Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Driftwood Tea
Tea Description:
Organic Oolong 17 is considered to be Thailand’s finest tea. Oolong 17 was developed from imported Taiwanese stock and, given Mae Salong’s similar altitude and climate, is highly comparable to the quality and taste of high mountain teas grown in Taiwan.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The dry leaf of this Organic Oolong 17 from Driftwood Tea has a strong vegetative aroma. It’s really quite fragrant, smelling almost like a cross between steamed spinach and kelp.
I brewed this tea in my gaiwan, giving it a quick 15 second rinse and then proceeding with the infusions, starting at 45 seconds and adding 15 seconds to each subsequent infusion. I combined the first and second infusions to create my first cup … and it is marvelous! Sweet and buttery, but not so much “creamy” buttery, but more like the taste of butter. It has a smooth texture, but not really a creamy texture.
It has a light vegetative taste … lighter than I expected given the scent of the dry leaf. It is also lightly floral and just … really sweet and pleasant!
The second cup (infusions 3 and 4) is a bit sharper than the first … with more distinct floral tones and less of that buttery taste that I noticed in the first cup. There is more of a tangy astringency in this cup than in the first cup.
My third and final cup (infusions 5 and 6) is very much like the second cup. The floral tones have emerged very distinctly now. This is no longer buttery, that ‘heavy’ buttery taste has lifted to allow the complexity of the cup to come through. This cup is very refreshing: vegetative and floral.
A very nice Oolong … and it is one I’m really glad I got to try. This one is quite different from the “usual suspects” … in fact, if you’re an Oolong fan, I’d recommend putting this on your to try list because it’s just different enough from other Oolong teas out there – it’s one that you should definitely try!
Taiwan Oolong Black Tea from Nuvola Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Nuvola Tea
Tea Description:
Oolong Black Tea is a special black tea created from Oolong Tea. The infusion has a rich amber colour with a luxurious fruity flavour and a smooth mouth-feel. It is not only great as a hot drink that can retain its flavour even after multiple infusions, but also is delightfully refreshing when served cold – a delicious diversion from the everyday.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is so good! I’m nearly finished with my first cup of this Taiwan Oolong Black Tea from Nuvola Tea, and I’m finding it difficult to put the cup down long enough to write about it! It is so delicious!
The aroma wafting from the cup is sweet and woodsy … reminding me a bit of the air here in the Pacific Northwest after a rain. Go out to the forest-y areas after a good rain and you’ll know the smell I’m talking about: slightly earthy, with notes of aged wood and a hint of honeyed sweetness. It smells like something that should be bottled and sold as cologne!
The flavor has a deep, fruity taste, reminiscent of fresh, tree-ripened plums (you know … the kind of plums that are so sweet because they were ripened in the sun instead of ripened in a box on its way to the grocery store?) There is just a hint of sour to this as well … just enough to provide contrast without coming off as a strong, distinctively sour taste.
But mostly, this is sweet. I taste notes of honey, wood, flower, and fruit. There is some astringency toward the tail, but there is absolutely no bitterness to this. I recommend brewing this in a gaiwan, using short steeps. You’ll get a lot of mileage out of one measurement of leaves (I managed six very flavorful infusions and probably could have gotten at least two more!) and the flavor seems to develop with each subsequent steep!
This tea is truly an amazing experience – put this one at the top of your MUST TRY list!
Peach Oolong Blend from Rishi Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Rishi Tea
Tea Description:
Iron Goddess of Mercy and a lightly oxidized, flowery oolong from Taiwan are paired with dried peaches and the fresh essence of peach. A blush of hibiscus and a hint of sweetness from natural roots lays the foundation for one of Rishi’s most enticing, indulgent and fruity flavored blends.
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
I have to be honest, when I saw that there was hibiscus in this blend, I was skeptical. In my opinion, hibiscus has no place in an Oolong blend. And even after tasting this Peach Oolong Blend from Rishi Tea – and enjoying it! – I admit that I am still keeping to that opinion. Hibiscus should not be in an Oolong blend.
So, yeah, I am enjoying this tea. The Oolong notes are lovely: sweet, creamy and slightly vegetative. The peach flavoring enhances the natural fruit notes of the Oolong and I’m really liking that.
The schizandra berries add a touch of berry tartness to the cup – not that it needs it, but it is an interesting dimension to an otherwise very peachy cup. The hibiscus accentuates the berry notes, but it also enhances the thickness to the body of the Oolong, and this is probably my biggest complaint about the hibiscus here. Oolong is already a thick, lush tea, it doesn’t need additions that will add to this. It sort of “ruins” it. Sure … it’s an enjoyable cup, but I can’t help but think that it would be SO much better without the hibiscus.
Fortunately, there isn’t a strong hibiscus-y flavor … and there is something that saves this tea for me and that’s the licorice root. I love that hint of licorice. It is very slight … it isn’t a strong, licorice-y taste. It doesn’t taste sharp or snappy … it just adds a faint licorice note that keeps me sipping just to experience it.
I don’t think this is a bad tea, I just think that Rishi Tea should rethink the hibiscus addition. It turned what could be a really good tea into something that is just average, in my opinion.
Dong Ding Oolong from Far Leaves Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Far Leaves Tea
Tea Description:
A classic Taiwan Oolong, grown high above lugu valley this summit tea has a soaring floral opening and a rich lasting finish
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
A truly lovely Oolong, this Dong Ding Oolong from Far Leaves Tea!
I’ve spent the last couple of evenings with this Dong Ding Oolong. It tastes wonderful – with a delicate caramel-like undertone and a delicious nutty flavor, with notes of fruit and flower in the background. It has a lovely complexity that I love experiencing as it unfolds throughout the many infusions it offers.
The first cup (a combination of the first and second infusions following a quick 15 second rinse) is softly flavored, with a mild floral overtone that lacks the sometimes sharper bite that some other green Oolongs possess. This has the sweet, exotic floral taste … but none of that perfume-y bite. The caramel undertones are subtle here, as are the nutty flavors that come to life in the future infusions.
The second cup (infusions three and four) becomes sweeter, with a distinct caramel-y taste. This cup is my favorite of the four that I brewed from the same measurement of leaves, because of this strong caramel-y tone and I also enjoy the way the caramel notes mingle with the nutty flavors … almost like a nut toffee. I also notice a plum-like taste that is delicious.
With the third cup, I find that the floral tones are significantly softer than they were in the first cup, and they seem to have melded with the other flavors to create a unified taste that really isn’t flower, or fruit, or nut, or caramel … but something of a cross of all four distinctly different tastes. The fourth cup (infusions seven and eight) the flavor is very smooth and feels almost like silk on the palate.
There is very little astringency to this cup, and no bitterness at all. It is so pleasant to sip … one of those teas that you want to enjoy over the course of a couple of hours … enjoying the many layers of flavor. Another winner from Far Leaves!
Peach Blossom from Fusion Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong, Black & Green Teas
Where to Buy: Fusion Teas
Tea Description:
A Taiwanese Oolong masterpiece. This oolong is blended with organic green and black teas, and flower blossoms to produce a blend that is appealing to the eye and palate. Makes delicious iced tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
It took me a few sips to come around with this Peach Blossom tea from Fusion Teas. That is to say, my first sip … I wasn’t all that excited about this tea. My reaction was kind of “meh … whatever.” The second and third sip … there was a little improvement to my attitude, but, not enough for me to say that I really enjoyed it. But I was still sipping on it, so that is a good sign.
By the time I reached mid-cup, I realized that I was actually … liking it! And now that the cup is nearly finished, I can say that this is a really interesting cuppa – and definitely worth exploring.
I think that my initial reaction was due to the fact that I was expecting more of an Oolong presence in this tea … and I found myself “feeling” the Oolong more than I was tasting it. That is to say, I could taste that smooth, rich texture that I experience with an Oolong, but nothing that really tasted overtly OOLONG to me. Then again, I wasn’t tasting anything overtly black tea or green tea to me … what I was tasting was something of a cross of the three … or dare I say it? A FUSION of the three types of tea.
Which I guess is exactly the point of this blend. It is indeed a fusion of teas … it possesses qualities of all three types of tea in the blend … and none of the three takes over. I taste the lovely jasmine notes which really make this blend shine … and the peach is a soft and delectable fruit note. I love the way these two notes – the fruit and the flower – play off one another. It’s really quite pleasant.
Overall, I really enjoyed this cup … even if the first few sips were not quite as memorable as the last few! And this is really tasty as an iced tea – that’s where it really SHINES!