1746 Tasting Notes
Whiteantlers was dear enough to lend me some. The first steep is the best, though this is not the greatest flavored milk oolong. It is a touch less veggy than a Quangzhou, but still super veggy. The later cups were not as good, but I surprisingly appreciated it even against a great white tea cake. Otherwise, it is pretty typical for a flavored milk oolong, just a tad bit weak and too vegetal for my tastes, but fruity and creamy enough to please me.
The cocoa taste has faded a little bit, but the berry is still prominant with the malt. I still have a little of this left, and it too has been subjected to my vanillafying.
I blended in a lot of vanilla beans and scented the tea for almost a month, and the results were really nice. The cocoa notes pop out with the heady vanilla, but the sweet berry notes make it creamy sweet. I only scented a few grams, but I am totally doing the rest. If I want a vanilla tea with berry notes, I can make my own.
I used less leaf and got better results, but much of what I said is the same. It is a nice floral approximate green tea that has such a strong orchid green taste that it reminds me of a high end soap. I am still very glad to have tried it, but I will stick to the Gaoshans and Dong Ding for healthy sweet teas without the guilt. Chou shi will make nice company for the mornings I don’t want to get up nevertheless.
Crap! The profile of this tea was basically what I was looking for. Flower creamer sweetened with honey is how I’d describe it. The tea actually opened really quickly compared to other Alishans I’ve had, yet the sweet honey notes developed slower. I brewed this for longer steeping parameters at first, with 35 being my first, 20 my second, and 40 my third, a minute and a half, then three minutes. Despite my overly playful parameters, I got the notes I wanted.
I really enjoyed this tea, and a part of me wishes that I purchased an ounce of this instead of the Chou Shi because it is so much closer to want I wanted. However, I still need to play around with that green oolong. My only complaint with this one might be its longevity. That is not too much of a problem for me, however. It definitely appeals to the tea snob and might not be a bad tea to introduce someone to oolong.
First of all Daylon, I really appreciate your well though out reviews of these teas. Your very honest which is most important when reading tea reviews. Alishan is where my heart is I drink Alishan more than any other tea. Alishan was one of those “tea epiphany” teas for me. A good Alishan can bring me up in my darkest days.
Same, and thank you :) For me, the fun thing about them is that any gaoshan does not taste exactly the same, though I’ve had some Lishans and Alishans that were really close to each other in taste by having the same lilac florals and little bits of a honey note.
I taste honeydew when drinking this. I can see the sweetness of honey, and definitely get the floral notes on the palate. Quite an astounding tea.
Here’s to my other insatiable desire for ‘chocolate note’ black tea!
And backlog. What-Cha describes it having a carob profile, and I agree for the most part. I was surprised at how much this tea reminded me of an Assam in its smooth quality. The carob like notes are closer to an Assam. It also has a fruity, chocolate covered raisin aftertaste. Oddly enough, I’ve had the same taste in some coffee from Java. Could be my imagination. More carob and malt in the overall body. It’s a little too strong for my tastes, but I will again play around with the sample. When don’t I play around with the brewing parameters anyway?
Oh man, are you drinking all these now, tonight?
No. The ones I drank today are: leftover brewed Taiwan Milk Oolong from What-Cha, Oollo Baozhong, a Hawaiian tea that tasted like a Baozhong (Mauna Kea Green). Tonight: the Chou Shi, the Pine Oolong, and now UNYtea’s Alishan.
I am on a search for “the perfect green affordable oolong” AGAIN and totally neglected Andrew’s wise advise on them. I listened to him for a few months, then I went green oolong crazy again. I’m convinced its a seasonal thing. I love Taiwan green oolongs, but since they are so weather dependent and so delicate, finding a lasting staple of one is a pain in the wallet. Turned out I wanted ALishan or a Lishan, but every single time I have those varieties, the taste is different.
Impressive nonetheless. I’d be up till Tuesday with this lineup.
Non-attachment. I suspect that is the key. Each moment is unique. Each breath is unique.
What was Andrew’s wise advice on them?
To be careful and not splerge on them because they can become incredibly expensive.
I don’t know if this is what you are after, but I love Premium Silky Green from Bird Pick Tea, which they have listed as a green tea but which is without doubt (see lots of reviews) a green oolong. It is so buttery and delicious. If I ever get my cupboard whittled down I will buy some more.
Ah! I am guessing that we’ve all been ignoring that advice then.
And ashmanra, I am writing that one down on my future—distant future—purchase list. Thanks for the tip.
I’ve seen it. I’m pretty damn sure it’s a Jin Xuan-which have all been hit or misses for me. I did want to try it eventually.
This company was very nice to me. Thanks to Amanda’s many posts about this companies teas and my insatiable desire to try every single frickin’ green oolong POSSIBLE, I got their sampler.
This was a very pleasant light oolong. This was almost the same as a silk bagged oolong I previously tried, but still quite nice. The honey and florals come together really nicely with a mildly roasted background. Is this tea even roasted or am I just tasting the medium fermentation? Either way I enjoy it. The specific profile makes me think of literal pine nuts-which is the best way that I can personally describe this tea.
The essential vocab.: light, medium, floral, honey, and pine nut. I would not reach for this tea, but it is one that I would definitely enjoy every now and then.
Man this makes one beautiful cold brew. I love how all the leaves play together. And man, are the oolong leaves HUGE.
I need to try this hot eventually, but this tea worked out nicely for a cold brew. I mostly get blueberry and delicate florals. Or a fresh green leaf that had blueberry cotton candy pass by it’s dew. This was nice with a hint of sugar or honey, but whether I wanted to add sweetener depended on my mood. Cold brews depend on my mood period. Let’s see if I make good on the making the tea hot goal.
And now, to plow through the rest of my copious amounts of tea.
I tried looking this up and the website suggested “Winter Tongue”. So if sticking your tongue out and putting it on a lamp pole in the cold were a tea, this would be it?
No. Winter Tongue is not this tea. This tea is liquid cinnamon Altoids. I like them very much. Mint teas are hit or miss for me. The mint’s got to taste fresh. Otherwise, the tea needs a few other ingredients to offset the dryness. This mint tea was not that dry because Andrew used peppermint, but its natural dryness blended nicely with the cinnamon and the occasionally roasted qualities of the Da Hong Pao. I did not taste the oolong so much the first time, but I tasted the mineral rock oolong in the far background when I’ve used more leaf. Emphasis on the profile being in the FAR background.
I think this tea would have wide appeal. One of the teachers I work with really enjoyed it and he is more of a coffee drinker, though he has his own tea cabinet in a Star Wars and Harry Potter themed class room (#my teacher goals). If you have had cinnamon Altoids, or just Altoids, then you know what this tea tastes like and weather to buy it.
I am finally getting to this tea never mind I’ve drank it for the past month. There is a long relationship I’ve had with roasted Tie Guan Yin.
Here’s the story. When I started my Steepster quest, I was an ex black coffee drinker trying to give up my old habit. Dark roasted oolongs were often recommended to such a drinker, and thanks to Andrew, I got into the world of oolong. He was nice enough to teach me with a series of samples. A few of those samples were aged and roasted Tie Guan Yins, which had the oddest taste I’ve had in a tea. I can dig some roast and some vanilla in the natural profiles of my tea, but this particular variety tastes and smells like mahogany paint stain. Ever since, there was only one dark Tie Guan Yin that I really enjoyed was one from Whispering Pines. Andrew and I both liked it, and while he was far more experienced and became even more experienced with aged teas, I was still left wanting. I continued to drink coffee anyway.
So while he is concocting his experimental blends, he decided to use some of his vanilla flavoring skills (insert white joke here) to revive something out of this old Tie Guan Yin. The antique table taste is still there with its charred texture, but sweetened by the vanilla. The vanilla might be just enough to convince a tea nooby, but a newbie who drinks black coffee. A more experienced or intermediate tea drinker who loves roast and vanilla are the best targets in my opinion. The wood and char taste might dissuade a few.
Summary: If you are one of those old souls who loves the smell of leather books, mahogany, and the taste of a warm, roasted drink in the morning, this is your tea.
Thank you so much Jeff! My Unytea order was very aesthetic and very considerate. I smelled through the bags of course and I am oddly really excited for one of the blends.
This particular was recommended for a non-stomach upsetting nuclear green oolong, and I’ve been really curious to try this varietal. The large nuclear emerald leaves smell green and clean. Tasting it, this tea is the embodiment of orchid floral from Tie Guan Yin and Bao Zhong. I was surprised that the florals were a little too strong for me. it had the World Market organic luxury soap thing going on.
So I did a five second rinse for my wopping 6 grams for 6 fluid ounces, then I brewed up the first steep at twelve seconds. I think that steep was too short because I got ORCHID and STEM. I’m not getting creamy so much. The later steeps were more enjoyable with a good balance between the green flower stem taste and some fruitier, more lemon and pineapple qualities. It also has some staying power ‘cause I’m still drinking it after steep seven. I used short steeps, however.
I have to play with this one more, and luckily, I have the amount to do so. It does not quite have the balance I’m looking for, but it is still a great quality tea and I am excited to see what else I can do with these lovely leaves. I am looking forward to other goodies I have. I also need to write so many more reviews…
Also try maybe with green tea temps, that tamed the perfume with the YS one
Noted. I brewed it close to 180 anyway.
I’m working on adding brewing notes on the labels for each tea. I’m sorry I’m just seeing this now. Def do very short steeps like any other dancong oolong I usually do 15 sec 20-25-30……and with this tea I sometimes will not preheat my pot or Gaiwan. Which lowers the temp a bit on its own also do a rinse before your 1st steep. Which as Rasseru stated will help alleviate the strength of the perfume/soapy note. My email is always open to talk tea!
That sounds like a good idea :) Using less leaf and higher temperature definitely improved it with the rinse. And I did rinse my Xiang Fu tea pot to warm it up the first time I drank it.
I drank Chou shi all day today lol I brew tea generally a little lower than suggested. It helps with Matt stomach discomfort
Have you found a replacement for the Mandala Milk Oolong yet? What is your second favourite? Do you have a top three?
Supposedly Mandala will return but it has been a long while now. I had figured if they didn’t return for Black Friday they would return for Christmas. Someone on Steepster must have more information on them than I do.
What-Cha’s Taiwan Milk Oolong has been the substitute for now, but I haven’t liked it as much as I did the first time I sampled it. It’s still one of my personal favorite milk oolongs. The Chinese one What-Cha offers is also not bad-it’s more of a soft mango candy whereas What-Cha’s Taiwan milk oolong is liquid coconut oil. The sample I got was a winter crop and flavored, but the spring crop is still pretty solid. It is more nutty than Mandala’s, but in the same buttery parameters though more coconut sweet than toffee sweet.
There was also one that me and a few other people found that was almost the same from Dragon Tea House on Ali-Express. I swore it was the same damn tea. I haven’t bought from Mandala as a result.
But my preferences for the flavored milk oolongs have honestly changed. I’ve basically wanted something like the Lishan What-Cha currently offers, or an Alishan I had one time. They were the perfect balance between honeyed, floral, creamy and green. Shan Lin Xi’s used to do that for me, but this year has not been as impressive as last year.
The flavored oolong I really want back is A Quarter to Tea’s Apple Panna Cotta Jade Oolong, but that was a limited edition. Lauren does however have a few more blends using the same approximate base, with one of them being On Wisconsin. It is a honey flavored cheesecake oolong. I’m going to ask Lauren how it compares because I honestly can’t decide if I want to purchase it, get a bunch of oolongs from Beautiful Taiwan Tea Company, get another huge order from What-Cha, get a few oolongs like the Dayuling from Berylleb, or get more of the Dong Ding from Golden Tea Leaf. The Dong Ding from Golden Tea Leaf basically tastes like sweet cream which is impressive. A part of me also wants the Old Style Dong Ding from beautiful Taiwan because its cheaper, and Andrew did say that that particular variety has been good this year.
Do you want my top 3 teas overall now or milk oolongs?
I also have four notes I need to write
Both, please. And yes! QTT’s Apple Panna Cotta Jade Oolong is seriously divine. I have been awaiting its return with bated breath.
Thank you for alerting me to Golden Tea Leaf Co. Yet another addition waiting to happen.
Forgive me, it’s late and my eyes and brain are done for the day.
I’m at the point where top 3 shifts, but I’ll give it my best.
Best Flavored Milk Oolong:
Toss up between the Mandala Milk Oolong (which might be the same as Dragon Teahouses’s Taiwan Milk Oolong) and What-Cha’s Taiwan Milk Oolong
What-Cha’s Chinese Milk Oolong (the name is more specific)
Favorite White Tea:
The Kenya Rhino
Straight Black:
A Black TieGuanYin no idea where from
The Golden Snail I JUST rated from What-Cha
Flavored:
Nostalgia
French Toast Dianhong
Green Oolong:
Depends on the season at this point. You know the quest and existential crisis I’m going through. What-Cha’s Lishan so far matches the best price profile. You brew it between Eastern and Western timing, but it yields multiple cups with strong flavor and aroma.
I also highly recommend Eco-Cha’s straight Jin Xuan. It is the most floral I’ve encountered. And the rest of their tea is good quality.
I also will sample some of Quarter to Tea’s new Jade Lineup.
The Apricot Tart Jade and On Wisconsin specifically
Thank you, Daylon, for humouring and informing me. :)
I did try What-Cha’s Taiwanese milk oolong some time ago. Perhaps it was a different batch from the one you got. I didn’t find it all that, but perhaps I need to give it another go. Alistair’s teas are generally quite awesome.
I’ve been a bit more into black teas these days, but I imagine the pendulum will swing yet again to oolongs soon. Especially, I feel a milk oolong phase coming on in the near future.
I did order Nostalgia in my last LP order, but there was a hiccup and it didn’t arrive with the other items. I will try again.
I look forward to hearing your impressions of the new QTT jades. I don’t always agree with your spins on things, but they are always of interest and provide pause for reflection in one way or another.
Another question, do sweet oolongs have same impact as sweet foods on blood sugar and such? Have you done any research on this?
There have been a few studies suggesting that tea might generally lower bloodsugar, but that’s what I’ve seen so far unless I have a lot of tea on an empty stomach. Same with coffee, but I have to practically be fasting. Most studies that I’ve superficially skimmed link the blood sugar lowering to the caffeine anyway.
Some vendors have described how the roasting processes alters the natural sugar quality in the leaves,but I have yet to find any specifics. I think I’d have to ask one of them myself. Otherwise, the caffeine on an empty stomach is the only real thing that has impacted me.
Hmm, interesting. I was under the impression that studies have been done on green teas mostly and their beneficial impact on health, heart, and such. Regarding sweet oolongs, I suppose some things are better not to know. :)
Interesting question though.