Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong/Green
Where to Buy: A Quarter To Tea
Tea Description:
Roasty enough to appease the coffee lover in you! The blend of hojicha and oolong makes a robust, coffee like base without the jitters. Mellowed out with chicory, chocolate, and cherries. What could be a better start to the morning?
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
A Quarter to Teas is a fairly new tea store selling on Etsy that feautues seasonal and limited edition blends such as the blend I’m trying now and many other unique flavours like Strawberry Jalapeno Salsa. The owner, Lauren, was kind enough to send a few samples my way. I have to say my email correspondence with Lauren was incredibly impressive – she was so prompt in replying to my messages and very pleasant overall. Without even taking a sip of tea yet, I’m already impressed with the company on the grounds of their customer service alone.
That said, getting into the tea itself this smells AMAZING. I was totally expecting more of a coffee/chocolate with a subtle cherry because most blends that attempt to do cherry blends in which the cherry isn’t the sole flavour never really nail it. Instead, the smell is indicating this will be the opposite: cherry tea with more subtle coffee and chocolate. I am SO on board with that idea!
And I am so gleeful right now because the taste of the infused tea IS very strongly cherry! And it’s not some kind of gross cough syrup cherry either! Instead it’s sweet, dark cherry. So yummy and indulgent! Of course, there’s more going on here aside from the cherry even if that is the element of the tea which I’m most excited about. The chocolate notes come through well too and the pairing is a match made in heaven. However, it’s a little thin and I think that’s probably because this blend uses chocolate chips. If I could make one suggestion it’d be to use either cocoa nibs or shells instead. I think that’d kick the chocolate factor up a lot and also make the mouthfeel a little cleaner. Finally, the “coffee”. Personally I think this is the mildest element of the blend but I’m more that ok with that. As much as I don’t hate coffee and am cool with the flavour being in my tea I still prefer the tea itself to be the most dominant flavour. On that note I definitely taste the hojicha more than the oolong. I really love the idea of pairing the hojicha with the oolong as well; it ups the roasty notes up quite a bit and adds a whole new layer of flavour into the tea.
This tea is absolutely phenomenal! I’m very impressed, and I really look forward to trying the rest of my samples from Lauren. As far as first impressions go, this was a really good one.
Golden Lily Oolong Tea From Dachi Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong Tea
Where to Buy: Dachi Tea
Tea Description:
This oolong is made from the Jinxuan varietal invented by Taiwan’s tea research, a varietal renown for its milky aroma and smooth mouthfeel. This specific yield is distinctively vibrant and balances flowery aromas with a faint creaminess, before its chartreuse-colored liqueur and its lightly-floral mid palate give way to a vegetal-yet-sweet finish, reminiscent of sugar snappeas.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Golden Lily Oolong from Dachi Tea. “Golden Lily Oolong” what a pretty name. The name goes perfectly well with this lovely tea that is for sure. My package says it was obtained at Alishan Mountain at 4,000 feet and that it is a Milky Lilly Oolong.
Dry this oolong smells very nice a combination of floral and peas. Once you add the hot water it’s more of a floral aroma. The flavor is heavily floral, subtly sweet because of the sugar snap pea flavor that is naturally found in this leaf, and the finish is quite creamy or ‘milky’ and lives up to it’s name. It’s slippery on the tongue and after the cuppa is long-gone it leaves your tongue and teeth squeaky-clean. Yummy! This is a fantastic oolong!
Dark Chocolate Oolong from Liquid Proust Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Liquid Proust Teas (No Longer Listed)
Tea Description:
Ingredients: Roasted Oolong, Cocoa, Flavoring
Learn more about this tea on Steepster.
Taster’s Review:
This is one of Andrew, from Liquid Proust Teas, crazy ideas but one which certainly looked interesting to me. I can’t actually remember ever trying a mind blowing chocolate oolong and so the possibility of this tea filling that whole intrigued me a lot! The dry leaf looks really interesting; and it has a soft, sweet cocoa smell and some floral notes too.
Hmm, this didn’t brew up to be the most appetizing smelling or aesthetically beautiful. It’s very murky/cloudy looking, and I get the impression it may have an oilier mouthfeel. However, the really concerning thing is the aroma of the liquor coming from the cup: it’s like the most floral oolong smell I’ve ever come across mixed with mildew and wet dog? And I know that’s harsh – but honestly that’s what I’m smelling and it’s making me gag just a little bit.
The weird thing is that it actually doesn’t taste bad; and I don’t know if I’ve ever come across a tea with such a disconnect between the taste and smell since those two senses are so incredibly intertwined. I mean it’s certainly not the delicious cocoa tea I was expecting but it’s actually nice enough. There are very strong nutty notes and then more medium notes of burnt toast and cocoa in the body of the sip. There are also subtle moss and floral notes. I don’t really like the way the more natural/floral notes pair with the toasty notes and sweet cocoa – it’s kind of like some sort of unholy Frankenstein’s monster of tea.
I’m gonna call it; this is the first offering from Liquid Proust that I dislike – I could probably handle it if, when I went in for a sip, I didn’t have to smell the steeped tea but that just kills it for me. That said, every other review I’ve read has been favourable so if you get the chance to sample this I encourage trying it and forming your own opinion. It’s just not for me.
China Fujian Cinnamon ‘Rou Gui’ Wuyi Rock Oolong from What-Cha
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: What-Cha
Tea Description:
Rou Gui has a great cinnamon taste combined with a thick texture and sweet taste.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I love Rou Gui and the reviews I’ve read for What-Chas have all be positive so I thought it was about time I bought some to try for myself. Usually, I like to do Gong Fu sessions with Rou Gui and I’m sure I’ll try this that way eventually, but when I showed this to my mom what she said was that it smelled like it’d be good cold; and since she so rarely weighs in on how I prepare the teas I share with her I decided to honor her suggestion and make my inaugural tasting a cold brew.
I have to say, this was definitely an interesting blend to me. One of the things I most like about drinking Rou Gui Gong Fu is the progression of flavours and drinking a cold brew with an extended six or seven hour steep time really makes that progression of flavour blur together. So, I tasted qualities I think I normally would have in the first few steeps of a Gong Fu session as well as ones I probably only would have noticed in the last few infusions.
The most obvious taste was, of course, the sweet flavour of cinnamon. I find ‘cinnamon’ has such a varied flavour; it can be spicy like you’d find in Chai or very drying (have you ever done the cinnamon challenge?) or it can have this lovely pastry/baking sweetness. Of all the ways cinnamon can express itself, I definitely get the latter example here.
Other dominant flavours are honey, wood, leather, and floral notes. Maybe just a hint of cream as well. It’s a weird contrast between bold flavour notes and delicate ones too; the overall affect is a medium bodied, smooth tea with a very rich, thick mouthfeel and clean taste with a pleasant, lingering finish. One of the nice things about cold brewing this is that I got to skip the more ashy/char notes and biting astringency that usually accompany the first few infusions of a Rou Gui; but I still got leathery, wood notes! No additives are necessary. In fact, they’d probably detract from the taste more than anything else.
If there’s one thing I’d have liked to see which I didn’t it’s more of a fruity note – but maybe that’ll come out more when I inevitably Gong Fu this.
Wen Shan Baozhong Oolong from Tribute Teas/ChaHoney
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Tribute Teas & ChaHoney
Tea Description:
Baozhong oolong originated from Anxi in Fujian, China. A history of production reaching back nearly 150 years, it is the most famous tea of northern Taiwan. The name ‘Baozhong’ refers to its traditional packaging in a bamboo wrapping. A uniquely light oxidation and minimal roasting reveal a elegant, smooth, and notably fresh flavor. Its aroma is floral and sweet, with notes of apricots. . .
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about subscribing to ChaHoney here.
Taster’s Review:
Subscription boxes are the thing these days. I myself subscribe to a few. The one that intrigues me the most is ChaHoney, a monthly subscription plan that basically does your tea shopping for you. ChaHoney doesn’t blend their own tea yet instead looks for those amazing teas that you might have overlooked here or there. Each month features a different company. I just love this idea and hope to become a member soon. But first I need to sipdown some teas (this will be #33!!).
I’m almost finished with this first box from ChaHoney that I received. I’m quite impressed with the teas I’ve had so far. The company that was featured was Tribute Teas. You’d think I would have tried them by now since they are in my home state but alas no. Shame on me.
This oolong right out of the gate smelled decadent and romantic. I can absolutely pick up notes of lilacs. I love lilacs and am happy just to sit around enjoy the aroma from this tea. So beautiful.
I let this tea sit for just a moment and then took my first sip. Gorgeous! Simply gorgeous, romantic and exactly what I needed today. This tea is everything you could ask for and more. Irresistible floral notes paired with hints of a sweetness that I would compare to an apricot. The description is spot on. I am incredibly impressed and next payday, this one will need to be re-ordered.
I am simply in love with this floral roasted sweet apricot loving oolong! I can absolutely see this tea being one that you drink while you get lost in a good book. This is my favorite Tribute Tea to date!
