Premium Taiwan Oriental Beauty Oolong Tea

I love it when tea arrives! Especially when I have to sign for a package from Taiwan or China! Thank you to Nuvola Tea for this sample! I had forgotten at first that I had ordered 40 grams of tea in addition to the two free samples as it seemed silly to charge PayPal for just $1.25 for shipping so I chose the least expensive of the teas I was eyeing, an Oramanthus scented Taiwan Dong Ding then requested the 5g of this Oriental Beauty and Shan Lin Xi. I was surprised to find the non-sample in a sturdy box with slip cover and a lovely one at that and then confused as this packaging said Oriental Beauty Tea at the bottom.

I was a bit worried, but decided to open both packages to compare. The small sample was just as it should be, Oriental Beauty and a striking one at that, now for the moment of truth. I opened the 40g package and my eyes were met with the beautiful sight of dark green hand rolled oolong with a light dusting of, breath in, oramanthus! My Dong Ding! All was right, just a simple mislabel. Sigh of relief now I can relax and drink the Oriental Beauty!

And it is a lovely one at that so much more vibrant and fresh and not te least bit sour like a couple I’ve tried. The silver tips are the most striking I’ve seen yet! And the taste? Fall leaves, grape vines and light honey. Very nice! There is a velvety ness present that I have experienced before in Oriental Beauty it’s like this cool powdery feeling on te tip of the tongue, like moss, no lichen growing on the bark of a tree, I dig it. Mmm “withered in mist” yes I can taste that, breathe it in. There is also a faint plum note I’m tasting in this third infusion, I shall come back to update, but right now I need lunch and I’m actually changing the filter on the Britta so will have to wait to brew more and rate it then. However I am impressed, now if I only I had the brandy that they mention ;)

This tea stood up well to many infusions, I brewed gonfu and used all 5 grams so I did raise my time to get an idea of what western might taste like. It stood up well to both short and long brews as well as just under boiling water. My last cup yesterday I brewed while I was painting and when my husband came home we went out and half the mug was forgotten, until this morning. I sat down for breakfast and saw the tea and thought, why not give it a sip? I was pleasantly surprised by the cool fruit and honey notes that greeted me. This was delicious cooled off! Often teas get bitter when they sit exposed to air so long. However this is a most quality tea that never turns bitter nor sour, I am most impressed. Because I did not start with a long infusion I cannot fully testify to its strength but I would still guess that this is a more delicate oolong, but full of wonderful soft flavors and aromas. Pristine quality, very fresh, I highly recommend!

This tea was named by the queen of England. In 19th century, many tea farmers immigrated in Taiwan from Fujian, China. They had lack of tea farming experience and settled in northern Taiwan. They sold their tea products to merchants from English at that moment.

However, they encountered pest problem in each summer that tea leaves were eaten by an insect specie, a small green leaf hopper (Jacobiasca Formosana – it is a scientific name of that specie and should be italic).

Since those tea crops could not be sold in good price because the bitten leaves, most of tea farmers even won’t harvest their crops and bought it to the market. However, there was one tea farmer in Hsin Chu County. He did whatever he could and sold it to traders. When the foreign tea traders tried this tea, they liked the unique flavors very much and were willing to pay higher price to purchase all of them. The tea farmer shared this good news and story with other villagers. Of course, it was difficult to find someone to believe bitten tea leaves could be sold such high price.

When the tea trader bought this tea to the queen of England. She loved it very much and named it as “Oriental Beauty”.

Indeed this tea is a gift from nature. Without Jacobiasca formosana, we don’t have such wonderful oolong tea. In addition, Jacobiasca formosana can only survive in warmer and pollution-free environment. Pesticide cannot be used. Tea Farmers cannot force these little insects to bite their tea leaves. However, they have to protect the environment and make sure these little buddies can survive in nature.

More bitten tea leaves mean the better quality of Taiwan Oriental Beauty Oolong Tea.

Additional Notes

http://sororiteasisters.com/2013/08/26/premium-taiwan-oriental-beauty-oolong-tea/

Oh… this is so good. So very, very good.

There was a time … early in my tea years when I first tried an Oriental Beauty … and I fell instantly in love with it. And for several years after that tasting, I thought that Oriental Beauty was the ONLY Oolong that there was. I didn’t know of the many different types of Oolong that I know of now (and I’m sure that I’m still rather ignorant when it comes to Oolong tea, because they still continue to amaze me, and I still seem to discover Oolong teas that are new to me). Since that time I’ve discovered many other Oolongs, some that I might enjoy even more than an Oriental Beauty (Ali Shan comes to mind), but, of the many Oriental Beauty Oolong teas that I’ve tasted, this one deserves to be right up there as one of the very best.

It is SO good. Sweetness touches my palate first, a sweetness that is somewhere between brown sugar and honey … leaning more toward the honey than the brown sugar. After just a moment of the sweetness, I notice the intense peach tones to match the wonderful peach-like aroma of this tea. By mid-sip there is a sharpness to contrast the soft sweet notes, a flowery note … this floral tone is sharp yet sweet, almost perfume-y. As the floral note heads toward the finish of the sip, the sweetness of the honey comes back so that it may linger in the aftertaste, which is light and sweet and delightful.

A truly lovely tea.

Life has been brutal. My fiancé was diagnosed with a disease last week. His treatment plan is intense for the next 8 weeks…and our wedding is only 7 weeks away. I feel sad and angry and frustrated and defeated. His health is the #1 priority. I suggested we postpone the wedding so he can concentrate on getting better. He doesn’t want to postpone because he’s worried about the money we’ve invested. I’m a lot less worried about money and a lot more worried about him getting better. There’s just no good option, and I feel powerless.

On to the tea, which was a free sample from Nuvola Tea. I apologize it’s taken me so long to get around to tasting it. This tea appears to be everything anyone could want from an Oriental Beauty Taiwanese oolong. Sadly, my heart isn’t in it and this has always been one of my least favorite varieties.

I’ve known that there’s been something wrong for a while. I think he has too. But we’ve just been in denial. It’s easier to ignore than to deal with. I apologize for hijacking this tasting note with sadness and bad news. It truly is a great tea: woodsy, dark, a little nutty, and a little spicy. I’m sure others would really enjoy it. It’s just not meant to be for me.

Hai guys guess what? I found an oolong that I like…even if it is a bit floral-y. I may have to break down an order some of this sometime, once I get through a bit more of my cuboard. This has a light honey taste with the floral/perfumey notes coming through at the end. As some of you may now i hate floral teas but in this one, it’s just different enough that I don’t mind it. Looking forward to getting through a few more steepings on this one.

Thank you Nuvola for this sample!

I got a wonderful surprise from Nuvola Tea on Saturday. The postman had already put our mail in the box on the porch, and when I was retrieving it, he came walking back to the house with a single brown envelope in his hand. He looked sort of….intense or excited….hard to describe, as he bustled across the lawn and held it out and said, “It’s tea! From Taiwan! But it came from Hong Kong!”

I have told him what all my packages are that I have to sign for so he knows I am a tea addict…um, aficionado. I think he was excited for me that I was getting tea, and I was excited and surprised because I was only expecting one sample and I had already received it, but Nuvola sent two more!

Hubby and I wanted to keep our peaceful vibe going tonight that we had started with the Smooth As Jade Menghai Puerh, so I chose this Oriental Beauty as one I thought hubby might like. Since he isn’t as obsessed with tea as I am, his “reviews” are short and sweet. His opinion was, “This has a lot of flavor.”

Mine: I think I have only had one or two Oriental Beauty teas. If I remember them correctly they were more floral than fruity.

The leaves of this one were lovely mixed shades of brownish leaves and little green and white curls of buds, a very interesting and pretty dry mix. The smell of the wet leaves have a distinct lemony aroma to me! The pot is full to bursting with rich brown leaves that make me think of dark fall leaves.

I did a quick rinse, and kept the steeps fairly short since I was using my gong fu pot. The first steep or two had that predominant lemon scent. On the second or third steep, another aroma peeked out. It was a hint, a whisper, of black Tellicherry peppercorns, sweet and sharp and not at all like common peppercorns. Mind you, it was just a hint that teased my nose and there was no sharp or unpleasant taste to it at all, but as my husband said it was “full of flavor.”

I notice that the company recommends trying this with a bit of brandy added. We don’t drink alcohol at all so I don’t have any brandy but I bet that would be tasty. It does seem like a natural pairing for this tea.

Thank you, Nuvola Tea for the wonderful surprise!

This tea sample was included along with some other teas I ordered from Nuvola a couple months ago. Unfortunately it was placed in box with a bunch of other samples and small batches of tea, so I never got around to trying it.
(Since I only had a sample of it, I figured that short steeping Oriental Beauty would be a great way to savor the tea.)

My first through fourth steeps were; sweet, mellow, smooth, floral, a bit roasted and reminded me of cantaloupe melon.

Fifth and sixth steeps were still pretty good, but the sweetness had faded.

Overall I really enjoyed this Oriental Beauty tea. Somehow I expected it to be too sweet, but this one had a nice balance between flavour and sweetness.

Steep parameters:
100ml gaiwan, 5g sample, 6 steeps + rinse (15s, 30, 45, 1m, 1m30, 2m)

Nuvola supplied this wonderful tea as a free sample, no cost to me! Much appreciated.

One of two teas they sent, the other their Taiwan Green, this appealed to me the most. Usually I prefer greens over other teas, but this striking oolong satisfied.

Not knowing anything about Oriental Beauty Oolongs I was impressed by the multicolor leaves, noticing immediately the dry delicate white, green, yellow, red and brown tea. Even the packaging was first class for a sample, white vacuum sealed plastic that could be resealed with a built in zip-lock. I appreciated the attention to detail, though there was just enough tea for my Finum, and no need to reseal the package.

After a quick rinse, the 1st steeping was pleasant, yielding a lovely hue the color of red clover honey. Sweet notes were immediate, a light dry mouthfeel with the sent of wood and earth.

A 2nd steeping brought the color a bit deeper with pink tones and developed the sweetness, reminding me what a sin it would be to add anything to this tea. And how that sweet aftertaste lingers… exceptional. What a gift.

A 3rd steep (a bit longer) and I’d say none of the comments about floral and fruit notes are lost to me, but I would far from call this a “flowery” or “fruity” tea. It’s there, but a compliment if anything, nothing overwhelming. Such a nice balance. This tea keeps giving.

4th steep and onward. I give my wife a sip. “Is there sugar in this?” She asks. That gives you an idea of what we’re dealing with here. Maybe that’s why this tea gets such a positive response. But it’s not that simple. There’s more dimension here. I don’t pretend to be any descriptive genius, if anything I tend to be more at a loss for words, but what it comes down to is this tea satisfies me and I’m tempted to order more.

I’m reading about this tea online now, learning about the insect pests that are responsible for it’s qualities. I’m seeing pictures of how this tea should look, the characteristic small one bud and two leaves, the tiny insect bites, the ratio of colors and the preponderance of the fragile white leaves. From what I can tell with my untrained eye, it’s a win here. And damn if the 5th steep isn’t still giving.

6th steeping and I’m marveling how the color holds true, the slightly dry mouthfeel, the initial sweet taste and aftertaste. Significantly consistent. A hint of bitterness as I left it to steep for probably 3-4 minutes this time.

I’m still getting over a cold, so I’m afraid this tasting note is somewhat handicapped, but damn if I’m not having a full experience. Surprisingly enough, something about this illness has turned me off to greens. I’m gravitating to oolongs and blacks, maybe it’s the cooling nature of greens or the fact that my tastebuds are just to dialed-out to be able to appreciate the subtleties that greens offer. But then again darker teas also offer their own world of complexities. I’d be curious to know from a Chinese Medicine standpoint why I might crave darker teas while dealing with cold/flu symptoms.

A 7th steep and I’m leaving it in for quite a while, gauging everything on color. I’m now experiencing a pretty orange/red sunset of a glow from this late steep. Intriguing. The earth and wood is still there in smell. The sweet notes still playing. Honestly I’m not used to a tea giving so much this late into steeping. I’ve always thought that when people get 8-15 steeps out of a tea they’re really splitting hairs, but I’m not being subtle with my times here. These are good solid soakings.

I’m going to keep steeping until this thing gives up, but honestly my writing is tapped out. But as an afterthought, this has been a nice late afternoon, early evening tea leaving me neutral from a caffeine standpoint, neither jacked up, terribly alert or anything. What’s been most noticeable about this tea has been the wonderful olfactory, visual and incredibly palatable experience it’s offered, reminiscent in a way of blacks like Verdant’s Golden Fleece or Summit’s Yunnan Golden Buds.

Good on ya Nuvola.

Oriental Beauty Oolong Tea is the best tasting tea I have tried to date. The rolled leaves are beautiful to see and smell, and all of the dynamic flavors of the tea leaves transition wonderfully when brewed. The smell of this tea is my absolute favorite, and the taste is sweet, floral, fruity and earthy. This tea is an absolute MUST HAVE for avid tea drinkers.