If pu-erhs don’t suit your taste but you are looking for some of the same unique medicinal characteristics and timelessness (becomes better with age) then you should try out a Da Hong Pao, also known as Big Red Robe.
From the first time I tried it many years ago to now it has remained one of my favorite teas. It is a darker roasted oolong with lovely attributes. When the liquid first hits your tongue roasty and toasty notes flourish. Then subtly sweet plum and floral accents, almost jasmine in essence.
If you are having trouble deciphering these flavors make sure to steep between two to three minutes and swish it in your mouth a few times. I found this tea company while on the prowl for my favorite maple syrup (Faxon Farms, so amazing).
The owners truly know their tea and when I told them what I like to drink they immediately recommended Da Hong Pao. I will be a repeat customer for sure.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Great Tea Road Company
Description:
Da Hong Pao still grows in traditional, small-scale tea gardens, and each spring the farmers still climb the hills to implore the tea god to bring new shoots. It’s the combination of rock and water that gives Da Hong Pao its rich flavor. The rain that pours off the sheer rock walls, flowing down narrow streams and pretty waterfalls, becomes imbued with minerals, which then impart their goodness to the tea. A legends has sprung up around the original Da Hong Pao trees, which still perch precariously on a cliff face not far from the monastery.
What Da Hong Pao taste like? This is a medium charcoal roasting oolong. It gives a flavor of red dates and purple plums and slightly roasted with light floral / fruity aroma. It is clean finished and clear, medium-amber colored liquor.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Tsui Yu Taiwan Floral (Jade) Oolong Tea from Fong Mong. . . .
You can always count on Fong Mong for exceptional Oolongs. The aroma cup reveals some wonderful vanilla and orchid notes in the aroma as it is steeping. A strange very very slight bit of asparagus hit the back of my tongue as I was sipping. This is not a tea for those who prefer strong teas. The flavors of this one are incredibly light. There are definitely some floral notes but if you swish it around in your mouth a bit you will also discover unique vegetable and herb notes. Be it ever so slight.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Fong Mong
Description
Plucking from Taiwan peculiar Tsui Yu (Jade TTES #13) tea cultivar, in addition to stringent management of planting, Taiwan floral oolong tea was made by artisans to refine into traditional oolong tea. In the process of light fermentation, Jadeoolong transpires delicate floral aroma which you, tea lovers, won’t miss it out.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Tsui Yu Taiwan Floral (Jade) Oolong Tea from Fong Mong
You can always count on Fong Mong for exceptional Oolongs. The aroma cup reveals some wonderful vanilla and orchid notes in the aroma as it is steeping.
A strange very very slight bit of asparagus hit the back of my tongue as I was sipping.
This is not a tea for those who prefer strong teas. The flavors of this one are incredibly light.
There are definitely some floral notes but if you swish it around in your mouth a bit you will also discover unique vegetable and herb notes. Be it ever so slight.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Fong Mong
Description
Plucking from Taiwan peculiar Tsui Yu (Jade TTES #13) tea cultivar, in addition to stringent management of planting, Taiwan floral oolong tea was made by artisans to refine into traditional oolong tea. In the process of light fermentation, Jadeoolong transpires delicate floral aroma which you, tea lovers, won’t miss it out.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
De-Lovely from the Tea Crew
With a name like De-Lovely, you can’t help but expect a tea that will bring a smile to your face. De-Lovely from the Tea Crew is an oolong tea with sweet almond and chocolate flavors.
Chocolate teas can be tricky, sometimes they aren’t very chocolate-like, and other times they end up like watered-down hot cocoa. However, De-Lovely smelled very promising, both in the dry leaf and in the brewed tea.
Upon my first sip, I knew this chocolate tea was a winner. The oolong base is more roasted than green, and goes very well with the marzipan almond flavors. With a rich and nutty base, the chocolate notes thrive, bringing a dark chocolate, almost-floral sweetness. When I looked at the ingredients list, I noticed that there is even a bit of coconut in the mix to help add a buttery mouthfeel and creamy richness.
The oolong tea base helps keep this from being too decadent or overpowering. The tea leaves themselves still have a strong bodied presence among all the sweet desserts. Nutty, roasty, chocolatey, this tea is just lovely!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: The Tea Crew
Description:
Somewhere between green and black tea lies Oolong tea, semi-fermented loveliness.
This blend is sweet, nutty and chocolatey. It’s delightful, it’s delicious, it’s de-lovely!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Tie Guan Yin from Origins Tea . . .
One cold and wintery evening I decided to dive deep into my loose leaf stash and randomly choose one I hadn’t had in a good, long while. The one I choose from the heap was this Tie Guan Yin Oolong Tea from Origins Tea which I haven’t been able to locate online for a long time.
Some tea lovers say it’s a perfect middle ground to a black tea and a green tea but it’s actually an Oolong! Tricky, tricky…little fellow…but oh-so-comforting and satisfying!
Other tea fans say that Tie Guan Yin is arguably the most famous oolong tea with an aroma of baked bread with a floral, buttery finish.
I agree with both stances. It’s a little bit green, a little bit black. It’s not too weak and not too strong. It offers that semi-bakey, yet somewhat creaminess, too!
Could this be the Jekyll and Hyde of Oolongs? Perhaps! But for now…I will just call it a solid cuppa and enjoy it for what it is…Tie Guan Yin…a marvelous Oolong!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Origins Tea
Description
Grown in the high mountains of the A Li Shan region of Taiwan, this tea is also known as the “Iron Goddess of Compassion”. This tea will almost certainly become your favorite roasted Tie Guan Yin. Nice deep roasted fragrance, comes off a bit nutty with the charcoal aroma, along with a bit of floral in the background. Really nice mix of floral notes, fruity/herbal terpene complexity, and underlying roasted aroma.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
