Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Beautiful Taiwan Tea
Tea Description:
The premium teas of Taiwan are known for their smoothness, the quality of their soup and their “Chaqi”. Only grown in the highest areas, theses leaves take their time to grow and soak up all the cool mist and the High Mountain air. You’ll feel calm and attentive with this Dayuling sourced High Mountain Oolong.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve heard great things about Dayuling Oolong; and I’m very happy to finally get the chance to try one! The high, high altitude at which this tea is grown (greater than 2500 meters) and limited quantity that can be produced because of the geographical location are a giant part of what makes this tea so special. At $20 an ounce, this isn’t the priciest tea in my cupboard but it’s certainly up there – I can’t help but cross my fingers and hope it’s worthy of the price tag.
I have to say, the leaf is very beautiful; dry the rolled up leaf gives off a very large, ‘thick’ appearance and has a weight in my hands. After the first infusion I could see why; the leaves are so giant – some of the biggest I’ve ever had the pleasure to brew up. Almost every single one is a completely full leaf, and I even picked out a stem that had not one, not two, not three, but FOUR completely intact leaves branching off it. Just stunning!
I certainly wasn’t going to squander this sample by Steeping it Western Style; so I enjoyed a lovely evening Gong Fu session. Sometimes I feel I can get a little stuck in my head when I’m drinking tea or doing Gong Fu in particular and I focus too much on the technical side of things while trying to pick apart flavour – and I didn’t want to do that with this tea so I just kept doing infusions without really taking physical notes; and I just kind of let the tea ‘speak to me’ while I drank it. It’s so delicate and fragile with very lovely, complex nuances! Teas grown at higher altitude tend to be more complex because, due to the altitude, they grow at a slower pace – and that comes through here for sure.
It’s quite a floral tea, that’s for sure – while the infusions I did blend together I remember the first couple had really lovely, pronounced floral notes of orchid, lily, and a bit of violet as well. Incredibly well balanced though; not ‘perfumey’, forced or over the top in the slightest. Other things I noticed were this very cool, crisp freshness. I kind of instinctively want to call that flavor ‘the smell before it rains’ but I don’t know if there’s a technical word for that. I know petrichor is defined as the smell of rainfall on dry soil/earth (and that’s my all time favourite smell) but this wasn’t quite that: it’s the smell of rain before any has actually fallen. No earthiness.
This was such a pleasant, relaxing tea though! I’m not sure how many infusions I got in total but it certainly lasted quite a while and made my evening magical. Probably well worth the price tag just to say I’d tried a Dayuling, but all in all a very delicious, serene taste experience too. I definitely felt a little tea drunk’buzzed afterwards.
Pre Rain Huang Shan Mao Feng Green Tea from Driftwood Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Driftwood Tea
Tea Description:
Our Huang Shan Mao Feng comes from the first picking in early spring, when the finest teas are selected, and is a beautiful example of one of China’s ‘Ten Famous Teas.’ A real Champagne tea and one every Chinese and green tea lover should really experience fresh.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Ah … lovely! This Pre Rain Huang Shan Mao Feng Green Tea from Driftwood Tea is really a wonderful tea to experience.
The leaves are long and fluffy, and their shape and fluffy/bulky kind of quality reminds me a bit of a Silver Needle tea, but the color is a darker green color than the typical Silver Needle tea. They also do not feel as soft to the touch as a typical Silver Needle tea. But that’s OK, of course, because this is NOT a Silver Needle tea … it’s a Mao Feng.
And this is truly a lovely example of a Mao Feng. It is light and delicate, with notes of a fresh “grassy” kind of taste … but this grassy/vegetative taste is not a strong note. It is light, and there is an overture of sweetness that is almost nut-like, and this sweetness keeps the grassy tone from tasting ‘bitter’ or off. It’s a very pleasing, delicate balance between sweet and vegetative.
There is also a very enjoyable floral note that is almost indistinguishable with the first few sips, but as I continue to sip, this delightful floral note develops.
Mao Feng is a classic Chinese green tea, and as the above description states, it’s one of the famous ten teas. What makes Mao Feng teas so special to me is their simplicity. But even though I tend to call Mao Feng teas a “simple” green, there is complexity to them too. They have lovely layers of flavor, very soothing, and very pleasing to the palate. Sweet, nutty notes together with a brothy, vegetative grassy tone that is delicate yet lush, and the floral note that builds as one continues to sip.
A truly lovely tea, this Huang Shan Mao Feng Green Tea from Driftwood Tea! If you are a green tea lover, this is one for you to add to your must try list!
Rain Drop from Kaleisia Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Kaleisia Tea
Tea Description:
Chase the rain away with the sweet bright flavor of this fruity blend of green tea, orange peels, Everlasting flowers and strawberries.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
It just started raining outside (I do live in the Pacific Northwest, and it’s been known to rain here from time to time), and I thought that this would be a perfect time to try this Rain Drop tea from Kaleisia.
This tea is really tasty. The strawberry flavor is good and strong, with a sweet berry flavor with that tingly-tart aftertaste – just like the real thing! The orange notes accent the strawberry nicely, giving the cup a nice depth and contrast. The flowers here lend a very faint floral tone to the cup, I think that they are added more for appearances than for actual flavor, though … and with that in mind they do certainly make the dry leaf look very appealing.
The green tea tastes lightly buttery, just very slightly creamy, with a hint of vegetative taste that tastes a bit more grassy than vegetable-like. It is a very fresh sort of grass taste though, and I find that it lends itself well to the overall “fresh” taste of the cup. It tastes like springtime!
A very nice cuppa. This one tastes really good iced too!