Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Tea from Taiwan
Tea Description:
Wu Ling oolong tea (wu-long tea) is our best tea in our regular collection. Wu Ling is a mountain area in Taichung county and its high altitude (more than 2000 meters) contributes to the ideal growing conditions for wu long tea.
Another reason why Wu Ling wu long tea is of such fine quality is the soil of the Wu Ling area. Wu Ling was a fruit producing region for many years until economic conditions favored imported fruit over home-grown apples and pears. Former orchards in the Wu Ling area were converted into oolong tea plantations, and Wu Ling wu long tea is renowned for its fruity quality.
Wu Ling is located on Mount Li (Li Shan or Pear Mountain) and wu long tea from Mount Li is the most prized wu long tea in Taiwan. It is ideally suited for gong fu style brewing and can be re-brewed up to eight times while still retaining plenty of flavor.
More information about the Li Shan area of Taiwan (including a section on Wu Ling wu long tea) can be found on this website about Wu Ling farm.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Wu Ling Oolong is a very subtle tea with sweet notes of vanilla, cane sugar, and pear. Now as good as that sounds, don’t think that these notes are going to jump up and do a jig on your taste buds. This tea has a polite mannerism that evolves through multiple steeps and must be sipped slowly and savored for each succulent note.
Of course this tea is best brewed gong fu style and through the multiple steeps produces more notes to enjoy.
As you enjoy infusions you will find notes that range from sweet, as I mentioned above, to spicy, nutty, toasty, bake-y, floral, buttery, and fruity.
This green oolong still has a nice roast-y flavor, but unlike it’s darker counterparts is much more delicate and more vegetal in flavor.
This tea is quite complex and layered, some have said it is a bit too confusing for them while others absolutely adore it. Personally, I find it quite enjoyable but more so when I really have time to relax, such as while reading, or enjoying the outdoors. It allows me time to really savor each note as it comes forward.
I especially love this tea because I have an intense sweet tooth and butterscotch candies are one of my favorite candies. Between the cane sugar note, and the butter note, I do taste butterscotch candy in this tea every so often.
In dry form the tea has a wonderful aroma, steeped the color of the tea is a very light yellow, leaning toward a deeper golden yellow in forward steeps. Interesting how the tea becomes darker not lighter in progressive steeps. It only goes to show what a good tea this is since it has such staying power and continues to give off its bounty of notes. The leaf once steeped really expands allowing you to see how each leaf had been carefully rolled into the tiny nuggets. The aroma of the steeped leaf is my favorite of the two aromas between dry and steeped as it gives off a deeper darker note of extra crispy toast. It is no surprise that I prefer this over the pre-steeped state as I do normally prefer darker oolong.
For a green oolong however, this tea is top notch and I will throughly enjoy the rest of my many steeps to come.
Tie Guan Yin Iron Goddess Oolong from Teavivre
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Tea Description:
Tie Guan Yin tea is a type of Oolong tea, and is – deservedly – one of the most revered and sought after type tea in China. Sometimes also written as Ti Kuan Yin or Iron Goddess Oolong Tea. Apart from its amazing taste, this tea also has great health benefits, being high in amino acids, vitamins and antioxidants.
more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Lord this tea smells so very good! That is in the dry leaf state! Don’t even get me started on the steeped leaf! I am weak in the knees at the aroma of this tea.
It has almost a brown sugar, or maple like essence. Oh my!
When steeped however it also develops some more notes such as floral, but not overly so, and vegetal, but again its not so vegetal that those who are not fond of green tea would be turned off.
To me, the predominant notes are of dessert-y, baked good aromas.
This is a tea that not only can be steeped many times, but deserves to be steeped many times! Having a gong fu session is best with this type of tea as each steep releases different notes, different characteristics, different elements trapped within the tea. It is our duty to release each and every one to be enjoyed fully.
Now it is no secret that I adore Teavivre teas but this specific tea is one of my favorites from them.
The first steep provides a light infusion of crisp floral and vegetal notes that are only slightly buttery. There is a slight yet noticeable lime note in this infusion but it is not tart, just juicy and bright. The lingering after taste is that of steamed greens, almost a celery flavor, very fresh from the market tasting.
Now if you are not using a gaiwan or yixing pot be sure you are using a large enough brew basket as these leaves really expand, a lot! Seriously, lol even my Gaiwan was a bit too full with this leaf! This however is not a bad thing.
Steep two is very similar to the first steep, however providing a slightly more buttery and nutty flavor. The mouthfeel is also slightly thicker and heavier. Drinking this tea makes me want to reach for some butter cookies. It just seems to be the perfect pairing! I only wish I had some.
Steeps three and four are where the flavor profile really begins to shift, with new notes emerging. There is a fruity essence coming forth and that all to well known to me flavor that most all oolong have is really forefront. A flavor that is difficult to describe and only those who have sipped a good oolong can understand.
Oolong is my favorite type of tea. I love the earthiness of it similar to puerh, the sweet vegetal notes like that of green tea, the fruity notes that you can find in many teas types, the boldness of a black. With the delicate nature of a yellow or white tea, with distinct flavor notes all of its own. Everything I love about all other teas can be found right here in an oolong, and this oolong is top notch.
Steeps three and four become more buttery with a more rich mouthfeel, savory from herbaceous notes, the floral has relaxed a little but is still an undertone to the cup. The vegetal is not as strong either but is replaced by a nuttier flavor yet in the after taste evolves again! I will get at least two more if not three or four more steeps out of this leaf and I look forward to each one!
Such a delightful, expressive cup.
Oolong Formosa from Utopia Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Utopia Tea
Tea Description:
The name speaks for itself, Formosa meaning “beautiful” tea. Our Oolong Formosa is semi-fermented with copper red leaves and have silver tips. The tea leaves offer hints of vanilla and citrus for a smooth and spicy taste. Oolong Formosa got its name from the Portuguese explorers that called the island, Formosa. Oolong Formosa contains a large amount of natural plant-derived antioxidant compounds called polyphenols that fight off cancer and a variety of diseases. Oolong tea leaves have been proven to protect the body, lower cholesterol, promote healthy blood vessel functionality, and strengthen the immune system. Small amounts of Vitamin C and K, potassium, and calcium have been found in Oolong tea leaves. Try this tea hot or over ice!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Utopia Tea’s Formosa Oolong is a nice daily oolong. Its not the most mind blowing oolong by any means but this is a tea for when you don’t want to nor have the time to sit paying attention to your steep. It is a forgiving oolong that can take mishaps well. It has a good flavor although to me, there is slightly a black tea flavor here as well. It does not strike me as an all out oolong.
Now I admit, I am an oolong snob and for me, having an oolong is a time for relaxing, meditation, and sitting with my tea contemplating. I prefer to have oolong when using my gaiwan and usually I spend more on oolong than any other tea for that reason. However this is a really solid oolong for sharing with company that drops by, making cold brew, or when you just don’t have the time or want to sit and pay close attention to your steeping session.
When I took my first sip what came to mind is that of an oolong I have had a Asian restaurants before. Good but nothing that was mind blowing.
In all fairness though, 4 ounces of this tea from Utopia Tea is only 10.00 so I really do not think that Utopia is trying to claim this is the best oolong on earth. I feel the price is by far fair for what you get here!
What this tea does offer is just what the description says, slight hints at vanilla with slight citrus notes, and a nice background of some spice and nuttiness. I added the note on nuttiness. There is the typical roasted flavor of oolong but it would fall on the lighter side of roasts.
A good tea for the price, excellent for serving cold or to guests who are not tea perfectionists. Great to serve with meals or drink by the tons while working.
Toffee Apple from The Rabbit Hole Organic Tea Bar
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: The Rabbit Hole Organic Tea Bar
Tea Description:
Transport yourself back to the days when an apple on a stick, smothered in toffee was nothing to be ashamed of. Here’s a tea to remind you of times when visits to the Dentist weren’t so expensive.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I was excited to try this tea because I have heard of The Rabbit Hole Tea Bar before. I am expecting some teas from them from a trade partner in Australia! When I saw this in a box my Sororitea Sister Anne sent me I squealed!
The oolong flavor is mellow, creamy, and nutty. It is a light oolong. The toffee flavor is excellent! The apple is well done and there is absolutely not trace of a chemical flavor in this cup. Everything tastes perfectly natural and organic. The three flavors meld perfectly into a refreshing, creamy, lightly sweet, fruity cup.
The longer the tea cools the more pronounced the flavors become – a perfect tea for icing or cold brewing!
I have to say – being this is my first experience with teas from The Rabbit Hole Organic Tea Bar, I am impressed! Now I am even more so looking forward to my trade with my Australian Steepster friend! And I mean, come on, what a cool name for a tea bar!
I love it when a tea blender can not only get an amazing tea organically, but when the tea base itself is allowed to shine, yet the flavors are still very present and the tea taste like its name sake! This is a totally winning blend.
Nilgiri Frost Oolong from Butiki Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Butiki Teas
Tea Description:
Our Nilgiri Frost Oolong originates from Nilgiri, in Southern India and is graded TGFOP (Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe). Since this tea is grown at a high elevation, the leaves are exposed to a light frost during some nights of the winter months. The long thin chocolate colored leaves are hand twisted and produce a weighty body. This smooth tea has notes of citrus, peach, pecan, and oak. There are many qualities similar to a Nilgiri black tea; however, the frost oolong is much gentler and sweeter. This tea is produced in very limited quantities due to the short harvest period and special conditions that must exist.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
In some ways this tea reminds me more of a black tea than an oolong, which isn’t a bad thing as it is nice to have a little of both worlds sometimes. Not floral like many oolong, this tea is deep and robust. It has levels of flavors ranging from light and fruity to deep and woodsy.
Like many black teas there is also an astringency that I often do not find in oolong tea. This astringency is not a bad thing either – not bitter but a slight sour note, not as in sour milk of course but more like in sweet fruity candies with sour sugar sprinkled on top.
The dry leaf is dark and mysterious with twists and curls through out. It looks perfect for this time of year where the leaves are changing colors and Halloween is around the corner. Sort of spooky in its visual effect. Wet, the leaf unfurls and colors of amber brown and deep green appear. The liquid color is reddish amber.
Notes of oak, peach, and nutty pecan peek through in the flavors.
Some mornings I am not sure if I want an oolong even as much as I adore oolong, I just need a black tea to get me started, yet this tea seems to lay somewhere in the middle for me. Its perfect when I crave an oolong but need the black tea mind and energy boost! Quite honestly, even with as many oolong as I drink and as much as I love my oolong tea, this would have been difficult for me to detect as an oolong had I not known before sipping. I could have easily been fooled, especially early in the morning to believe it was a black tea.
Truly this Oolong is different, and if you consider yourself an oolong connoisseur, you certainly should try it, simply for the experience of something so different. If you love your black teas but are curious about oolong this is the one to try. Or, if you are like me, and love both but are not quite sure on some mornings which to grab and steep – get this one and solve that problem right away!