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.
Monkey Picked (Ma Liu Mie) Tie Guan Yin Oolong from Teavivre
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Tea Description:
Using Taiwan autumn tea as material, this Monkey Picked Tie Guanyin carefully selected by TeaVivre is baked slowly by soft fire (the baking process falls into three steps and every step lasts two minutes). The degree of fermentation is 100 percent so that the dried tea can keep a long-lasting fragrance. After brewing, the smell of honey peach and the baked flavor can be perfectly appreciated and the beverage tastes gorgeously smooth.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Have I mentioned how much I love Teavivre lately?
The reason is simple: they never cease to amaze me with their spectacular teas. The quality is exceptional and the flavor is stunning. This Tie Guan Yin exemplifies those words very clearly, this is truly an astonishing cup of tea!
The aroma of the dry leaf is quite intriguing, it smells a bit like roasted peaches that have been drenched with honey before being roasted. I can smell a slight char, the sweet fruit which has been intensified by the extreme temperatures of the roast, and the beautiful honey notes that offer hints of flower. Delightful!
The fragrance of the brewed tea is a bit different – I still smell hints of what I experienced with the dry leaf, but, now I smell more notes that are indicative of a Tie Guan Yin: sweet and vegetative … but there are still lingering notes of that charred, roasted aroma.
And, how I am loving the taste of this Oolong! It tastes so sweet. There are notes of toasted nuts in the background, along with a richness that is almost like browned butter. Yes, browned butter that has been drizzled over steamed greens. And deliciously peachy and honey-esque. Layers and layers of intense flavor.
As I continue to sip, and make my way into later infusions, I notice hints of vanilla. The peach notes emerge stronger in the later infusions, as the toasty notes seem to soften.
A delicious tea that tantalizes the taste buds with notes that are both sweet and savory – and a joy to imbibe!
Golden Oolong from Peony Tea S
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Peony Tea S
Tea Description:
Looking for a soothing, comforting ‘everyday’ tea? Why not try the Golden Oolong which is an uplifting experience, from the moment it touches your lips to its sweet and mild aftertaste. Worth it’s weight in gold.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This tea really took me by surprise. Usually, before brewing, I manage to develop in my head what I’ll be experiencing with a tea … before I even taste it. I get an idea of what the tea will taste like based on the name of the tea or the appearance of the dry leaf. Because the leaves here very much resembled a Ti Kuan Yin, well, that’s what I thought I’d experience here.
And while this Golden Oolong from Taiwan does have the appearance of a Ti Kuan Yin, it doesn’t really taste like one. The floral notes – which taste a bit like Lily to me – here are more distinct, more fine-tuned … more focused. They are sharp and clear. They aren’t softened by a buttery tone although there are some buttery notes to be discovered in the background, along with a hint of vegetation.
But the surprises don’t stop there. Despite its rather forward floral notes, the aftertaste is surprisingly mellow. It is sweet and after a few sips, begins to resemble wildflower honey in taste. The tea offers a very smooth delivery from start to finish.
A truly unique Oolong that I’ve found very enjoyable … the subsequent infusions are just as enjoyable, as the flowery notes soften somewhat, the flavors become sweeter, with the honey notes emerging not just in the aftertaste but throughout the sip.
A very enchanting tea!
Zin Hsuan Golden Daylily from Stone Leaf Teahouse
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong, Mei Shan, Taiwan, Winter 2011, Late November Harvest
Where to Buy: Stone Leaf Teahouse
Tea Description: A full bodied oolong famous for its soft crème aroma and light green infusion. A particularly nice large leaf High Mountain varietal. It is really quite smooth, crisp, and refreshing,
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Have you ever had one of those teas that simply puffed up so much that you didn’t have enough room in your gaiwan, cup, steeping basket, etc… for it?
This is one of those teas! As if given miracle growth water the tiny little nuggets just poofed up into this huge puffy cloud of tea leaves. Beautiful!
I did a quick rinse and then steeped my first sampling. In the dry form we have typical oolong nuggets that smelled of earthy soil but that was nothing of the taste in this tea.
The first aroma to hit my nostrils was corn, sweet corn. First sip was also that of a sweet ripe corn, but perhaps a white corn rather than yellow. The mouthfeel was of milk, cream, and butter. I do love a creamy buttery tea.
When I ordered this from Stone Leaf Teahouse I had called to have a few question regarding their teas and website clarified and John Wetzel, at Stone Leaf was so accommodating and helpful. Which we all know good customer service is key in any business. John explained some of the differences between teas and helped me choose teas that I would most enjoy and he hit my taste buds as if they had a target on them! I am loving the flavor profiles of this Zin Hsuan which John educated me the literal translation is Golden Daylily.
The color of the cup is such a faint golden color that at first I was suspicious that there would be any flavor in there! To my delight I am finding my cup to be full of rich wonderful flavors and aroma!
The leaves unfurl into long stems with three to four leaves attached.
I was able to get multiple steeps from the leaves though out the day and with each cup the flavors held strong and true.
This is a lip licking tea that keeps you wanting more but it is rich and decedent! Dare I say a dessert tea? Normally I use the words “dessert tea” for flavored teas however this creamy delight for me is one that says YUMMMM Dessert!
If you too love flavor profiles that scream creamy, milky, buttery, with a vegetal hint then you must get some Zin Hsuan Golden Daylily from Stone Leaf Teahouse!
Taiwan Muzha Ti Kuan Yin from Nuvola Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Nuvola Tea
Tea Description:
The saffron-coloured Muzha Ti Kuan Yin Tea has a light fruity aroma and a melting creamy mouth-feel. The flavors are strong and long-lasting even after several infusions, which leaves a sweet lingering sensation in the mouth.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
What a lovely Ti Kuan Yin. This Ti Kuan Yin is a bit different than what I typically envision when it comes to Ti Kuan Yin Oolong, usually, I expect a very green tea with more of a floral/vegetative tone. And while I to taste hints of flower and vegetable within this cup, this tea has a stronger toasted nutty kind of taste, which suggests to me that these leaves were roasted.
But my first hint was the dry leaves themselves. Instead of the deep, forest green color that many Ti Kuan Yin teas possess, this one is darker in color, a shade that is more brown than it is green. And then, the aroma also offered a toasty scent, a scent that filled the kitchen as I brewed the tea and enchanted my senses. 
The flavor, as I mentioned, is that of toasty nut. But there are hints of flower in the distance, as well as hints of vegetation. Sweet, caramel-like tones please the palate. A really wonderful flavor. In this first cup, which is the results of my first two infusions, I find the flavor overall to be somewhat delicate, light and uplifting. However, even though there is a softer flavor to this cup, it tells of stronger flavors to come … begging me to infuse these leaves again … and again! So, that is what I shall do.
This second cup (infusions 3 and 4) is indeed more flavorful than the first cup, with notes of charcoal peeking out from the roasty-toasty taste. It has one of those “warm and welcome” kind of tastes to it, evoking thoughts of home and hearth and autumn. (Autumn is my favorite month and always speaks of home and time for family to me.) With these increased toasted flavors emerges a flavor that was very subtle in the first cup – a sweetness that tastes of caramel and honey.
My third and final cup (infusions 5 and 6) was not quite as strongly flavored as the second cup, but, even so, I think that this third cup is my favorite. The roasty-toasty notes seem to have softened somewhat, allowing for some of the floral notes to emerge … these floral tones that seemed somewhat hidden or obscured in the first few infusions. I love how the floral notes meld with the toasted flavor: it is savory and yet sweet. A beautiful contrast.
This tea has taken me on such a fantastic journey – one that is definitely well worth the trip! In other words: YOU should try this tea!