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Definite notes of Laoshan black! If only I hadn’t found the Laoshan first, this may have been a winner for me. But if you’re looking for a lightened up version? This is your tea.

Well, hello my new friend. How have I never run into this tea before? Or any bi luo? I think this is what I’m craving when I want green tea. This tastes like a dragon well grassy base with notes of…burnt sugar? And a pervasive light woodiness. Even a hint of an oolongy butteriness. I fear it will launch yet another in-depth investigation through all the bi luos I can get my hands on, much as milk oolong did to me. Any advice on high (or low) priorities would be very much appreciated!

It has been years since I fell in love with oolongs, but flavoring them just sounded like such a terrible thing to do to such an interesting tea as it is….but coconut? There is something about that particular flavor that just sounds like it would go SO well with oolong’s fruity nuttiness. Then half of Steepster seemed to be so in love with this one, I just couldn’t wait to try it.

When it arrived today, I of course tore open the package…and was scared. I only smelled coconut, with no oolonginess. This is what I was afraid someone would do to oolong. But I brewed it up anyway, and even the first few sips were concerning. Just coconut. Lovely coconut, but I wanted tea.

But then it cooled, and the magic happened! The coconut faded a bit, and a delicate oolong came forward. Much, much better. I will definitely finish and greatly enjoy this tea, but I’m still not sure it will ever call my name from the crowd of great oolongs. Except….iced. I bet this is insanely good iced. Will have to try that asap.

UPDATE: On the second steeping, my opinion is that this is a well-balanced cup but just not a match for my general aversion to flavored teas. It really would have been a miracle for me to love it, and I still bet most people would like it quite a bit.

This tea is making me happy today. Maybe because it’s a tea for the indecisive! It has the lightness/vegetal flavor of green with the slightest notes of toast and…is that just a hint of light sheng pu’er? It even has a touch of astringency, but just a bit. On the wheel of tea flavors, this one doesn’t go off strongly in any one direction but sits quietly in the center providing light touches of a few different tea types. I’ve never had anything like it but am enjoying it quite a bit.

This one has been sitting around while I focus on my beloved green oolongs – just figured I should try this one at some point. So, I love Laoshan black, but black teas make me shaky (disproportionately to their actual caffeine level – bit of a mystery). So I feel very lucky that this oolong so strongly resembles it! My feeling on it is that if I could drink the black, I would prefer it for its boldness. This is lighter tasting and will an added fruitiness I don’t detect in the black. I’m surprised how much this roasted-oolong avoider really enjoys this. It reminds me of the first time I tasted hojicha and was comforted by its toasted green notes.

Only after my O-Cha matcha starter kit arrived and I started brewing did I realize…I think this may have been my first real cup of matcha! A bit of a revelation for a ‘genmaimatcha’ and matcha dessert junkie. If only it hadn’t been prepared by a rookie (who did read the O-Cha instructions and watched a youtube video – yay youtube). I have absolutely nothing to compare it to, but it was delicious. I can’t wait to start having a cup every morning. It just had so much of that bittersweetness I love. Even just opening the liner bag, the tea exploded with a sweet green scent.

It may be bad enough that I compare everything to Bigelow teas, but I’m going one better here. The only times I’ve tasted a really discernable matcha flavor like this one has been in one ice cream at a soba place in NYC and the Il Laboratorio gelato. I’d mostly given up on ever finding that flavor again whether at Starbucks or in that miserable Hagen Dazs version.

So in a field of one, this tea has set the bar for me and made me excited for future matcha adventures.

UPDATE: Usually, when I find a general kind of tea I like, I want to taste them all until I find a favorite. Not so with this one. I just want this tea every single day. Luckily, I already have the non ‘supreme’ version of this for later comparison, but when that’s gone, I think I just have to get a monthly subscription on this. So, so good.

I admit I had high hopes for this tea, but I’m surprised to find it to be nothing special at all. If I’d been served it at a diner, it would have seemed unremarkable and about as expected. The tea base is light and balanced but unflavorful, and I’m really only getting a little orange on top. I’m sad to report my foray into Dammann Freres flavored black teas is not going well, and I’ll definitely abandon it once I get through a few others I have. So far only the Fleurilege will stay around at all, and that as an everyday iced tea, not to be repurchased.

For an autumn tieguanyin, this one really brings on spring. Green and hyacinth freshness in a balance between bold and light.

Reminds me of a lighter Laoshan black from Verdant. Since I mostly stay away from roastier oolongs, the coffee/malt flavors are a surprise to me. Still, it’s a smooth, comforting cup, and very satisfying. I’m a fan, even if I’m not exactly the target audience.

Just to put this in context, this is a terrific tea, and if you like the greener end of oolongs, you’ll love it. Really. BUT, I’ve had far too many really gorgeous oolongs lately, and this one doesn’t cut it in tough company. Maybe it’s a little too light for my tastes, since I like a good body in all my teas, but it’s a nice, light, vegetal flavor with, oddly enough, a smoky overtone (very light – and more in taste than in character, if that makes any sense at all). I’m following it up with another cup of Eco-Cha’s Shan Li Xin High Mountain Concubine, and it’s making me quite a bit happier.