This is a strong, alluring cup of pure, unblended oolong that tastes like fruit and flowers with a dash of pollen/honey. The taste is surprisingly rich for a straight tea.
I feel like a fancy aristocrat with such a delicacy at my hands. Like my porter bright it straight from Asia as an offering from a king trying to curry my favor.
(Side note: “Curry favor”? Like… make it spicy and delicious? I’ve never thought about the phrase “curry favor” before, and had to Google it to make sure that was the exact phrase. It is. Do you ever have linguistic moments like this?)
This tea makes me think about how big and magical the world is. We have these plants that come up from the ground that we’ve selectively bred and handle in specific ways to make them tasty. There’s nothing else in this cup. Just leaves. We put the leaves into some hot water and taste pours out.
Some people put beans in hot water for the same reason. But they’re wrong. The leaves are better.
If you want to enjoy these leaves in particular, they’re for sale at the TeaRunners site. The site is run by a girl who’s been in several science fiction TV shows I like. I showed up to support the girl. I stayed because I liked the plants she picked out for me to try.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Tea Runners
Description
From the family farm of a nationally recognized tea master, this fabulous Mi Lan Xiang (“Honey Orchid Fragrance”) Dan Cong Oolong tea sets itself apart with its distinctive golden color and strong fruity aromas.
This alluring and addictive tea has strong notes of orchid, honey, lychee and mango, with a touch of spice. It lingers on the palate for hours and will have you coming back for more.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
On Wisconsin from A Quarter To Tea. . . . Part Two
I have actually written a previous review about On Wisconsin by A Quarter to Tea, the tasty honey cheesecake tea. For that reason, this review is more about a tea experiment I did with On Wisconsin as opposed to the tea itself.
For a while I have been obsessing over iced lattes. I have tried and tried but can never get my iced tea lattes to be as rich and creamy as the ones you get at places like Starbucks (though I think that because Starbucks uses whole milk loaded with syrup). Instead mine are almost watery. As a result, I have been searching the internet, reading recipes and watching YouTube videos, trying to get new and inspiring ideas for iced lattes. I came across one video by The Domestic Geek called 5 Fave Iced Coffee Hacks which has 5 tasty looking ideas that could easily be adapted for iced tea lattes.
One hack that really caught my attention was the third hack for Inside Out Lattes. For this hack, The Domestic Goddess made ice cubes out of coffee and chocolate syrup. She filled a mug with the coffee ice cubes and topped it with milk. Since I don’t drink coffee, I followed her lead but made my ice cubes out of a concentrate of On Wisconsin tea. I made the cubes by steeping the tea per the recommended parameters but using about 3-4 times the amount of leaf suggested. I then poured the concentrate into the ice cube tray and left them to set in the freezer overnight.
Once the cubes were set, I took the hack a step further and decided to blend my tea ice cubes with the milk. I used about 5 cubes to about a 1/2 a cup of milk but it was too thick so I added about another 1/2 a cup of milk. Then something weird happened as the icy milk foam separated to the top of the glass and the milky tea separated to the bottom. After some aggressive stirring to combine the foam and the tea, I was still surprised at how loose the tea tasted. I expected a smoothie-like or iced Aroma type consistency and instead it tasted like cold, milky tea. Personally I blame my ratio of cubes to milk but also the use of the On Wisconsin tea which has a strong honey flavor that competes with the milk as opposed to mixing with it.
Ultimately the experiment turned out good but not great. I think next time I need less cubes but also I think a different tea would improve the results drastically. My guess is a chocolate tea would suit this type of thing better. Though this is definitely an improvement from other iced lattes I have tried in the past as milky tea in an iced latte is better than watery tea in an iced latte so at least I am working in the right direction.
Drink Me Oolong from Plum Deluxe
Drink Me Oolong from Plum Deluxe has a warm and toasty roasted oolong base with added mango and almond essence. The darker oolong tea keeps the blend from getting too sweet, adding an almost savory nuttiness with each sip. The almond adds its trademark, almost-floral marzipan candy taste. The fruity mango adds a nice brightness to keep this blend uplifting and not too dense or cake-like.
I believe the name of this blend is inspired by Alice in Wonderland, but even without the reference is it a cute name to have looking back at you from your tea cupboard on rainy days. With sunny mango, bakery sweet almond, and a mid-level of caffeine, this is a great tea for the afternoon slump or a mid-day tea party.
Drink Me Oolong from Plum Deluxe was a limited edition blend, that should cycle back around in their seasonal blends or as part of their subscription service. In the meantime, give Pick Me Up Oolong a try, with almond and maple flavors and a similar oolong tea base.
Or try another flavor of oolong tea. Plum Deluxe teas always have great flavor combinations, and include things like “love” and “gratitude” on their ingredients list, so you can’t help but feel good when you brew a cup of their tea.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Plum Deluxe
This tea is no longer available but click below for other options!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Vietnam Gui Fei Oolong from What Cha. . . .
I may have gone a bit overboard this past Black Friday. I was splurging on tea orders right, left, and center. Normally those orders would be for flavored teas but a friend of mine was ordering from websites that have huge selections of straight teas and I decided to join in on her orders. One such site was What-Cha. I have had several of their straight teas thanks to others sharing samples with me and I’ve always been impressed.
More than just straight teas, I decided to go wild when it came to the oolong sections of these sites. In hindsight this was a weird choice for me since up until recently I wouldn’t even try a flavored oolong tea, let alone a straight one. I guess as time goes on, your tastes change and my tastes are moving towards oolongs. What Cha must have sensed that because this tea, Vietnam Gui Fei Oolong Tea, arrived as the sample in our order.
This tea has a really nice honey sweetness. That is what stands out sip after sip. As I continue to drink it does become a bit more nuanced with the honey giving way to a touch of signature oolong toastiness. The more I focus, the more I can taste. In addition to the honey, the sweetness has a slight taste of stonefruit and raisin and a little citrus zip intermingled with the toastiness. Also, floating about is a touch of rose/floral that could be present because I expect that in an oolong more than because its actually there.
What is nice about this tea is that the sweetness gives it some body and that body reads almost like a caramel / malt making this come off like a dessert tea despite it having no dessert flavorings. It is light and rich at the same time which makes it easy to drink again and again.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: What Cha
Description
A highly aromatic oolong with a wonderfully sweet honey aroma and taste accompanied by citrus fruit notes of orange blossoms and peach.
Gui Fei is notable as it requires the leaf to be nibbled by leafhoppers just like Oriental Beauty. The tea plant responds by releasing more polyphenols into the leaves, resulting in added sweetness and complexity in the tea.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Siam Ruby Oolong / Great Tea Road
What a truly wonderful oolong.
It is like life, so quick and fleeting. The aroma and the taste are wonderfully silky and light. This seems to be a medium oxidized oolong.
One can tell due to the color of the tightly curled leaf and slightly dark amber color of the liquid. When steeped too long it almost reminds me of a grapefruit. Perhaps that is where the ruby comes from?
Ruby red grapefruit. It has a bitter, metallic twang (only when steeped too long) that is unlike anything in a tea I’ve had before. So strange even the aroma on the aroma cup is so unique. Sweet, almost like candy. This was the second infusion.
We will try one final third infusion. Lost a bit to the over steeping but it still retains the floral qualities in the flavor. Floral mainly but I am also noticing some unique mineral notes. Truly a unique oolong.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Great Tea Road
Description:
From a high elevation mountain of Thailand. The steeped tea has a golden color. The aroma of dry tea is more like spinach but when brew its floral aroma is released. Smooth, complex and rich flavor. It has a notes of toasted hazelnut.
CAFFEINE LEVEL: Medium
BREWING DIRECTIONS: 1 Tea spoon | 7oz Water | 2-3 Minutes | 195 F | Multiple infuses.
ORIGIN: Thailand
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
