Green March! The first time I ever had Milk Oolong it was one of those mindblowing experiences for me; I remember just being really taken by that creamy, buttery flavor. It was TeaSource’s brand in my local coffee shop haunt that I hit up during lunch breaks from the library. I knew I had to get some for myself, but was surprised by the price tag on it, so I decided to shop around and finally settled for Strand Tea’s offering, which seemed a pretty good value.
At the time I wasn’t aware there were naturally-flavored versions of the tea, and those that were just unflavored, natural Jin Xuan leaf, so I was a bit surprised when this tasted quite a bit different than what I remembered tasting that day in the cafe. Once I became a little more educated on Milk Oolongs, I realized right away it was because the TeaSource version I’d sampled before was flavored, and this one was not. It took a little getting used to, but I warmed up to it very quickly!
Brewed western-style, this tea has thick buttery vegetal notes, which make me think of steamed, buttered vegetables, particularly brocolli. And since that is something I quite enjoy, I find this a really nice tea. There is a slight ghost of a floral note beneath the butter and vegetative flavors, but it is very subtle, and comes across more as a bit of sweetness right at the end of the sip. The tea is really smooth and sweet with no astringency, and works surprisingly well as a “quick cup” or “on the go” oolong.
I tried it for the first time gongfu style, and almost feel a little guilty to say that I actually… like this one western-style more. I definitely prefered my Li Shan more gongfu style, but with this one, the buttery notes came out more in the western brew, and I got more of a vegetative astringency in the shorter gongfu steeps. However, the floral notes hidden underneath were able to come out in the gongfu session, and it was nice to get to experience those notes, so I’m glad I experimented with it! My session lasted ten infusions, starting with a 25s steep with infusions increasing by 10-15 seconds.
At the start of the session, the tea had a very sharp, buttery aroma. There were some very light, buttery notes, but the key notes were spinach, asparagus, and a little grassiness. There was a very fresh, vegetative feel, but then the vegetable notes became more astringent, with a much stronger spinach/brocolli presense in the forefront, and a heavy cooked vegetable aftertaste in the mouth. Some very subtle orchid floral notes seemed to be lingering in the background. By the fourth infusion the astringent vegetal notes were really starting to mellow out, as the floral notes started to push their way into the forefront. From the fifth infusion on the mouthfeel was very much filled with an orchid/lilac/violet floral flavor, and quite sweet on the initial sip, with just a slight lingering vegetal astringency right at the end of the sip left on the tongue. Toward the end of the session the astringency continued to mellow and the tea began to have more of a sweeter, buttery aftertaste. On the final infusion the floral notes started to feel a little washed out and perfumey.
While most oolongs do better with the subtleties of eastern-style brewing, I really just prefer the flavor of this one as a western-brew. That rich, buttery, vegetal taste does it for me, and I have other oolongs where I can get those subtle floral flavors that become lost in the western brew of this; for me, it’s all about those butter notes in this one anyway! I just can’t get enough of that buttered brocolli vibe!
This probably isn’t the most decadent Jin Xuan out there, but I’ve been satisfied with it, especially for the price.
Flavors: Asparagus, Astringent, Broccoli, Butter, Floral, Grass, Orchid, Smooth, Spinach, Sweet, Vegetal, Violet
