Oriental Beauty Tea (Dong Fang Mei Ren) from Driftwood Tea

by liberteas

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Oolong

Where to Buy:  Driftwood Tea

Tea Description:

Oriental Beauty is also know by several other names including: Dong Fang Mei Ren; White Tip Oolong; and Champagne Oolong. Whatever name it goes by this is perhaps Taiwan’s most special tea and cited by many connoisseur as one of the world’s finest.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

This is a rather unusual Oriental Beauty – and I mean that in a very good way.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Oriental Beauty Oolong teas, they are one of my favorite Oolong varieties, but, I have come to expect certain things with Oriental Beauty and this one surprised me with some of the flavors I’m tasting here.

Normally, I expect a strong essence of a fuzzy, ripe peach, and I do detect some peach-y notes here, but I’m also tasting a strong muscatel note – so much so that it’s almost Darjeeling-esque!  It tastes of fermented grapes, with a hint of wood and musk, and a sweet, apricot/peach note.

The aroma of the brewed tea offers a floral note as well as a woody tone, but I don’t taste a strong floral essence.  There are some flowery notes to the flavor, but, the majority of the floral tones remain in the fragrance, and do not translate so much into the flavor.

But that’s alright, because I’m loving the way the flavors come together in this cup, with its strong fruity presence and background notes of wood and musk, hints of spice and whispers of flower.  It’s a beautifully complex cup, and offers some surprises to what I expected might be an ordinary cup of Oriental Beauty tea.  And while there’s nothing wrong with the typical cup of Oriental Beauty – I love Oriental Beauty Oolong! – it’s nice to have a tea challenge me and question what I thought I knew about this tea!

I love this!

liberteas

Anne (aka the Mad Tea Artist) has celebrated her 29th birthday for many years now. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her hubby and her youngest daughter. Her oldest daughter is married and has bestowed Anne with the proud title of "Gramma" and her grandson is about the cutest boy you ever did see. Anne started her journey with tea as a casual drinker and became more serious about her tea drinking when she realized that she couldn't drink coffee. Shortly thereafter, she started becoming obsessed with the beverage and she started creating small-batch, artisan blends of tea that she sold online as LiberTEAS. After a few years, she realized she wasn't cut out to be the sole proprietor of a business so she closed LiberTEAS and started reviewing teas online. She met Jennifer through another blog that they both reviewed for and they decided to start their own review blog. This review blog! Throughout her journey as a tea reviewer, she discovered 52Teas and became enamored with the idea of creating a new tea every week. When the founder of 52Teas decided he wanted to move on, he offered the business to Anne but knowing that she wasn't cut out to be a sole proprietor, she instead offered the company to her oldest daughter who employs her as the Mad Tea Artist for 52Teas!

This post was posted in Oolong

Taiwan Oriental Beauty Oolong Tea from Nuvola Tea

by liberteas

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Oolong

Where to Buy:  Nuvola Tea

Tea Description:

Oriental Beauty Tea is a full-flavoured tea with an extraordinarily rich fruity aroma, and a floral and honey sweet finish. It is an awesome tea to relieve anxiety and boosts your energy level. A few drops of Brandy could add a champagne-like note to create a bright alternative out of this great tea.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

This!  This is the flavor that I tasted with my very first cup of Oolong so many years ago.  This is the flavor that I first fell in love with when I tasted it.  And for many years that followed, this is the tea that I thought WAS Oolong.  That is to say, I didn’t realize that there was a whole world of Oolong teas out there.  I thought that this was it – and I was fine with that because this was so AMAZING that I didn’t need anything else.

Since that time, of course, I have discovered that there is an immense world of Oolong teas out there.  So many delicious options for many different types of tea drinkers – whether you favor a roasty-toasty flavor, or a floral flavor, or a fruity flavor to your Oolong.  I personally like all three of these options, but I must say that Oriental Beauty Oolong will always hold a very special place in my heart if for no other reason than the fact that it did introduce me to the world of Oolong.

However, there are so many other reasons to love this Oriental Beauty!  The sip starts out sweet – almost like a cross between brown sugar and honey!  This sweetness touches the palate for just a moment before the other flavors introduce themselves.  I notice next the intense peach-like flavor that matches the peach and apricot aroma of the tea.  Then, there is a sharp floral tone that contrasts beautifully with the sweet peaches and indulgent honey-esque tones.  This floral note leads the palate into the finish, with just a hint of the honey tones that linger into the aftertaste.  The aftertaste is very delicately sweet – but very enjoyable.

This is such a lovely Oriental Beauty Oolong – one that has managed to relax and calm me after a busy day.  It is a restorative tea that allows me to collect my thoughts, and just enjoy the moment.

liberteas

Anne (aka the Mad Tea Artist) has celebrated her 29th birthday for many years now. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her hubby and her youngest daughter. Her oldest daughter is married and has bestowed Anne with the proud title of "Gramma" and her grandson is about the cutest boy you ever did see. Anne started her journey with tea as a casual drinker and became more serious about her tea drinking when she realized that she couldn't drink coffee. Shortly thereafter, she started becoming obsessed with the beverage and she started creating small-batch, artisan blends of tea that she sold online as LiberTEAS. After a few years, she realized she wasn't cut out to be the sole proprietor of a business so she closed LiberTEAS and started reviewing teas online. She met Jennifer through another blog that they both reviewed for and they decided to start their own review blog. This review blog! Throughout her journey as a tea reviewer, she discovered 52Teas and became enamored with the idea of creating a new tea every week. When the founder of 52Teas decided he wanted to move on, he offered the business to Anne but knowing that she wasn't cut out to be a sole proprietor, she instead offered the company to her oldest daughter who employs her as the Mad Tea Artist for 52Teas!

This post was posted in Oolong

Hand-Plucked Top Grade Oriental Beauty Oolong from Fong Mong Tea

by liberteas

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Oolong

Where to Buy:  Fong Mong Tea on eBay

Tea Description:

Taiwan characteristic Oriental Beauty Oolong Tea, a long narrow strip like of various colors, is also called Bai Hao Oolong Tea. Bright white-tipped leaves, a symbol of high level Oriental Beauty Tea, can only be cultivated irreplaceable strong fragrance in organic ecological tea plantation. This tea, with very limited quantity, can only be produced by a senior experienced tea master at one harvest each year.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

This Oriental Beauty from Fong Mong Tea is truly outstanding.  Sweet, fragrant, and absolutely delicious!

The dry leaves are beautiful and whole, varying in color from silver to tan to chocolate brown.  They smell sweet and floral, with hints of fruit in the background.

The first flavor that I notice is the fruit note.  I usually do notice a peach-like flavor to Oriental Beauty Oolong teas, but here the flavor is so exquisitely pronounced.  So sweet and juicy, my mouth seems to water after each sip in anticipation for the next.   Delicious!

There is also a creaminess to this that melds beautifully with the peach-y flavors, as well as a delectable honey-esque undertone.  Once the palate acclimates to the sweetness of the cup, I start to notice other flavors.  This is a wonderfully complex cuppa, with hints of earth as well as a whisper of flower in the distance.

And of course, this tea offers many wonderful infusions.  I find that each subsequent infusion seems to become more enchanting.  The mouthfeel begins to lighten by the third infusion, and the flavors become smoother and less perspicuous, and yet, as the notes become more unified and less individual the tea becomes even more satisfyingly delicious.

This is one of the very best Oriental Beauty Oolong teas I’ve yet to taste – I highly recommend to all the Oolong enthusiasts out there.

liberteas

Anne (aka the Mad Tea Artist) has celebrated her 29th birthday for many years now. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her hubby and her youngest daughter. Her oldest daughter is married and has bestowed Anne with the proud title of "Gramma" and her grandson is about the cutest boy you ever did see. Anne started her journey with tea as a casual drinker and became more serious about her tea drinking when she realized that she couldn't drink coffee. Shortly thereafter, she started becoming obsessed with the beverage and she started creating small-batch, artisan blends of tea that she sold online as LiberTEAS. After a few years, she realized she wasn't cut out to be the sole proprietor of a business so she closed LiberTEAS and started reviewing teas online. She met Jennifer through another blog that they both reviewed for and they decided to start their own review blog. This review blog! Throughout her journey as a tea reviewer, she discovered 52Teas and became enamored with the idea of creating a new tea every week. When the founder of 52Teas decided he wanted to move on, he offered the business to Anne but knowing that she wasn't cut out to be a sole proprietor, she instead offered the company to her oldest daughter who employs her as the Mad Tea Artist for 52Teas!

This post was posted in Oolong

Oriental Beauty from thepuriTea

by liberteas

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Oolong

Where to Buy:  thepuriTea

Product Description:

Originally developed to mimic the fruity notes of Darjeeling Second Flush, Oriental Beauty has since become a tea that stands tall on its own merit. Also known as Eastern Beauty, Bai Hao Oolong and White-Tipped Oolong, Oriental Beauty is a dark oxidation oolong with wiry leaves and the occasional fuzzy tea bud. Woodsy, spicy dry aromas evolve into an enchantingly sweet copper-colored brew. Aromas of fruit, flowers, spice and wood carry through into the smooth, round, full flavor, which features notes of rose, plum and cedar. The aftertaste is accented with flavors of rosewater and cardamom, making it a great choice for pairing with Indian or Moroccan dishes. It’s also delicious on its own or paired with white chocolate and hazelnut truffles or cedar plank grilled kabobs of sweet potato and lamb.

Taster’s Review:

Reading the description of this tea as I sip it, I must say that the description is pretty spot-on.  The aroma of the liquor is pleasantly spiced with deep wood tones.  The flavor is sweet with distinctive wood-like notes and hints of flower and fruit.  I can even taste the rose water and cardamom aftertaste.

As the seasons slowly begin to change from the heat of the summer to the cooler air of autumn, this tea seems to reflect this time of year.  The lightly spiced taste reminds me of the warm flavors of fall, and the crisp floral notes and sweet fruit notes remind me of the beauty of summer as its final moments come to a close.

The sip begins with a wash of flavors that is sweet and warm.  Toward mid-sip, I taste a just slightly sour note that accents the sweetness of this tea.  Sweet flavors of roasted peach.  A floral note and even a slight nutty flavor in the distance.  Only a very faint astringency that I can detect, and only when I’m really focusing on it.  A casual sip would miss it completely.  No bitterness.  Just sweet, warm comfort – Oriental Beauty style!

liberteas

Anne (aka the Mad Tea Artist) has celebrated her 29th birthday for many years now. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her hubby and her youngest daughter. Her oldest daughter is married and has bestowed Anne with the proud title of "Gramma" and her grandson is about the cutest boy you ever did see. Anne started her journey with tea as a casual drinker and became more serious about her tea drinking when she realized that she couldn't drink coffee. Shortly thereafter, she started becoming obsessed with the beverage and she started creating small-batch, artisan blends of tea that she sold online as LiberTEAS. After a few years, she realized she wasn't cut out to be the sole proprietor of a business so she closed LiberTEAS and started reviewing teas online. She met Jennifer through another blog that they both reviewed for and they decided to start their own review blog. This review blog! Throughout her journey as a tea reviewer, she discovered 52Teas and became enamored with the idea of creating a new tea every week. When the founder of 52Teas decided he wanted to move on, he offered the business to Anne but knowing that she wasn't cut out to be a sole proprietor, she instead offered the company to her oldest daughter who employs her as the Mad Tea Artist for 52Teas!

This post was posted in Oolong