I can’t recall a time that I personally have had sticky rice. I believe I have but can’t be sure and certainly don’t remember to say whether this accurately depicts that flavor.
What I do know is this smells like popcorn. Buttery popcorn. And it tastes like buttery coconut rice and floral oolong. It reminds me of the coconut rice I get when I go to a Japanese/Thai restaurant called Spoon & Fork. Sweet and ricey and delicious, plus floral.
It’s thick and has the mouthfeel of a rice pudding. Well, as much as a liquid tea could resemble a rice pudding. Nonetheless, the thickness helps to sell the whole notion of sticky rice.
I will say I think there is a disconnect between the buttery and almost toasty rice notes and the floral oolong base. This could be due to my own bias against oolong teas, which I am only starting to enjoy, but the two just seem disjointed. I hoped the coconut flavor might bridge that gap but no-go it seems.
Nonetheless, I am enjoying this tea. It is one of two teas by this company I have tried and both have been quite lovely. There may be a What-Cha order in my future yet.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong Tea
Where to Buy: What-Cha
Description
Has a creamy texture and sticky rice aroma, imparted unto the tea during processing by heating the sticky rice plant’s leaves along with the tea leaves.
Sticky rice scented tea is a specialty of northern Thailand, although traditionally green tea is used, Jin Xuan Oolong produces just as good if not better results.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Caramel Apple Oolong V.2 from 52Teas. . . .
Charcoal baked oolong….interesting! Ive never heard of charcoal baked oolong before or seen it in any other blends so of course this was an intriguing blend to me.
The dry leaf of this one smelled like apple crisp! Once steeped, it smelled slightly grassy and like green apples. I’m not quite sure what charcoal tastes like, but I can taste a slight smokiness to this blend and i’m going to attribute it to the charcoal baked oolong. The taste also was slightly grassy like green tea and i’m going to attribute that to the oolong as well. As far as caramel goes, I could taste it as I swallowed and definitely on the aftertaste. But, cinnamon apple? Honestly I feel like the charcoal baked oolong and the caramel kind of overpowered the cinnamon apple flavor a bit. I really couldn’t detect as much of the cinnamon or the apple as I had been hoping for.
However, I did find this blend comforting and delicious regardless. It was perfect for being snowed in. I was also really glad I tried this oolong because now I can say I’ve had charcoal baked oolong! It just sounds so unique and it is definitely a must try. I saw that this blend was actually re-blend, as it was named “version 2”. I wish I had tried version 1 so that I could compare it, but I never had. In any case, I will definitely be finishing up my sample of this one and would recommend that you give it a try!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description
Some time ago, shortly after I started doing this thing as the Mad Tea Artist, one of my online friends suggested that I create a caramel apple Oolong and he suggested using a roasted Oolong base. I liked the idea but the thing was that Frank had already crafted a Caramel Apple Oolong using a Fujian Oolong. (Click here to read my original review* of that tea.)
So here is a tea that was previously imagined and then later re-imagined based on an inspiration from a tea friend. I started with a charcoal roasted TieGuanYin which is delightfully nutty and sweet. To this, I added a combination of freeze-dried apples: Granny Smith and Fuji (which, interestingly enough, are my two daughter’s favorite apples. Amethyst loves Granny Smith and Lilith loves Fuji.) I added some caramel essence and then – just because I felt that it needed some warmth, I added some cinnamon.
This is a tea that’s deliciously, apple-y sweet but also pleasantly spiced – with a creamy, nutty background of a truly delightful Oolong tea.
Taster size is approximately 15g
ingredients: oolong tea, organic apples, organic cinnamon and organic natural flavors
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Comparing Two Taiwanese Oolongs from #TeaAve and #Teavivre. . . . .
I’m going down the rabbit hole here with two Taiwanese oolongs, like Alishan Wonderland. The first time I visited a “Star-ba-ke” in China, I tried ordering a “tea with milk”. But they said it was too gross, several times, and they wouldn’t make it for me. I thought they had to be joking! They weren’t. My friend later told me I was insisting that “cheese” chai was a thing at American Starbucks. I could have died from the mix of embarrassment and jet lag.
Not too far away from that, around 1200 meters up Ali mountain on a foggy island with low temperatures, both the Osmanthus Oolong from Tea Ave and the Alishan Jin Xuan Milk Oolong from Tea Vivre were born to have complex flavor profiles, but nothing like cheese, I was assured. It is literally translated as Golden Daylily. I tried both these teas without adding any sweetener.
The Tea Vivre Jin Xuan Milk Oolong was so clean tasting that at first I wasn’t sure I steeped it, but the body of it feels thicker than 
just water and when the fruity aftertaste lingered, I was completely blown away. The flavor really crept up on me! I was able to resteep this naturally flavored tea several times and the fresh-then-orchid combo never failed to delight.
Osmanthus Oolong by Tea Ave was an equally light colored infusion but had more flavor at the front end instead. A very clean apricot flavor greeted my taste buds with this fuller bodied brew. The floral aftertaste was somewhat tannic but not as long lasting as the original flavor style. One aspect I really liked about this brand were the specific instructions for each brewing style, down to the grams for tea and mL of water. The scientist and the tea lover in me both wish I was Canadian so I could order more of this brand.
Overall a lovely experience with two drink-all-day oolongs. The best part is that now I don’t have to cringe at my bad memory when I hear the phrase “milk tea”.
Oriental Beauty from Dachi Tea. . . .
These long twists, amber and brown with white tips, are stunning. They are also sort of difficult to measure out with my “perfect teaspoon.” So what you’re getting with this review is a BEST GUESS at how this should have been made.
Regardless, this is a sweet little number tastes like white grape juice. It tastes like sugar, and flowers, and grapes, and candy, and ribbon-dancing.
Do you remember ribbon-dancing? There was a product called Ribbon Dancer.
My mom wouldn’t let me have it, so I took a stick, tied some braided-up yarn to it, and made do.
This tea is like if I’d RECEIVED a Ribbon Dancer. I would have been the most graceful ribbon dancer of all time. This tea is has an airy, swishy ballerina vibe to it. I might have under-leafed it a bit, but I genuinely think that it’s meant to be delicate. (It says “delicate” on the bag. I’m cheating a little bit here.)
You can’t buy this tea directly from Dachi’s site, but you can take a moment to look around the site. (And consider a subscription!) The site has graphics that show not only the tea itself but what it tastes like. Which is a wonderful way for a visual learner like me to discover the properties of different tea. I mean, look at this.
I daresay that’s the Ribbon Dancer of tea photography.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Dachi Tea
Description
Premium-grade, single-origin, direct-trade tea delivered to your desk or door, month after month.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Super Fancy Oolong from Solstice Tea Traders. . . . .
The outside of the tin for this says “Super Fancy Oolong,” which meant I had to show it to everyone in my office AND put it on my Snapchat. I curse like a pirate, dress like a goth, and look like a Muppet, so no one really bought the act. For a moment, though, I felt like maybe classiness was within reach.
The dry leaves are long and curled. They are brown and amber, and some ends have white bits. While you’re steeping them, they don’t uncurl as much as you’d expect, but don’t worry: the tea taste is definitely entering the water.
The taste is fragrant, orchid-like, flowery, and buttery. It leans more toward the green end of oolong than black. Which is great for the afternoon, when I want something chiller.
The flavor of this tea very delicate. I could see a French person sipping this during the Rococo period (think: Marie Antoinette). She’d gush something problematic like “one of my SERVANTS brought this from the ORIENT — HOW QUAINT.”
And a peasant from Horse-Butt, not-Paris (think: beginning of Beauty and the Beast), would spend the rest of his life wondering what this tea was like. He’d wonder about it while mucking the straw and sleeping on a bed of straw. He’d ponder it while pulling on itchy britches and a hilarious hat. He’d whisper of it to his livestock.
You, in the modern era, don’t have to fret about such things. You can calm your thirst by just purchasing it here. It’s $32.79 USD, and if you have prime, it could be to you immediately.
Aren’t you glad you aren’t a French peasant during the Rococo era?
In 2017, we can all live like royalty. We can all be “super fancy.”
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Solstice Tea Traders
Description
- Deluxe Loose Leaf Tea Set #3 Oolong Tea Sampler includes Formosa BT Black Oolong, Ti Kwan (Kuan) Yin Oolong, Magnolia Oolong, Super Fancy Oolong, Formosa Standard Oolong, and Fujian Jade Oolong.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
