Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Zi Chun Tea
Product Description:
Hong Yu is fast becoming an internationally recognized, premium class, organic black tea. It is grown & harvested in limited quantities in the beautiful Sun Moon lake area of Central Taiwan, where the Taiwan Tea Research & Extension Station, in collaboration with local farmers, have developed one of the most truly unique and finest quality black teas in the world. The tea plant is a cross between an Assam & a local wild tea strain.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is AWESOME!
I enjoy most of the teas that I try. There are a rare few that I really don’t like, but for the most part, I enjoy the teas I drink, and I express that in my reviews. I guess that’s one thing that I love about teas the most … I am able to find something to appreciate about almost every tea I taste.
But every once in a while, I come across a rare tea … that tea that is so exceptional in flavor that it makes me want to get up and dance and sing praises to the tea gods for making such a wonderful tea. A tea that is so good that it makes me forget anything in my life that may not be going my way and it somehow makes everything else melt away except for me and my cup of tea.
This is one of those teas.
My first couple of sips – while it was piping hot – I couldn’t really taste much. But, after allowing it to cool just a couple of minutes, the flavor exploded! Now I taste rich, incredible flavors! All at once, I can taste hints of malt, cocoa and caramel, while a sweet plum flavor lingers in the distance.
The cup is incredibly smooth and rich, and free of any of the bitterness that is normally associated with an Assam. There is some astringency to it, but it is a very gentle, cleansing astringency. The finish is sweet.
This tea does not need anything added to it. I suppose it would be alright if you chose to add milk or honey or something, but please do try it straight first. If, after allowing it to cool those first couple of minutes, and after taking a sip, the tea doesn’t taste as amazing as I’m describing, then, by all means, add something to it. But, I really don’t think you’ll want to after that initial sip.
ITFA Global Tea Taster’s Club, October’s Shipment, Part 2: Oolong Tea with a High Degree of Fermentation
Leaf Type: Oolong
Produced By GoeTea
For More Information, visit the Tea Farms webpage
About ITFA Global Tea Taster’s Club:
By subscribing to the Global Tea Tasters Club, you will receive tea from ITFA tea farms 6 times per year. Each time, we will select a different region to feature and as we grow in tea farm members, so will your tea experience.
Your tea will also be accompanied by info about the tea and the tea farms themselves.
To know where your tea is coming from, who has grown and produced it, to taste the difference in teas from around the world…what could be better?
Taster’s Review:
This Oolong tea is AMAZING! It is quite unlike any Oolong I’ve yet to encounter.
The aroma is floral and sweet, reminding me a bit of orchid and lilies. It is a very intense fragrance. This floral essence translates into the flavor of the cup, but, I would have to say that the floral notes do not become the main focus once I’ve taken a sip. 
That is because this tea has an incredible savory overtone to it. It tastes a little salty, a little buttery (with a soft, creamy mouthfeel that compliments the buttery aspect), and vegetal tasting … a bit like steamed vegetables, yes. And, by now, you may be thinking “how does this make it unlike any Oolong I’ve ever tasted?” because I’ve often used the terms “buttery” and “vegetal” or “vegetative” to describe an Oolong.
What makes it different, in my opinion, is that these are more savory than sweet, which is characterized by a saltiness that I don’t think I’ve ever really tasted in an Oolong. This savory aspect makes this quite like soup, like a rich, nourishing broth … rather than a sweet Oolong tea.
But yes, there is sweetness to this tea as well. Remember the floral notes I mentioned earlier? Well, they are there, and they provide a sharp note that is quite complimentary to the savory tones, as well as a sweetness that seems to provide contrast to those same savory notes. Instead of a savory note that cuts through some of the sweetness, here I find that the sweetness is arriving just in time to cut through some of the savory flavors.
This is an Oolong I’d recommend to all the Oolong enthusiasts out there … it is one of those MUST TRY Oolong teas!
ITFA Global Tea Taster’s Club, October’s Shipment, Part 1: SiaoSyue – Winter Jin Syuan
Leaf Type: Oolong
Produced By Dignitea Garden
For More Information, visit the Tea Farms webpage
About ITFA Global Tea Taster’s Club:
By subscribing to the Global Tea Tasters Club, you will receive tea from ITFA tea farms 6 times per year. Each time, we will select a different region to feature and as we grow in tea farm members, so will your tea experience.
Your tea will also be accompanied by info about the tea and the tea farms themselves.
To know where your tea is coming from, who has grown and produced it, to taste the difference in teas from around the world…what could be better?
Taster’s Review:
October’s shipment of teas for ITFA’s Global Tea Taster’s Club brought me teas produced in Taiwan. And when I think of teas from Taiwan, I immediately think Oolong! And, yes, this shipment featured three different Oolong teas (as well as one Black tea). Yay! I do love Oolong!
And of course, my favorite Oolong is Ali Shan! And so what better way to start off these tastings from October’s shipment than with an Ali Shan Oolong?
This Ali Shan Jin Shuan SianSyue Oolong from the Dignitea Gardens is the first tea that I selected from my October package, and it is LOVELY. It has a remarkably light roast to it, giving it a hint of nutty, buttery flavor without a strong roasty-toasty taste. 
It is remarkably fragrant, with a beautiful floral note that reminds me of something between orchid and lily. This floral note translates to the flavor, but while the floral taste is there, it is in keeping with the overall lightness to the cup, and does not overwhelm.
In one sip, I notice not only the delightful floral notes, and the nutty flavor, but hints of buttered popcorn, and a very subtle undertone of spice. For such a light tea, there is a surprising amount of flavor and body to the cup.
This tea is a perfect example of why I adore Ali Shan so much.
Taiwanese Orchid Oolong from Verdant Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Verdant Tea
Product Description:
The raw material for this scented tea comes from Dong Ding, the most famous of the tea growing regions of Taiwan. The leaves are allowed to sit with orchid flowers as they dry, absorbing the floral aroma. They are then hand-rolled and finished. The tea builds over each sip to a strong, almost candy-like quality with the creamy floral quality of any great green oolong.
Taster’s Review:
I’m going to start this review with a story… and for a few minutes here, you’re probably going to wonder what my story has to do with this tea. But, bear with me, there is a connection…
After my father married my stepmother, my life was pretty sad. The only real happy moments that I can remember at that point in my life was when my father and stepmother took their annual vacation, and me and my stepsister spent two weeks with my beloved Gramma. (Really, there was no place I’d rather be than at Gramma’s back then.)
During those two weeks, my stepsister and I got to spend one day at Disneyland, and one day at Knott’s Berry Farm. And those were the best times at these amusement parks, because we didn’t have my younger stepbrothers with us, and we didn’t have boring parents tagging along. We pretty much had the park to ourselves.
And my favorite place to hang out at Disneyland? This may come as a surprise, but, it wasn’t a favorite ride – although I did love the rides, don’t get me wrong – but I loved the penny arcade and right next door to the penny arcade was the old-fashioned candy store: Candy Palace. They had “real” candy there, made the old-fashioned way with real sugar and real flavor.
And here is where this tea comes into this story. The sweetness of this tea… reminds me of the sweetness of the candy from that old-fashioned candy shop. It’s positively LOVELY. It has that real sugar kind of sweetness, like the rock sugar candy that I used to adore, and maybe a hint of that old-fashioned licorice.
But there is so much more to this tea. I’ve tried a few orchid Oolong teas, and I’ve enjoyed them, but not one of them has come this close to the honest-to-goodness orchid flavor that this tea possesses. It is sublime!
It is smooth and rich too, with a soft mouthfeel that holds on to that sweetness and orchid flavor so that these essences can be enjoyed long into the aftertaste. When I inhale air over the palate after I’ve taken a sip, I can taste the licorice notes I mentioned earlier, but this time it’s strong and sweet with a hint of spice. It’s rather bracing and unexpected.
Truly an incredible tea experience. A must try for Oolong enthusiasts!
Cinnamon Apple Oolong from Teas Etc.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Teas Etc.
Product Description:
A sumptuous blend of Formosa oolong, sweet cinnamon and juicy apple.
Chunks of green apple swirled with sweet cinnamon pieces and whole leaf, high quality Formosa oolong makes this as nice to look at as to drink.
Aromatic and deliciously satisfying.
Taster’s Review:
This tea smells like my gramma’s kitchen after she’s baked an apple pie, and it tastes like someone put her apple pie filling and some Formosa Oolong tea into a blender and took it for a whirl until completely liquified. YUMMY!
The Taiwanese Oolong base seems a good choice for the flavors of green apple and zesty cinnamon. It has a smooth, rich flavor and it’s natural fruit tones accent the tart apple very well, providing just enough sweetness to keep the apple in balance.
The apple is a tart apple – perhaps Granny Smith? That is what it reminds me of. Not quite as tart as Gravenstein apples, but more like the tart-with-a-touch-of-sweet apple you’d find in an apple pie. And the cinnamon is not a spicy-hot cinnamon. It is a warm, inviting spice that enhances the overall flavor of the cup.
This tea screams Autumn to me, but it is an ever-so-soothing and gentle scream. I love this time of year, and I am loving this tea. Teas Etc. continues to impress me!