Jin Xuan Oolong

Tea type
Oolong Tea
Ingredients
Oolong Tea Leaves
Flavors
Butter, Cream, Fruity, Honey, Sweet, Vegetal, Floral, Nutty, Spearmint, Cinnamon, Milk, Sweat, Vanilla, Corn Husk, Cucumber, Peas, Green, Sweet, Warm Grass, Creamy, Nectar, Orchids, Sugarcane, Burnt Sugar, Osmanthus, Wood, Roasted, Salt, Seaweed, Smooth, Fruit Tree Flowers
Sold in
Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Medium
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Nicholas Hadler
Average preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 1 min, 45 sec 6 g 6 oz / 176 ml

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31 Tasting Notes View all

  • “Backlog: This is quite possibly the best “milk oolong” type Oolong teas that I’ve ever tasted. It is amazing. It is remarkably creamy and has a fresh, exhilarating flavor. Notes of cream, notes...” Read full tasting note
    97
  • “I have returned from my little hiatus! My birthday was all sorts of awesome, good company, good food, mind-boggling awesome presents, and of course good tea. I still feel a little overwhelmed,...” Read full tasting note
  • “Interesting. It’s like they took the Mandala milk oolong and dialed it back a touch. Just a touch. It’s still terrifically tasty, but for now I continue to prefer the Mandala.” Read full tasting note
    88
  • “I’m giving this 90 points not because it deserves it by the flavor, but because it achieves that flavor at $0.07/g, which is outstanding! This is incredibly smooth, thick, and flavorful at that...” Read full tasting note
    90

From Eco-Cha Artisan Teas

This batch of tea leaves come from the most active tea maker and merchant we know. This man enters virtually every Oolong Tea competition in Taiwan, including the largest and most prestigious Oolong Tea competition in the world. He consistently achieves high ratings in all of these competitions. In fact, when we picked up this batch, he brewed a sample of another batch of this same type of tea that won first prize in the Nantou County Jin Xuan Oolong competition of 2,400 entries. This is a region that is comprised of some the best tea makers in the world, and he placed first. He is a highly motivated, intelligent and progressive individual – making him an exemplary figure in his field.

Flavor: Nutty, buttery, savory winter vegetables, woody notes. Smooth Oolong fragrant finish.

Garden: This batch of tea was made by an artisan who won first prize in this year’s Nantou County Jin Xuan Oolong Tea Competition of 2,400 entries, and Nantou is home to the best oolong tea makers in the world. The tea he produces is, in a word, exemplary.

Harvest: Machine cut. Medium batch.

Elevation: 400m

About Eco-Cha Artisan Teas View company

Company description not available.

31 Tasting Notes

98
40 tasting notes

I like this tea. It has a nice mild flavor and a pretty golden color. The tea leaves are good too.

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358 tasting notes

I’ve had this sample sitting around for a quite a while and no longer remember whose stash I acquired it from. I need to start making note of that.

Anyhow, poured the whole sample into my gaiwan, which ended up being just about 9 grams. Did a quick wash and let the leaves sit while I refilled and heated the kettle before the first steep.

Light gold liquor, light and sweet in flavor, with the characteristic creaminess coming through more in the second steep. Light florals start to push through in steep three.

All in all, this was a good one!

Flavors: Creamy, Floral, Sweet

Preparation
9 g

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106 tasting notes

Light, creamy, sweet, and predominantly orchid/nectar flowers in my cup, this is a clearing and uplifting green oolong. The aroma tends to retain more of the milky creaminess than the actual taste, but there is definitely a nice milky texture for the first few steeps of this. There’s a slight bit of astringency as the tea goes on, but nothing major or off putting, it actually defines the slight corn silk and flower notes more clearly, I think. There are some nice throat coating feels and sweetness as well.

My takeaway: this is a nice non-flavored milk oolong with more fullness than most green oolongs I’ve tried. More flowery than I’m usually a fan of, but every now and again that’s quite nice.

Flavors: Corn Husk, Creamy, Honey, Nectar, Orchids, Sweet

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C

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90
1704 tasting notes

I need to try this tea again. I attempted gong fu, but I did not use enough leaves for that session. What I’ll write is very similar to what Luckyme described.

I tried 45 seconds, and I get a very light creamy floral-something that reminds me of lilac, or more accurately hyacinth. I hesitated hoping it wasn’t leftover soap staining my vessel.

So I switched out vessels, and I get more of the same florals after three minutes. Still incredibly light, but lightly buttery and lightly vegetal. I do get a little bit of a savory vegetable taste, yet they are softer compared to the florals. It does remind me something of a Tie Guan Yin, or even closer, Mandala’s Unflavored Jin Xuan, but lighter like the Tie Guan Yin.

The next time after 4 and half minutes, there was some sweetness coming out, but floral sweetness. Vanilla popped in my head, but more as an after tone of the hyacinth.

The next at five minutes was a little bit more vegetal savory, but light and floral as ever.

I need to try this again. I’m pretty impressed that the hyacinth floral was the strongest aspect of this, but I have hopes that I could get this tea to brew sweeter. All this $2 for 20g, then $12 for 150g…that is a bargain.

Upon the correction later, starting at 3 minutes Western at 180 F, I get more of a fruity note in the middle of tasting it. Maybe something close to a pineapple skin. I do not quite get as much hyacinth, but a strong floral character remains with a lightly buttered vegetable background.

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88
676 tasting notes

I was turned off from trying Jin Xuans for a while because I don’t care for the heavy butter taste that most of them have but this one was a real winner. It’s wonderfully floral and has a sugarcane like sweetness that complements the hint of milky flavor. Honestly, there’s not a whole lot of milkiness to this tea, which suits me just fine. This and Shan Lin Xi are my favorites of the Eco-Cha teas I’ve sampled so far.

Flavors: Floral, Sugarcane, Sweet

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 0 min, 45 sec 4 g 4 OZ / 130 ML

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95
63 tasting notes

I didin’t use any specific steeping times with this since they lack suggestions for gongfu brewing. So I went with feeling and what seemed right, it turned out pretty good actually.

Nuggets are emerald green with light brown stems. They are small and even size. As a winter batch the leaves are quite small. Opened leaves are vegetal green.

Clear light green brew, latter steeps turn more orange/yellow hue. Mild scent. Full-bodied taste with notes of cream, vanilla, milk, fruit, osmanthus and some burnt sugar with woodsy notes. Terrific with really nice silky, thick and creamy mouthfeel. I can already say after couple steeps that this is the best Jin Xuan oolong that I’ve tasted. Others have been too milky or not milky at all, but this is in perfect balance. I’m definitely buying more after I’ve emptied my stash a bit.

Flavors: Burnt Sugar, Butter, Cream, Fruity, Milk, Osmanthus, Vanilla, Wood

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 2 OZ / 65 ML

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86
134 tasting notes

I was quite happily surprised by the quality and intense flavor of the brew from this lightly oxidized and lightly toasted tea. Very refreshing and yet lush with buttery tones and a natural floral green-ness that is very uplifting and a pleasure to drink. Generally I have not been a fan of most Milk Oolongs, but this one could become quite addictive. And the number of re-steeps from the leaves was phenomenal, making it quite economical as I savored cup after cup.

Flavors: Butter, Floral, Green

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML

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96
4170 tasting notes

I tried this again with one teaspoon rather than two teaspoons that became a little too much since the leaves are the most tightly bundled oolong leaves I have ever seen. This time was much better, though I did love the luxuriousness thickness and texture of the last steep sessions first cup. I think that steep was perfect but the leaves became too many leaves for the second and third steeps. If I could figure out the best way to steep two teaspoons, I’m sure those steeps would be perfect too. It’s always a science with tea! This time around, all of the steeps were somehow very similar which is kind of surprising for an oolong. A lovely milky creamy flavor, just not as nicely textured as the first steep of the last session. But I did enjoy that there wasn’t a bitter overdone flavor… not at all the fault of the tea. And with one teaspoon of leaves, my infuser basket was STILL full of leaves! Next time, I shall try 1 1/2 teaspoons.
Steep #1 // one teaspoon for a full mug// 10 minutes after boiling // 1 minute steep
Steep #2 // few minutes after boiling // 1 1/2 minute steep
Steep #3 // just boiled // 1 minute steep

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60
53 tasting notes

Thank you Liquid Proust for this sample!

Tasting #1 – Steep Time 2 Minutes
No distinguishable aroma with a very light color. No flavor can be detected at this time.

Tasting #2 – Steep Time 4 Minutes
Very light roasted aroma, slightly darker in color but no difference in flavor.

Tasting #3 – Steep Time 6 Minutes
There is a hint of saltiness to this now that makes the roasted flavor a bit more robust. I opened the teapot to smell the leaves and they smell exactly like seaweed, but the salty flavor isn’t overwhelming to my tongue. More like a finishing salt, helping to complete a meal.

But it isn’t enough to make me love this tea. I want more from my tea, but this one doesn’t even meet my bare necessities.

Flavors: Roasted, Salt, Seaweed

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107 tasting notes

I got this as part of a sample pack from Eco-Cha that also included High Mountain Concubine and Dong Ding. I decided to brew this gongfu, about a tbsp of tea, 190, first steep of a minute. Pale yellow liquor. Interesting aroma. As the leaves open more they are huge and filling my gaiwan. Aroma and flavor are both floral and buttery. Another reviewer said it’s similar to Mandala’s milk oolong, but dialed down a bit. Agreed, though I prefer the sweetness of Mandala’s version. I get the butter, particularly in terms of mouthfeel, but not so much the milk. This tea actually reminds me more of Mandala’s Golden Turtle, which I think I described in my review as drinking buttered flowers. There’s a bit of astringency in later steeps. Of the three teas I received from Eco-Cha, I would say I preferred this one the least, but that is probably because I prefer roasted oolongs generally.

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