Oriental Beauty

I had a lovely cup of this today – i really need to try stacys other steeping parameters since i always brew it for 4 mins. I quite like this one (for an oolong) and find the more i drink it, the more it grows on me. Looking forward to placing my other orders with stacy tomorrow heh

Lovely lovely lovely!
Lovely to look upon, with all it’s various shades of color.
Lovely to taste, with it’s honey apricot sweetness.
I shared a pot of this with a student, & when he commented on the unusual flavor of it, I really enjoyed telling him the part about the leaf hoppers, LOL.

Hello Steepster friends, it’s been a while…

I had plans to go hiking with Doberman Dexter this morning. We woke up at dawn, just the way I like it (yes, I’m a night AND a morning person, not much sleeping going on here, lol) And I realized it was going to be a rainy day. Well, I wasn’t going to let that ruin my plans, so we went anyways.

I go hike to this regional nature forest park we have, it has a big mountain to climb plus you can walk a trail that sinuously contours a beautiful river with lots of rapids. I like going there by myself with the dog, it’s pretty much the only nature park around that allows dogs.

My bright yellow rain coat with a large hood kept me protected from the rain all morning. Turned out to be a lovely day. It wasn’t really pouring. More of a slow dripping, allowing our ears to listen to a beautiful symphony of little noises orchestrated by the sound of each drop of water gently lending on the luxuriant vegetation…ploc, ploc, ploc…

I sat on a big rock, closed my eyes, and inhaled this pure oxygen that you find only in the forest. I couldn’t help thinking about this tea I was going to have later.

When I got back, I wrote a long note to a dearest Steepster friend that I’ve missed a lot (if you read this, you know who you are!!) and made this tea. I felt it deserved a proper evaluation, that’s why I took my time with it.

I was introduced to Oriental Beauty about a year ago, by a friend who brought me as a gift 1/2 pound directly from Taiwan. I didn’t know the brand nor the estate it came from, my friend bought it at a local merchant and was told it was Taiwan’s finest Wenshan tea. I don’t think he lied. I fell in love with it and quickly went through the 500g bag. I had a few samples after that from different vendors but just couldn’t find one that equaled it.

When Stacy gave me the heads up about an upcoming Butiki OB, my heart stopped. Then she said it was going to take a little longer cause she was «being picky». Well, her being picky was great news, it meant I could expect something fabulous!

And fabulous this tea was…

The dry leaf of OB is very peculiar, it is small considering it is oolong. It is referred to as the tea with 5 colours. If you look very closely, you see that some of the silver tentacles are covered with a white duvet. That’s why this tea is also named Bai Hao Oolong, meaning white hair/fur. I notice I don’t see as many white buds in Butiki’s as I did in my Taiwanese Wenshan OB.

I used about 4g for my glazed gaiwan as it is my favourite vessel for Oolongs in general.

First steep renders a bright and transparent golden orange colour. It is very fragrant of red fruits, muscatel and honey. For those «who like to watch», here’s a pic:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/laafeevertee/9111047867/lightbox/

Its fruitiness reminds me of Darjeeling, but it’s fuller and rounder with no astringency. The fact that it has such a high level of fermentation and oxidation brings it closer to black tea, that’s one of the reason I like it so much.

I love the automnal rainbow of colours the leaves of this tea presents…rich auburns, browns, greys, and greens, it is stunning to look at. Here’s another pic after 2nd and 3rd steep:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/laafeevertee/9111047817/lightbox/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/laafeevertee/9111047597/

The 3rd steep is a real charmer, a burst of sweet honey notes, created by those little insect bites. There’s a faint spicy note in the background that I can’t really identify, the taste is more concentrated, I get dried fruits, maybe fig or apricot. There’s also a cooling feel in the mouth at the end that lingers for a while. It’s very addictive.

Again, here’s some pics showing a leaf that must have been a feast at some point, judging by the clear chunks missing:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/laafeevertee/9111047673/lightbox/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/laafeevertee/9111047535/lightbox/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/laafeevertee/9111047765/lightbox/

This is a beautiful tea inside out. Oolongs are so exciting, they are the Rockstars of teas.

I almost missed on this one, having placed a Butiki order seconds before It became available for sale. But with her usual courtesy, Stacy fixed everything and I got my precious supply. I’m afraid it won’t last very long…

Stacy was so generous to include this in my little sample bundle. Thank you kindly, Stacy!

The scent of the dry leaf really took me by surprise. It reminded me of autumn, so I tried to break it down further. Cocoa-dusted dried fruits? Then I looked at the description and noticed that apricots are listed under the flavour profile. Bingo. Cocoa-dusted dried apricots.

First infusion was strong on the cocoa and honey, and a little subtle with the fruity notes. I don’t detect any of the macadamia, but perhaps because it’s seamlessly blending in with the roasted motif.

Second infusion focused more on the fruit and honey aspects, while the cocoa note died down a bit. Still smooth and slightly roasty.

This is a stunning tea (starting to sound like Gordon Ramsay), and am truly enticed by this beauty. It’s definitely going on the shopping list.

We just posted this Oriental Beauty on our website. It’s the first of 6 teas that we will be putting up tonight. I did the official tasting yesterday and today I’m getting some different notes, though that may be because I just had a huge amount of bruschetta. In addition to the honey and funnel cake notes, I’m also getting some lightly cooling mint, mushroom, and mineral notes. I love this Oriental Beauty. It took us a while to pick out just the right one and I think I might be partial to this one because it somewhat reminds me of our Taiwanese Wild Mountain Black that has been out of stock for a few months now. Ever since this one has arrived, I have been drinking it nonstop. I tend to go heavy on the leaf and even use boiling water. I prefer a slight astringency for this one.

I ordered 1/2 oz of oriental beauty as I wanted to test it before getting more.
This is TheTeaFairy’s note about it which made me want to try an oriental beauty tea and thanks for that, I’m seduced.

I am particularly happy with BT straight teas because until now I loved them all and this one is not an exception.
I adore how the honey notes and the fruity ones pairing so well together. I recognize some apricot (and I love so much apricot).

I should say that if all straight teas were the kind of this one ,PTA or TWM I would declare and shout on the roofs I definitively prefer straight teas to flavoured.
It may be my first step before passing on the other side of the tea mirror.

This is a nice tea. It’s not as sweet as I thought it would be, but I believe I prefer the subtlety. The taste is quite fruity, and the aftertaste is floral, followed by a cooling sensation. I know I am going to really enjoy getting to know this one better.

I tend to neglect the darker, (Edit: more heavily oxidized) oolongs, and was pleasantly surprised to see Stacy had included it as a sample! I know next to nothing about this type of tea variety, or how it’s produced, and should make a point of trying more.

The dry leaf has a sweet and roasted nut aroma, with something like cinnamon or baked sugar. The hot liquor smells more like general toastiness and isn’t as interesting. The taste fulfills the promises from the dry leaf, though, and there is a lot of fun stuff happening here. Most dominant to me is the roasted note of unsalted macadamia nuts. That’s my absolute favorite kind of nut, and every time I get a taste of it here I’m mentally jumping up and down. You wouldn’t know just by looking at me but I am.

The finish has a gentle hint of bitter nuts, mixed in with something creamy, buttery, and sweet. I’ve never tried macadamia nut butter; I wonder if it’s as delicious as it sounds. The aftertaste is like fruit jam and honey. The empty cup smells like a full jar of honey too.

Hopefully I can stretch this oolong out today, with a multitude of steeps, as this tea rocks. I will pick up more of this in the near future, and it will get a rating then when I’m less excited about the delicious novelty of macadamia nuts and dessert. I never thought I would like this one as much as I do.

TTB #6

Okay, Oriental Beauty, here it is! I was the most excited about this one of the whole Traveling Tea Box (which means REALLY TERRIBLY excited) but I must say that it failed to meet my expectations somewhat. I mean, it’s still a great tea. There’s natural sweetness to it, in both scent and flavor. I can see where the “fermented” part is coming from, even though I’ve had hardly any fermented oolongs before (more fermented than roasted, that is) and I do think it’s very unique. But I find the whole experience rather… flat? Like there’s not much body to it? Perhaps it’s because of the way I steeped it (1 tsp/8 oz for 4,5 minutes at 190F?). I’ll try to resteep the leaves again before I attempt to rate it.

EDIT: Okay, I resteeped it for about 5 minutes at 195F and I still fail to notice much of complexity in it. Perhaps its subtlety is its greatest quality? It is not one I would crave for or even think about after it’s gone. It is still a great quality tea, definitely enjoyable and interesting. This oriental beauty just doesn’t seem to be my type of beauty, that’s all.

This is a nice oolong. It’s smooth and ultimately relaxing. I am getting a touch of a mineral taste, but nothing offensive. I can smell the honey notes more than I can taste them, but nonetheless, I am enjoying my cup.

I ordered so many oolongs from Butiki in my most recent order, and they are all delicious in their own way, but I’ve secretly been comparing them to Gui Fei, and I think that will always be my favourite oolong. It’s just so unique.