Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pouchong
Where to Buy: Yezi Tea
Tea Description:
This delicate oolong is so light in flavor that it frequently causes many a Chinese tea connoisseur to compare it to a green tea. Baozhong has been grown on the mountain slopes of the rural Pinglin District of Taipei since the eighteenth century. Yezi’s Baozhong is brought to you by local tea farmer Gao Xiu Chen. Needless to say, after over two hundred years of cultivating and harvesting it, the tea farmers of Pinglin do an excellent job with their Baozhong.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Oh, this Wen Shan Pouchong Oolong Tea from Yezi Tea is so deliciously light and delicate in flavor. But, even in it’s delicateness, it’s so full of flavor. It almost seems a contradiction to say that, but if you were to taste this tea, you might better understand what I mean.
With each sip, the palate is covered with a soft, silky, creamy texture that fills the taste buds with a subtle vegetative quality and a beautiful sweetness. The vegetative notes do not last long, they soon make way for the emergence of an exotic floral taste. Orchid. Lovely!
The description on the Yezi website suggests notes of lemon … and with the first few sips up until mid-cup, I wouldn’t have agreed with that. But, after taking a few moments in between sips, I notice a bright lemon-y note in the aftertaste. Not a sour, pucker-y lemon, more like a sweet, creamy, lemon curd type of lemon note. This note emerges more as I continue to sip now, and appears close to the finish.
This pouchong can be enjoyed through several infusions. The flavor is very soft and gentle for through the first three infusions, and then by the fourth infusion, I notice the flavors become a little stronger. By the sixth infusion, the flavors begin to subside a little bit … but it’s only a minor shift in flavor and there are still a few more infusions to be enjoyed. My personal favorite infusions were the second and the fourth … so it is definitely worth taking this tea through it’s paces to get as much out of each measurement of leaves that you can!
Yet another wonderful tea from Yezi Tea!
Fu Man Chu Tea Blend from SerendipiTea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pouchong & Pu-erh
Where to Buy: Amoda Tea
Tea Description:
Here is a contradictory and complex tea to expand your horizons. Jasmine scented pouchong gives us a beautiful sweet, fresh and floral flavour and pu-erh offers up its earthiness. Pouchong and pu-erh are such opposites, but somehow blend so nicely together in this cup.
This is our Father’s Day Tea. One of the Amoda dads texted that he wanted something “not too fancy, just some jazzman tea”. So, we set out on a jasmine journey and kept coming back to this tea that was so unique, but not too “fancy” for dad.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn how to subscribe to Amoda’s Monthly Tea Tasting Box here.
Taster’s Review:
Before brewing it, I had my doubts about this Fu Man Chu tea blend from SerendipiTea. I wasn’t sure how I would like it – I mean, I love jasmine so I had every confidence that I’d enjoy a Jasmine Pouchong … but – I thought to myself – why did they have to add Pu-erh to it? I’m not always a fan of Pu-erh, and I worried that by adding the Pu-erh to this blend, SerendipiTea may have very well ruined a perfectly good Jasmine Pouchong.
I’m happy to say that I was wrong! This is really quite good.
The aroma of the dry leaf is more jasmine and Pouchong than it is Pu-erh. I can detect only faint earthy notes in the fragrance of the dry leaf, but the lovely notes of jasmine are abundant and absolutely delightful to the nose.
And the flavor … is very much the way the scent suggests! The Jasmine Pouchong notes are the strongest flavors, with mere hints of of the earthy flavor of Pu-erh. As I continue to sip, the notes of Pu-erh develop somewhat, but they are always more to the background, allowing the sultry beauty of the Jasmine to shine through along with the soft, silky taste of the Pouchong.
This is an extremely well-crafted blend by SerendipiTea. I’m very impressed, and very glad I got to try it. I love it when I get a tea like this from Amoda Tea – something that I probably would not have purchased on my own because I honestly would not have found myself interested or curious about a blend of Jasmine Pouchong and Pu-erh … but now that I have tried it … I’m really happy with the cup I have before me! This is great!
Vanilla Oolong Tea from David’s Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pouchong & Green Tea
Where to Buy: David’s Tea
Tea Description:
Discover the power of vanilla and oolong, with a little hint of orange. It’s temptingly rich. We’ve used Pouchong tea leaves, the least oxidized of oolongs, which gives it a lighter, fresher taste. Delicious and totally addictive on its own, we also love blending this with fruit flavoured teas for a touch of creamy sweetness.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I love vanilla flavored tea. I usually get all hyped up over a chocolate tea or a caramel tea, but when it comes right down to it, I find myself just as enamored by a vanilla tea as I am one of my “favorite” flavors. That creamy, smooth, sweet taste of vanilla just works so well with the warmth and soothing quality of the tea … it becomes such a comforting drink.
And I’m absolutely LOVING this Vanilla Oolong tea from David’s Tea. Usually, I find myself preferring a black tea base for the sweet, creamy, exotic flavor of Vanilla, but, the blend of Pouchong and green tea leaves just WORKS so well here.
The Pouchong offers a lightly sweet, creamy base that melds beautifully with the creamy tones of the vanilla. To be honest, I’m not tasting a whole lot of flavor contribution from the “green tea leaves” here, but the ingredient list says they’re there, and I can’t say that this blend would taste the same without the green tea. I do taste a slight vegetative note to this cup, but that could be from the Pouchong too.
The vanilla is the star of this show. It is creamy, sweet and just DECADENT. Accenting the vanilla notes are hints of citrus from lemon myrtle and orange flavoring. These notes are subtle and do not interfere with the other flavors, but they definitely brighten the overall cup and keep the flavors interesting and inviting … and keep them from becoming cloying or overly sweet.
This tea could easily be a substitute for a dessert … I think I’d just as soon have this as a bowl of vanilla ice cream! It is really just a heavenly vanilla treat – this tea. If you’re a fan of vanilla – you’ve got to try this!
Bao Zhong from The Persimmon Tree
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pouchong, Oolong
Where to Buy: The Persimmon Tree
Tea Description:
The Bao Zhong tea’s hand-picked, long, twisted pouchong tea leaves are slightly oxidized, brewing a fresh, jade-colored infusion with delicate notes of lilac and pear.
IngredientsOrganic Oolong Loose-Leaf Tea, Bao Zhong Tea, Pouchong Tea
CharacteristicsRefreshing, Organic, Unblended
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I love a good pouchong and Bao Zhong from The Persimmon Tree fits this craving I am having! Its even better because it is organic!
The Persimmon Tree is dedicated to providing fair trade, organic, loose leaf teas. See more information about that here.
When I was young we had white lilac bushes growing between my home and my neighbor’s home. They were so beautiful and oh so fragrant. This tea takes me back to those years.
The floral after taste is lovely, light, and lingering. It makes me feel as though I have a vase full of flowers right next to me. The pear note is really quite light and I am not sure that I detect it as well as I could but it does have a very naturally sweet note with the littlest bit of a tang from the pear note.
What I love is that there is nothing like a good pouchong. It has such a wonderfully distinct flavor and aroma. Its something between coconut, vanilla, and floral scent that just captivates me, pulls me in, and won’t let me go, leaving me craving it for days after days until finally it allows my mind to release it long enough so that I can go back to other teas and rediscover this again, at a later time, each time fully being enraptured just as I was the last time I sipped it. Every time I have this pouchong its like a totally new experience all over again.
Jasmine Coconut Green Tea from Whispering Pines Tea Co.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pouchong & Rooibos
Where to Buy: Whispering Pines Tea Co.
Tea Description:
Jasmine Coconut Green Tea combines the warm fragrant smell of jasmine scented green tea and red rooibos with freshly toasted organic coconut flakes for a smooth tropical tea. Deliciously perfect for any time of the day! Best enjoyed hot.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
OK … whoa! I did NOT expect to like this as much as I do! Wow!
I don’t know exactly what I was thinking when I started to brew this blend, I guess I thought: “jasmine and coconut seem like a pretty odd combination,” and even as I sip this, my mind still seems to think that the two components would not make a compatible pair, but, my taste buds think differently! My mind can’t quite wrap itself around the thought of a Jasmine Coconut Green Tea.
But, it tastes amazing!
I think that the reason this works so well is that the jasmine is a lighter taste – it doesn’t smack you over the head with its heady floral essence – and so it mingles very well with the creamy, luscious taste of the coconut, and neither taste overwhelms the sweet notes of the Pouchong tea.
There is a well-achieved balance with this tea … at least when it comes to the tea leaves, coconut and jasmine. I don’t taste a lot of the rooibos, and that’s just fine with me. I suspect that the rooibos may lend a certain lightness to the overall cup, and perhaps a nutty earthiness as well, but, these are very faint characteristics to the tea, so much so that I hardly notice them at all.
But when it comes to the Pouchong tea, the coconut and the jasmine, I taste each note, but they all seem to work in harmony with one another. It’s one of those teas that tastes so good that you’ll want to keep drinking it long after you’ve finished the cup … so I recommend making a pot of the tea so you can fill ‘er up once you’ve emptied your cup. You’ll be really glad you did!