Oriental Beauty (Bai Hao Oolong)

It’s been a very, very long time since I posted a review, mostly due to work and partially since my previous gaiwan didn’t survive my move. Now that I finally got a replacement, I can finally post a review about the samples that I recently got from Tea Ave.

The dry leaves remind me a lot of a Darjeeling, very colorful and with a delicate flora aroma that I’ve come to expect from high-mountain teas. I filled my gaiwan about half way, and steeped for 15 seconds with 190-180 degree water, then pour it directly into some of my small cups. The first steep resulted in a very nice medium colored tea, that was very aromatic. Much like the dry leaves, it smells very floral, but there’s also a fresh herbacious aroma like a fresh green Tie Guan Yin. The flavor of the tea is similar to a really top quality Tie Guan Yin, but it feels like it’s thicker. The mouthfeel is a very nice buttery sensation that lingers for a long time in the mouth. As the tea cools down, it starts to taste a bit like a White Peony and loses some of the complexity.

For the second steep, I used slightly cooler water for about seven seconds. The tea actually tastes a lot more complex now, with hints of leaves and spice present in the palate now. The spice isn’t like the saffron that you taste in a really high quality Tie Guan Yin, and is a bit less subtle yest still hard to describe. It still retains its butter mouthfeel, but it’s a bit reduced. The aftertaste also is more complex, with lingering hay, leaves, and spices that fades over about 2 minutes. The development is rather amazing, and I can’t wait to see how it continues to develop.

For the third steep, I let it sit for 10 seconds. The end result is that I got a surprisingly thick feeling tea that was actually sweeter than both of the previous infusions. The aroma is also stronger, and it has developed a honey flavor, and generally continues to grow stronger and sweeter. Unfortunately, something came up and the tea got cold, wo there’s nothing else to say about this.

Later steeps started to lose flavor and intensity, and generally started to taste like a Bai Mu Dan. A very good Bai Mu Dan, but still much less interesting than the original flavor. Still, it’s a very god tea for contemplative sipping. If you want something that will just give you a nice relaxing afternoon, this is a good tea to try out.

This is another sample sachet from TeaAve. Thank you!

I brewed this today at work in my new 5oz finum hot glass system. I did 3 steeps. The first steep at 2 mins, the second steep at 3 mins, and the last steep at 5 mins. It was fun finally being able to see the true color of tea through the glass. This tea brewed up a very lovely golden brown. I noticed that the flavor of this tea really popped once the temperature had cooled for a bit after the steep. It was very honey sweet, with hints of caramel, and fruity notes of peach. I love Oriental Beauty Oolongs, and this was a great example of one. Another wonderful offering by TeaAve. I look forward to Sunday to be able to hop on the webpage!

Thank you so much, Tea Ave, for sending this sample (along with all the other goodies…really, you outdid yourselves!) to me. Honestly, it felt like my birthday opening up the samples from this company, and after today’s tea session with this oolong, I think Tea Ave will be a company I return to. :)
This is one gorgeous tea. The leaves are beautiful (I couldn’t stop taking pictures of them), and the taste is pure honey sweetness. With a golden liquor and a floral hint, this tea is delicate, never crossing into a territory of astringency. I lost count of my steeps, actually, but every time I found a delightful cup sitting in front of me. The aroma cup provided gave me the opportunity to pick up hints that I know would otherwise go undetected, not mention make me feel like this was a special moment between this leaf and myself (really, we got to know each other pretty well, and I’m liking where this relationship is going….).
Thank you so much, Tea Ave. :)))

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I received this sample from Tea Ave prior to their grand opening. The leaves are gorgeous little twirls ranging from dark brown to fuzzy white. The scent is of autumn leaves and spices. I’m reminded of Bai Mudan.

After letting the dry leaves sit in a warm gaiwan for a moment, the scent that arises is of honey, lemons, and warm cream. I’m also getting subtle notes of cucumber and dry leaves (haha, sounds funny since they are dry leaves).

The aroma of the wet leaves is incredibly fragrant, with honey, warm grass, and so many wonderful tropical flower scents.

I’m enjoying this tea with an incredibly well-made and gorgeous Taiwanese aroma cup set that was sent to me by Tea Ave. They are white porcelain, hold a couple ounces of tea, and rest on a beautiful oak wood saucer. These cups are used by pouring the tea into the tall aroma cup, then pouring it from there into the wide, short drinking cup. The aroma is sniffed from the tall empty cup as a column of vapor exits it after pouring, then the tea is drank from the short cup.

The aroma from within the aroma cup is a very sweet one, reminding me of the scent of honey. Moving back to the drinking cup, the aroma is creamy with little drops of spice. On my first sip of the tea, it has a very smooth and mouth-coating texture, very clean. The color of the liquor is pale gold. The flavor is light and reminiscent of white tea. There is an intense hui-gan, or recurring cooling sweetness in the mouth, more so than I’ve experienced with any other tea, and in that regard it is very refreshing. The overall taste is not quite as sweet as the scent. There’s a mild dry praire grass and fallen leaves kind of characteristic to it, once again reminding me of a Bai Mudan or White Peony tea. The little notes of spice in the flavor are very reminiscent of chrysanthemum.

On the second infusion, the aroma cup starts with a strong smell of peat or bog. I had thought I detected this on the first cup, but it was much lighter. After just a few moments of gently rolling the cup between my hands the flavor evolves into a sweet honey scent once again, with bright floral notes. The brewed liquor in the drinking cup is now a deep golden yellow, nearing orange. The taste is again very clean and crisp, deeper and more earthy this time with more of the chrysanthemum notes coming through. If you let it sit in the back of your mouth and hold your breath, wonderful floral aromas rise up into your nose from inside. This may be one of the cleanest and lightest tasting oolong teas I’ve had. It is not at all lacking in flavor, but it registers in a subtle and gentle way on the palate.

Third infusion , the scent and flavor are even more complex. It is hard to describe. I will leave it at that. This is definitely a great tea and one I would recommend.

Many thanks to Tea Ave for the wonderful samples and cups!

Wow…got TeaAve sample box today. I mean…I feel almost guilty not having paid for any of this. It’s beyond any expectations. Fancy and classy.

Really TeaAve, thank you, you really made my day!

I love pretty much all types of oolongs, and this one is no exception.

First the look. OB is a stunning tea to look at. It’s like an autumn bouquet, beautiful auburn, green, grey and brown leaves.

I was happy to see the silver duvet tips in the blend, so pretty.

This tea is bug bitten, so hello honey sweetness!

It’s very fragrant, and the scent is even more powerful using the beautiful aroma teacup set provided by TeaAve.

The color of the brew is a beautiful honey golden color.

The taste of OB resembles more of a black tea in my humble opinion. It is after all highly oxidized.

I get red fruits, muscatel, citrus and honey. Very sweet and zero astringency.

As the steeps evolve, it gets a little spicy and boozy, i also get dried fruits, like apricot and dates. It’s rich and doesn’t loose any of its sweetness.

I did many steeps and couldn’t help looking at the wet leaves when I was done. I found the perfect example of leafhopper bites! See pics :-)

TeaAve and Heidi, thanks again for such a lovely gift…can’t wait to purchase your wonderful teas!

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Tea provided by Tea Ave for review

Ever since Tea Ave contacted me to try this tea, a bit of hype has built up for me. So I had a lot of expectations going into my first steepings of their samples. Out of the three samples received, I started with Oriental Beauty. In my experience it can give you a really magical experience or be really disappointing.

For the steeping I decided to short steep as suggested on the packaging with a bit of personal adjustments (increase water temperature/reduced water/longer steep times towards the end). Tea Ave was also most generous in providing a sniffing vessel and cup along with the samples, so I used them in my tea sampling today.

Smelling the fragrance cup, there was a heavy honey/nectar smell. Sipping, the the liquor was delicate. It had a nice balance of the flavours I associate with Oriental Beauty; sweetness (honey/nectar), floral, wheat, and spice. The tea body didn’t have a strong/bold flavour, but it wasn’t flat or weak either.

As suggested on the package, I resteeped it ten times. The tea flavour changed quite a bit from the following steeps. On the second steep I got more a citrus flavour. Then on the third steep, more of a roasted flavour came out. Nearing the end on the seventh steep, the liquor tasted and felt really creamy in my mouth. Finishing off on the tenth steep, the tea retained a dark color, and I could still taste subtle characteristics from my initial steepings.

Overall this is the sort of Oriental Beauty that I have a strong preference for. It is delicate, subtle, and just sweet enough for me. I’ve tried the same style of this tea in the past, and I do not like the overly sweet ones as much. I really enjoyed how the tea flavours unfolded over the short steepings. So I’d recommend Tea Ave’s Oriental Beauty for those that enjoy sweet, but not overly sweet oolongs and also for those that like good resteepers.