Busting out the aroma cup set for this session.
The only steeping guidelines on the bag are for western-style but I prefer my oolongs gong fu style. Experimenting with tea gives you a better sense of what parameters the tea is best suited to.
It’s harder to do that with western style unless you have a cupping set made for tasting. The inital smell is full of lilacs and orchids. While the wet leaf is reminiscent of a rainforest after a light rain with slight butter.
My first steeping wasn’t long enough. Only did about 30 seconds, which usually is enough to decipher something but the hot tea didn’t give me much. Ah, now that is has cooled it begins to shine.
Vegetal and little butter slight mineral in the aftertaste. The second steep is better and ripe with heavy orchid aroma from the aroma cup.
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Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Teasource
Description
An everyday tea you can soak up like rain. Clean aromatics, a light-bodied cup, and a bright, mineral character. More traditionally known as Huang Jin Gui.
This tea was made by Mr. Lin Rui Fu of Huqiu town in Anxi County, Fujian, China. Huang Jin Gui style oolongs are known for producing wonderfully fragrant teas, but sometimes with lighter body.
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Li Shan Oolong Tea (Cui Fong)/Zi Chun -teaequalsbliss
Li Shan is one of my favorite types of Oolong Teas. That’s why Li Shan Oolong Tea (Cui Fong) from Zi Chun Tea Company is on my list of favorites when it comes to Li Shans!
Organically farmed, hand picked, and ball-rolled oolong, this tea is delicious! With being only lightly oxidized at about 15 to 20% and spring to winter harvests you can TASTE the freshness! It’s naturally fruity and smooth, rich, and robust!
Cui Fong, Lishan (Pear Mountain), Taichung County, Taiwan is where this tea hails from. With a name like Pear Mountain I had to Google it! International Tea Masters was the first one that popped up! Of course I knew that Li Shan was “The King of Teas” but it’s been a while since I looked at pictures from that region. I adore sipping on tea and looking at the regions from which they came. It makes me feel like I am walking in that specific Tea Garden or Tea Farming area.
As for this tea, it’s one I would sip on again and again! It’s TEA-riffic!
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Zi Chun
Description
Li Shan tea is known as the “King of Teas.” Its exceptionally pristine and fruity fragrance is not found in any other Taiwan teas.
This Organic Li Shan is harvested from one of the rare Organic tea gardens in the Li Shan Mountain area. The tea garden is small and has very limited yields each with each Spring and Winter harvest. A very prized and exclusive tea
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Anxi Dan Gui/Verdant – skysamurai
This is my first time drinking a Dan Gui. But knowing it is an Anxi region oolong I have high hopes. The dry aroma is very fresh.
With summer garden scents. . . . though I only got to smell it once since I was outside at a splash pad with my kids. Not ideal tea drinking area but we tea drinkers have to make do.
Leaf is gorgeous. Blends of light green and darker greens. Refreshing flavor. Reminiscent of tie guan yin but lighter. The mouth feel is silky. The wet aroma is very interesting.
There is a spot in Hawaii where the forest and the ocean meet. Bits of plumeria and other tropical flowers with a fresh water meets ocean water aroma.
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Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Verdant Tea
Description
This tea is no longer available but click below for oolongs that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Creamsicle Oolong/Little Woods Herbs & Teas -VariaTEA-
Advent season 2020 sort of got away from me. My original intention was to make my own advent calendar using teas I already owned so that it would force me to drink my own stash. I did that. I also bought 6 other advent calendars. Oops.
This particular tea, Creamsicle Oolong by Little Woods, was part of my DIY advent calendar. It is a tea that was shared with me by one of the sisters, Nichole/CuppaGeek, that I had not tried by the time I was making my own calendar. As such, it found its way into the calendar and was a pleasant surprise the day I pulled it out.
Citrus is not actually one of my favorite flavors in teas. It’s one of those flavors that my reaction will depend on my mood. Sometimes I crave citrus and other times I am just tired of it. As far as citrus goes, however, creamsicle tends to be one I like. I think that is because its not just citrus but instead citrus and vanilla/cream. These flavors combined are dessert-like and anyone who knows me knows that I like dessert teas.
When I steeped this up, I was taken aback by an almost-roasted scent that was coming from the tea. I know there are roasted oolongs or oolongs that have that flavor, but I did not expect that in a creamsicle tea. Creamsicles are frozen and sweet and bright and “roasted” doesn’t fit into that picture. Plus, this uses a milk oolong which are typically creamy, not roasted. With that said, my nose did not deceive me because there is definitely a roasted flavor in this tea.
I would describe the flavor as orange and roasted oolong with an aftertaste of vanilla creaminess. I want to like it but the roasted quality really takes me out of the idea of creamsicle. It’s also more tart and savory than it is sweet and that seems off for me. Perhaps if it were branded differently I would be less disappointed and more accepting of the overall flavor. While personally I am more likely to purchase a creamsicle blend, I find it a lot worse when I expect creamsicle and instead get roasted orange, than if I were just given a blend called roasted orange and that’s what is delivered. As it is, I am disappointed with this blend – which is not a bad blend, but also not creamsicle.
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Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Little Woods Herbs & Teas
Description
A special blend using a Taiwanese Milk Oolong as the tea base. It is creamy, tart, and great with milk and honey.
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Vietnam Red Oolong – Kim Tuyen/Simpson & Vail- Skysamurai-
Another advent tea gift. I find it interesting that while this one is a rolled style the others I have come upon are shaped into balls.
So it makes me wonder why the farmer decided to make that change. It is a gorgeous leaf. Dark chocolate in color with light brown flecks here and there. The flavor is mineral, musty, and filled with wet wood notes. There is honey in the after taste. It isn’t strong but the way it lingers is very unique.
My aroma cup doesn’t reveal much for the liquid but the wet leaf is earthy and kinda mineral. I say kinda because it hides. Sometimes you sense it and sometimes you don’t. Some oolongs can last for many steepings but this one seems to have had its limelight in the first and second steepings.
Though as I’m coming upon my 7th? infusion now I’m find some of the sweeter notes are really shining. The instructions also say to brew four minutes, which I assume would be western style. I’ve tried both western and gong fu but so far I prefer the gong fu. It offers the ability to test it out more at more stages, not that you can’t in western but it just doesn’t steep the same.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Simpson & Vail
Description
This exquisite oolong comes to us from Northern Vietnam, where some of the old tea plants are still partially grown wild. Local villagers traditionally process these leaves and the resulting tea is unique and delicious.
The large leaves resemble a black tea, however, the brewed cup is distinctively oolong in character. The aroma is bright with slight spice and floral notes. The amber cup imparts a toasty aftertaste with a slight honey sweet flavor.
Brew tea at 212º – steep for 4 minutes.
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