Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Butiki Teas
Tea Description:
Our Gui Fei Oolong was sourced from Lugu Township in Nantou County, Taiwan and is a particularly unique tea. Green leafhoppers are allowed to bite the tea leaves which causes the leaves to begin the healing process which creates the honey notes in this tea and also begins the oxidation process. This tea utilized traditional Dong Ding processing techniques. Gui Fei Oolong has a natural sweetness to it and produces no astringency. Notes of honey, lightly burned toast, raw almonds and apples can be detected.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Good Heavens! This tea smells DIVINE! Seriously I have had this in my stash for ages now and just never got around to testing it out. I am angry with myself for waiting so long! I am kicking myself!
The aroma is peach and honey. The dry leaf is nuggety and a few stems while the moist leaf is still quite dry and I hope for more steeps to follow! The cup is a beautiful sunny orange color.
My first sips emote honey, peach, and candies almonds. What a pure and simple delight! This will be consumed regularly until it is time to reorder. Still angry at myself for sitting on this one!
Subtle notes of oak are peaking through. I do not detect any apple notes but perhaps in the second infusion. I am getting a mouthfeel of brandy like consistency. Thick and syrup like yet not clinging to my mouth like syrup, much brighter than that – not heavy just very juicy and refreshing in a sweet rich sort of way.
There is some astringency to this cup and it is a tad sour on the after taste much like a peach that is not fully ripened yet, but as you wait a little the flavor tames into almost an oak moss flavor and then the sweetness comes back around. There is a palate cleansing effect that follows.
My second steep is still deep in color perhaps even more so which is surprising. The steep turned into more of a reddish orange rather than a bright sun colored orange. The astringency still exists, which is something I have found in Butiki Teas oolong more so than others but it is nice as it reminds me of a black tea’s astringency even though the flavor description says there is none but again, I don’t mind at all. I am now getting a savory sweet note like apples and sage that I often cook with together.
I decided that I needed to “pair” my tea with a chocolate truffle. Okay I was making excuses to have one but hey I wanted a truffle! This brought out the peach notes in the tea by truck loads! Literally it was like a truck load of juicy ripe peaches drove into my mouth! Okay not literally but figuratively. Regardless it was amazing! Now I could easily use this new discovery of the paring as an excuse to have another truffle but alas I would prefer to savor my third steep allowing it to stand on its own.
Steep three although not necessarily the final steep but the last I will write about still has a lovely color to it. It does not seem to be weakening at all! The flavors are still very present with the peachy notes, along with the wood notes. It is becoming more oak-y in flavor now however and a little less sweet. Now it is settling into a tea that one would kick back and really relax with and it may even be making me a little sleepy due to its easy going qualities – no not sleepy but grounded. Like a good meditative tea!
End result is this tea has many layers of flavors to offer someone willing to sit down and contemplate it. One could easily suck down cup after cup and just enjoy and embrace the goodness however for me, I am finding this tea one that I will build a relationship with and discover more depth through each steep as I know there are many more left to uncover! The wet leaf still has more love to give, still some dryness within them, and they still smell strongly of flavors!
Very good tea!
Bolder Breakfast from The Tea Spot
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The Tea Spot
Tea Description:
This new American black tea blend combines bold flavor, rich color, & full body with hints of chocolate. This robust breakfast blend is made from our favorite strong black teas from high altitude estates in China, India and Sri Lanka. We have combined these black teas with pu’erh, an aged black tea from Yunnan China, and dark chocolate essence. This tea yields a rich, dark liquor and a warm, well-rounded flavor that takes very well to milk and even better in the form of a tea latte. The high caffeine content and robust flavor makes this the perfect tea to help kick your coffee habit!
Features:
50-60 mg Caffeine / Serving
More caffeine than other teas, half of coffee
Ideal morning boost: Makes great lattes!
Satisfying, robust, dark chocolate flavor
Gluten-free & Sugar-free
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
A steepster friend sent me a sample of this tea. I already knew she had excellent taste as she buys a lot of tea from another of my favorite tea vendors. Still, I was surprised at just how much I enjoyed this tea. I get a lot of samples to select from, and taste a lot of teas, and I am choosy on which I write reviews on because I want to introduce blog readers to the best of the best. Still sometimes I do feature a tea that is just okay with me, but I know others would enjoy very much as not all teas will be to my personal flavor palate liking. This however is one that is right in my wheelhouse!
First we begin with a very nice pu-erh base. Earthy and sweet, a little fruity but not too much. There is a light incense like flavor such as sandalwood but don’t worry it doesn’t taste like perfume! Then we have a decedent chocolate flavor that is outstanding and I am a chocolate flavored tea snob as many already know. I can’t stand chocolate flavors that taste like cheap Easter egg candy you can buy at the dollar store! When it comes to chocolate in tea it has to be top notch, and this is! Then a light berry note peeks out from behind the scenes just to give this tea a nice bright cheery lift to help you perk up in the mornings.
This tea is deep and rich like coffee and is a great tea to convert your coffee drinking friends over with, yet not too bold that true tea lovers would be turned off. Many reviewers on The Tea Spot site claim that they totally replaced their coffee intake with this tea! And of course there are the wonderful benefits of pu-erh to enjoy!
This tea does have some lovely layers to it yet is blended quite well so no one flavor totally takes over the cup yet with the layers there are some notes that jump out at you now and then just to say “hey, wake up you, lets have a great day!” Each time the fruity flavor peeks through its like a little surprise that perks me up, each time I get a hint of the woodsy flavor I feel comforted and grounded, which can be helpful in the mornings! Granted there is chocolate in this tea but I would not call it a “chocolate tea” chocolate is simply one of the many layers in this tea, soft and delicate to my palate.
Yes I will be ordering more of this tea as soon as my tea budget regenerates! I see myself having this in my morning tea rotation several days of the week!
Be sure to enter The Tea Spots Free Tea for a Year Contest! Info on their facebook page here or go directly to the contest entry form here.
Nilgiri Frost Oolong from Butiki Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Butiki Teas
Tea Description:
Our Nilgiri Frost Oolong originates from Nilgiri, in Southern India and is graded TGFOP (Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe). Since this tea is grown at a high elevation, the leaves are exposed to a light frost during some nights of the winter months. The long thin chocolate colored leaves are hand twisted and produce a weighty body. This smooth tea has notes of citrus, peach, pecan, and oak. There are many qualities similar to a Nilgiri black tea; however, the frost oolong is much gentler and sweeter. This tea is produced in very limited quantities due to the short harvest period and special conditions that must exist.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
In some ways this tea reminds me more of a black tea than an oolong, which isn’t a bad thing as it is nice to have a little of both worlds sometimes. Not floral like many oolong, this tea is deep and robust. It has levels of flavors ranging from light and fruity to deep and woodsy.
Like many black teas there is also an astringency that I often do not find in oolong tea. This astringency is not a bad thing either – not bitter but a slight sour note, not as in sour milk of course but more like in sweet fruity candies with sour sugar sprinkled on top.
The dry leaf is dark and mysterious with twists and curls through out. It looks perfect for this time of year where the leaves are changing colors and Halloween is around the corner. Sort of spooky in its visual effect. Wet, the leaf unfurls and colors of amber brown and deep green appear. The liquid color is reddish amber.
Notes of oak, peach, and nutty pecan peek through in the flavors.
Some mornings I am not sure if I want an oolong even as much as I adore oolong, I just need a black tea to get me started, yet this tea seems to lay somewhere in the middle for me. Its perfect when I crave an oolong but need the black tea mind and energy boost! Quite honestly, even with as many oolong as I drink and as much as I love my oolong tea, this would have been difficult for me to detect as an oolong had I not known before sipping. I could have easily been fooled, especially early in the morning to believe it was a black tea.
Truly this Oolong is different, and if you consider yourself an oolong connoisseur, you certainly should try it, simply for the experience of something so different. If you love your black teas but are curious about oolong this is the one to try. Or, if you are like me, and love both but are not quite sure on some mornings which to grab and steep – get this one and solve that problem right away!
Wuyi Rock Oolong from Shanti Tea
Tea Type: Oolong
Where To Buy: Shanti Tea
Product Description:
One of the purest teas available on the world market.
Organic Wuyi Rock Oolong is one of the purest teas available on the world market. This rare oolong hails from Mount Wuyi in Nanping Prefecture, Fujian, up along the border of Jiangxi Province. In 1999, UNESCO listed the mountain as a World Heritage Site in part owing to its outstanding biodiversity. According to the UN, Mount Wuyi is one of the world’s finest, intact, subtropical forests. Further complimenting the region’s reputation, Mount Wuyi is registered with the Chinese government as a biodiversity conservation zone. The climate of the region is relatively humid due to the fact that the mountain prevents cool air from entering the valley, and the presence of the 9 Bend River meandering through its valleys. Living with this subtropical paradise is an almost unaccountable number of species of flora and fauna. Many of the plan species living on the mountain are considered relics of a bygone age, no longer found anywhere else on the planet. In amongst this jewel of biodiversity grows the world famous organic rock tea. The tea bushes, like many other plant species, are ancient, having grown amongst the mountain’s rocky outcroppings for generations. Cultivation of the plants is almost impossible given the topography, so exceptional care is taken when handling and plucking the fresh tea shoots. The harvesters typically wear light cotton gloves when handling the leaves, which are harvested in small quantities so as not to tire the bushes. The fresh leaf is then allowed to naturally semi-ferment. The resulting flavor is at once rich, delicate, and laden with floral nuance.
Tasters Review:
Right out of the envelop this smells nutty to me…much like almond, actually! As if infuses it starts smelling more woodsy almost like a damp twig.
As for the taste…this is a hearty brew! It’s quite masculine, woodsy, slightly peppery, and a little like roasted or toasted nuts! It has a gentle-semi-sweet after taste to it too!
This is interesting, different, and pretty good! Certainly a conversation piece – no matter which way you look at it. As for me…I look at it with a smiling face! This Oolong is very nice!
Purple Bamboo from Rishi
Tea Type: Oolong
Where To Buy: Rishi
Product Description:
This tea is an experimental oolong from an organic-in-conversion farm from Fujian, China. It is harvested from a white tea bush varietal and processed similar to Taiwanese Bai Hao Oolong and Fuding Gong Mei White tea. The dry leaf shows a unique and colorful style with a silvery, white, dark green and tippy appearance. One serving of Purple Bamboo can be infused many times and offers deep, complex fruity flavors and floral aromas. The rich mouth feel and upfront and lingering aroma suggests Darjeeling Muscatel, Lilac, Gardenia, Pit Fruit, Grape and Hops.
Use a porcelain guywan, or a Ho-hin. Add 2-3 tablespoons per 5-6 ounces of water. Infuse with 185°F-190°F water. First infusion is 2-3 minutes, second infusion 2-3 minutes, 3rd thru 5th infusions should be 4-5 minutes. Depending on the amount of tea and the water temperature, you may infuse this tea many more times.
Tasters Review:
This one certainly intrigued me. And let me tell you…the curiosity didn’t end with my cup!
The dry smell of this before infusion was a floral yet earthy-sweet smell. The post infusion was more of a manly grape or maybe a drier wine type scent for description purposes. It’s very light brown in color.
The taste is woodsy yet fruity and floral! To describe the fruit like tastes I would probably say a combination of grape, apricot, maybe a hint of plum. It’s also floral like Lilac or even lily – if you can imagine that. And let’s not forget the woodsiness of the taste! Towards the end of the sip I get a surprisingly semi-chewy taste, too!
This tea is very memorable and made me think. I like that. And I like this tea a great deal!