Clear Jade Orchid

Next week is Sample Week.
I shall do at least one sample every day all of next week, and it has to be one that I can then decupboard. If there’s more than just one cup’s worth, it doesn’t count. If I’ve posted about it before, it doesn’t count. Sample Week starts officially on Monday, but I got the idea now, so I’m warming up here.

I’ve had tons of luck with Shang Tea in the past. Unfortunately shipping expenses are such that they are out of my own reach, but I’ve had Steepsterites share samples with me in the past and the ones that I’ve tried have all been absolutely wonderful. So it is with no small amount of anticipation and complete trust that I proceed to brew this cup.

This stuff smells absolutely divine! So sweet and caramel-like. No, more like burnt sugar. And creamy custard-y as well. I am actually sitting here with a tea that has a very strong aroma of creme brulee! What an absolutely amazing aroma. I’m completely stunned by this, in spite of the fact that it smells largely only of dessert and not really of tea at all. Just having the warm steam waft up at my face from below is making me all weak in the knees.

After an experience like that, the flavour came as a surprise because it doesn’t actually taste like creme brulee. It’s rather fruity, though, and still quite sweet. I could have wished for a little more strength but I didn’t have enough leaf for my usual amount and probably should have steeped a little longer than I did in order to compensate.

However, I’m still getting a caramel-like note from it, but it’s not nearly as strong as in the aroma. It’s there especially on the swallow and in the aftertaste. All creamy and soft, and it seems to last forever. And right away too. Sometimes, with aftertastes, you don’t really get anything of the sort from the first few sips, but as you drink it gradually builds up until, by the time you’re finished with the cup, you wonder how you didn’t notice it sooner. This is not one of those times. It’s there from the beginning and it’s strong and good.

That was the backend of the sip. Seeing as apparently I’m doing it backwards today, we shall proceed to the more middle flavours. There’s something vaguely fruity about it. Kuanyin suggested melons, and I agree with that. The more I sip, the more I try to focus on it, the more I become convinced that melon is probably the nearest we can come. Those round yellow ones with the funny net-like sort of peel and greenish yellow on the inside. That’s the image I’m getting. I don’t know what they’re called other than ‘melons’. I’m not a melon-recognition expert.

The front part af the sip, the very first encounter with flavour here is something floral, but discreetly so. It’s just there for a flash and then we have the fruit and the caramel-y aftertaste.

Floral, melon, caramel. You wouldn’t really thing these three aspects would work so well together, would you? How extraordinary that it turns out they SO do.

Once again, Shang Tea has not let me down. If you get the opportunity, I would strongly advice giving this one ago. It’s just wonderful.

But that aroma! Gosh, I wish I actually had me a creme brulee now…

Wow! I’ve said that I don’t much like darker oolongs, but clearly I’ve been drinking the wrong kinds! This tastes amazing! I love that this weather allows for me to enjoy my teas both cold and hot. Had a nice cold brewed lemon green tea in my thermos for a long walk in the park with my puppies. Frozen blueberries make an awesome substitute when you are lacking ice cubes!

And now, the evening has turned chilly and I’m turning to a hot beverage to relax me and warm me up for bedtime. I had originally planned on some Neapolitan Honeybush (yummy!) but I was also in the mood for something new. Time to break into some samples form Azzrian! I know it’s late for a caffeinated tea, but what the heck.

This tea is fantastic. I can’t believe the flavors here! It’s like roasted chestnut, sweet and creamy. It’s also very floral. I suppose it’s supposed to be orchid, but to be honest, I’ve never known an orchid flower to smell like anything. Am I smelling the wrong orchids?

What a wonderful comforting tea. I hate to add another tea to my must buy list, but this is definitely permanent collection worthy. So few teas have that honor since I’m all about variety.

I just had my husband try it out. I’m trying to train his tastebuds. :) He says it tastes like caramel and vanilla. He also says it reminds him of Japanese tea only not bad (He dislikes Japanese teas). Awesome. :)

Off to try my second infusion now!

Mmm.. still good!

Got home after a visit to Shang Tea with several choices. Which one to make first? Clear Jade Orchid won and, oh my stars, what a tea! I had no directions, and ended up using 2 generous tsp in a 10 oz pot. For the second steep I transferred it to a yixing pot that is a bit larger. This is unique indeed with flavors that I can’t pin point other than floral. Melon? I definitely preferred it with sugar crystals and thought it brought out more of the deep flavor. It looks like a charcoal roasted oolong, with the darker color, it does not taste like it. It is in world of its own and I wish I could better describe it.

This is a spectacular tea! Luscious, mellow, delicious, with an absolutely distinctive flavor. Although it is listed as an oolong/wulong tea, undoubtedly because of its method of processing, it tastes to me more like a mellow, warm, sunny red tea with a flavor vaguely reminiscent of butterscotch — it recalls sweetness without being sweet. I’ve never had anything quite like it. Shang has outdone himself with this tea.

Clear Jade is a fine Oolong. The package showed up in nice form, not crushed and looking fresh. I finally broke into it last week. It took me awhile to try this tea even though it’s been on my mind.
The aroma is nice and sweet, which made me hungry. This is a good tea to have before a big meal, although the flavor is not as bold as many of my other favorite Oolongs.
I was a little taken back by the price and shipping for 1 ounce. Shang says 1ounce will make 30 cups, but I ended up with more like 14. I tried repeat steeping, but it came out too weak. Still a great cup of tea though.

This tea is indeed amazing. It opens with a distinct fresh pecans taste, followed by the maple coated macadamias. After few seconds comes the overwhelming flavor of the best French truffles sprinkled with a chocolate powder! Yes, the mushroom truffle! What a sensation! Yet, it never lets you forget that this is a tea. Great for daily drinking but also for a connoisseur. Certainly “must have it”. I need to order more. Shang obviously took much effort to create this masterpiece. What a beauty!

I keep getting a burnt nut taste, almost like burnt coffee. I was sure it was the heat of my water so I lowered the heat, then I tried lowering more and lessening the steep time, but it’s still there.

I do get orchid notes from this tea, in both scent and taste. It reminds me of a qi lan oolong. I think it has been fermented and roasted more lightly than most dark oolongs, yet it develops a nutty aroma and even a touch of smoke. It is light-bodied and a clear amber hue. Because it is less roasted, it will not have a dark color unless oversteeped or use extra leaf. Easy, very enjoyable drinking. I rank the smell even better than the flavor. I drink tea as much for the aroma as anything else, and I love floral teas, so this one scores high for me.

This tea is unlike any other tea I’ve had… and it surpasses most in quality and just the sheer depth of the experience one has in drinking this tea.

It is a very hard tea to describe. On appearance, it looks like a Chinese strip-style oolong, similar to Wuyi Yancha. The scent is incredibly fragrant, very fruity, floral, honeyed, sweet. This is the most robust and fragrant fruity-smelling tea I’ve had.

The flavor is quite complex and very sweet. The best I can describe it is that it taste like a really, really, really good Yunnan red tea with its lofty floral and fruit notes underscored by darker tones… mix that with a fruity/floral softly sweet wuyi oolong (with all its delicious roasted flavors) and a buttery high mountain oolong with its creamy, fruity, green and floral qualities. There’s a very sweet floral smell about this tea, and I believe orchids may be a flower that smell similar. Maybe something like magnolias even? I’m not a flower scent expert, but this is more sweet than perfumy as far as that goes.

I had the honor of enjoying this tea with a friend the other day, and I hear the process for creating it was quite an elaborate one. Sadly, Shang Tea does not produce this tea currently, but with this many high reviews, I wish they would consider re-creating it! I believe that a tea like this could be sold as a premium tea for much higher prices than Shang Tea had originally charged, to make up for the high cost of producing it.

I will skip brewing parameters, since I wasn’t the one brewing it, but it was brewed Gongfu Style in a gaiwan, basically quick infusions like a Wuyi oolong.