Zealong Pure

I quite enjoyed this one as it was prepared for me by Tony of Chicago Tea Garden at a tea tasting of his and then again by my hand at home. It is very clean, slightly grass, and sweet. I would say it is bright and balanced. Delicious!

A very clean, very smooth oolong aroma and taste. Deserves the pure name. From the zealong web site, it requires a little more tea for the water volume, and many steeps should be possible.

Wasn’t sold on the idea of a tea from New Zealand until I saw the rave reviews this was getting, so I finally sprung for it.

Gong fu in a 5-ounce yixing. Pretty darn good, if I may say so. Buttery, smooth, slightly floral. Not the absolute most amazing unroasted oolong I’ve had, but very, very good. I’ll drink what I have happily, and I’ll probably be first in line to try next year’s crop.

We had the privileged of trying this Tea last night via Tony at Chicago Tea Garden. Upon opening the tea was really excited by the sweet smell from the unbrewed leaves. I used my favorite Yixing pot to steep. Chicago Tea garden recommended 30sec steep time for the 1st and 2nd steeping. I did my 1st steeping for 1minute. The Zealong had a really nice pale yellow/greenish color. The smell of the brewed Zealong was still a pleasant sweet smell. 1st sip and I noticed that it had a much milder taste than a Dong Ding or Milk Oolong . Each cup still had a much milder taste.

Second steeping I steeped for 2.5 minutes and found it to be a bit bolder in taste and color was a tad bit darker and smell was still a sweet smell. Me personally, I like bolder tasting Oolongs better than the milder ones. This Oolong will be a perfect fit for those people who find the taste of most Oolongs a bit strong. If you are just becoming familiar with Oolongs this is a great start into a wonderful would of Teas!

I wasn’t sure this would live up to the hype. Well, I was wrong. This tea is absolutely delicious, and as the name implies, it has a “pure,” fresh quality I don’t think I’ve ever experienced in any type of tea. There are many flavors here — honey, floral, a bit vegetal — no roasted or chestnut type flavors, though, which I attribute to the tea’s minimal processing. It’s naturally sweet, and just as good on the second and third steepings. I steeped the leaves four times before the flavor began to fade.

Delicious hot, at room temperature or iced. One of the best teas I’ve ever had. I’m going to order more very soon, because I think I am going to go through this quickly.

This. Is. Crazy. Good.

Almost buttery smooth, a creaminess is there, but still light, clean, pure, and I can taste a beautiful green flavor coming out. A little sweet, a rich quality, there are so many layers here. And every infusion brings out something a little different.

If I were to be reincarnated as a tea, this would probably be it.

The leaves for this furtive tea are made in the fashion of Taiwanese Oolongs. They’re tightly curled balls of a dark green with some stems attached. The dry leaf aroma is clearly roasted with some vegetal undertones of steamed cabbage.

This oolong brews a radiant yellow-gold liquor and provides a sweet vegetal aroma similar to that of the dry leaf, but with the roasted notes a bit subdued.

The texture and flavor are smooth on the palate with no appreciable astringency. A bit of vegetal bitterness combines with a buttery sweetness and a bit of a roasty tail keeps this tea interesting every time.

I recommend this oolong to fans of oolong teas and milk teas.

I have received this tea yesterday straight from Zealong Company in NZ, so it is not the “Chicago Tea Garden” one but I thought there was no point to add another tea to Steepster as we are talking about exactly the same product.

I have waited the special time to enjoy it as I have been so much enthusiastic to get it and finally this afternoon the great time has come!

I have followed the instructions on the package and infused 5 gr. in 150ml of water for 1 minute … nice!!! I steeped it in the Zealong white ceramic cup with strainer and the colour was a light yet bright yellow, so inviting. This tea has a nice aroma and a full-bodied and multi-layered taste: grassy, with hints of chestnut to start with and then sweeter: the after taste in my mouth while I was waiting for the second steep clearly reminded me of apple, green apple. The second and third wash have been good as well, also the fourth even though the latter, still giving a bright yellow colour, has lost a little of the flavour. The package says you can steep this tea up to 6-7 times, I am not sure considering the fourth but when I will have some time I will definitely try to do that.

The first approach with this tea from New Zealand has been extremely positive, I am looking forward to trying the other 2 types I have received: “Aromatic” and “Dark”.

Sweet, buttery, slightly floral taste that is delicious!

This tea had a really rich, multilayered flavor. It was sweet but towards the third infusion there was a nice smokiness to it.