tea gets the name Orchid Oolong. . and rightfully so. Everything about this tea was simply breathtaking and so giving.
Orchid Oolong is a luxurious treat but at such a reasonable price. Highly recommend and one I’m going to have to add to my tea cabinet. The fact that this tea is also offered in pyramid tea bags makes this tea even more attractive to me. 90% of the time, I drink loose leaf but with having to get everybody to school and work. . .it just isn’t in the cards. Knowing that I have this beauty at my fingertips. . . .that is an investment I’m going to be making.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Art of Tea
Description
Our Orchid Oolong tea is grown in the hilltops of Nantou, Taiwan. Often covered in cool mist and surrounded by crisp streams, the leaves are hand-picked and basket-tossed in a process known as oxidization. They are then rolled into kernels that wait to unfold in your teapot. The resulting tea has a unique lilac flavor that is full and smooth, with a fresh orchid finish. It can be steeped multiple times (each time unlocking a different taste), and is also available in our Eco Pyramid Teabags
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
