Vietnam 'Red Buffalo' Oolong Tea

Tea type
Oolong Tea
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Honey, Apple, Bread, Cherry, Dried Fruit, Smooth, Spices, Sweet, Tart, Malt, Cardamom, Cheesecake, Dates, Fruity, Lime, Nectar, Peach, Brown Sugar, Cinnamon, Sugar, Sugarcane, Toast, Almond, Apricot, Butter, Cedar, Mineral, Nutmeg, Osmanthus, Pine, Raisins, Rose, Vanilla, Red Fruits, Roasted, Wood, Floral, Grass, Creamy, Spicy, Caramel, Medicinal, Toffee, Nuts, Cream, Honeysuckle, Cocoa, Coffee, Flowers, Citrus Fruits, Herbs
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Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Togo
Average preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 1 min, 30 sec 6 g 6 oz / 166 ml

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48 Tasting Notes View all

  • “Mixed reviews on this one. Lots of reviews so I’ll just add a lazy my two cents. ^^ I like it a lot. I saw a lot mention stonefruits but I get a lot of cherry, baked tart cherry notes. For most of...” Read full tasting note
    89
  • “I really, really enjoy this oolong. The combination of fruity and malty is just so tasty, it smells as good as it tastes and is just delightful. This was one of the first “true teas” I ever got,...” Read full tasting note
    85
  • “This is a nice fruity oolong in the highly oxidized category. However, it doesn’t really stand out in any way other than the smell of the dry leaves, which is unusually strong. Especially the...” Read full tasting note
    78
  • “068/365 Another from Dark Matter. It feels good to be finally getting around to these! I went with another oolong today after yesterday’s success. It’s not something I’d usually pick out, but while...” Read full tasting note
    85

From What-Cha

A brilliant oolong tea with a creamy smooth texture and delightful honey taste.

Sourcing
All our Vietnamese teas have been sourced by Geoff Hopkins of Hatvala, who regularly travels Vietnam in search of the best teas, all of which are sourced direct from the tea producers.
It is Hatvala’s mission to raise awareness of the high quality Vietnamese teas which are often overlooked on the world market and it my pleasure to assist by making Hatvala’s full range of Vietnamese teas available on What-Cha.

Tasting Notes:
- No bitterness or astringency
- Smooth creamy texture
- Sweet honey taste

Origin: Moc Chau, Son La Province, Vietnam

Tea Trees: Tea Estate
Tea Varietal: Camellia Sinensis var. Sinensis
Cultivar: Thanh Tam (Qing Xin)
Altitude: 1000m+

About What-Cha View company

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48 Tasting Notes

89
379 tasting notes

Mixed reviews on this one. Lots of reviews so I’ll just add a lazy my two cents. ^^

I like it a lot. I saw a lot mention stonefruits but I get a lot of cherry, baked tart cherry notes. For most of my bag, I used a gaiwan with 8g, 130 ml, rinse, 9 steeps, 5s, 10s, 15s, 20s, 30s, 45s, 1m, 1m15s, 2m. My liquor was a dark amber brown due to it being so concentrated. No astringency, nor bitterness, smooth, full of fruity flavor, splash of roasted nuts and spices, a good mixture of tart dried fruit and honey sweetness.

Flavors: Apple, Bread, Cherry, Dried Fruit, Honey, Smooth, Spices, Sweet, Tart

Preparation
8 g 4 OZ / 130 ML

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85
14 tasting notes

I really, really enjoy this oolong. The combination of fruity and malty is just so tasty, it smells as good as it tastes and is just delightful. This was one of the first “true teas” I ever got, and I’m on my second 50g bag now. Until last month when I got my gaiwan, I thoroughly loved drinking this tea western style. Brewing it gongfu is even more delightful. There is a depth to this tea that changed my view on tea forever, as you can note the depth even when drinking it western. It has an uplifting energy that matches the satisfying tastes. This is one of those teas that demonstrates how good tea can be, and it’s so accessible that I think everybody should try this if they’ve never had unflavored or loose leaf tea.

Flavors: Bread, Cherry, Malt

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec 7 g 4 OZ / 120 ML

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78
943 tasting notes

This is a nice fruity oolong in the highly oxidized category. However, it doesn’t really stand out in any way other than the smell of the dry leaves, which is unusually strong. Especially the mouthfeel is somewhat subpar I’d say.

I found the overlap between the notes in the smell and taste to be quite large, the main ones being stonefruits (peach), dried fruit (dates) and spices (most I couldn’t quite pinpoint, but in the wet leaf there is definitely cardamon). Apart from that, there are also citrus notes (lime) and the taste sometimes reminded me of cheesecake.

Flavors: Cardamom, Cheesecake, Dates, Fruity, Lime, Nectar, Peach, Sweet

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 1 min, 0 sec 7 g 6 OZ / 180 ML

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85
2238 tasting notes

068/365

Another from Dark Matter. It feels good to be finally getting around to these! I went with another oolong today after yesterday’s success. It’s not something I’d usually pick out, but while I’m on a roll…

Brewed, it’s a pale gold colour with the scent of dried fruit. It’s a surprisingly strong scent for a tea that doesn’t look all that strong. The flavour is more muted, although surprisingly long-lasting. It starts off fairly innocuous; cream with an undertone of starch. After that it develops quite quickly into brown sugar, with a warming, mildly spicy cinnamon note into the aftertaste.

I’m beginning to think that I might have got oolong wrong – or perhaps the ones I tried were just wrong for me. These last two I could happily drink lots more of because they’re great (and have none of the characteristics I dislike…) If I’d tried these at the beginning of my relationship with oolong (as unlikely as that is), maybe it would be a very different thing today. That’s an interesting thought.

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 3 min, 15 sec 1 tsp
Jlvintagelove

I just got this one but haven’t tried it yet. Now I am really looking forward to it!

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75
335 tasting notes

I prefer greener oolongs, so I’m not rating this oolong. I felt it was weak, will try to gong fu it next time I brew. It does taste honeyish with no astringency. Will adjust rating after gong fu if I felt it improved. Nothing stood out for me, not bad though.

EDIT: I gong fu it, and it tastes a lot better! I prefer the Red Tiger from Thailand a lot better. Western brewing I feel doesn’t work well with this tea. Gong fu is the way to pick of all the subtle flavors.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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87
33 tasting notes

I can’t really place the smell of this tea. It tastes kind of like a spice cupboard, you know the mixture of all these different smells and powders. The first wash is crazy, it has a wonderful front but the back is astounding it tastes like you opened a pack of sugar and then poured it into your mouth. While that was happening however you also decided to caramelized that sugar in your mouth. This tea doesn’t exactly have huigan but it’s almost like it. This tea is aromatic to the nose but not in the mouth. Crazy cinnamon sweetness to this tea. This tea is super-ceding all of my expectations.

Flavors: Brown Sugar, Cinnamon, Sugar, Sugarcane, Toast

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 6 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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11 tasting notes

Autumn 2016 harvest. Revisiting this tea, and I remember why I ordered more. It isn’t pretty – twiggy and rough-rolled, but it redeems itself in the flavor and texture. Juicy and sweet, with that raisiny dried-fruit sweetness one more often encounters in red teas. A unique spice kick on the finish (past the first few steeps) makes this an interesting and fairly complex oolong.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec 4 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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91
1048 tasting notes

Here is another tea that I have been meaning to review for some time. I bought this one during the second half of last year, but I don’t remember precisely when. I finally tried it for the first time last night, finishing the remainder of my 10 gram sample this morning. I found it to be a quality oolong highly reminiscent of Taiwanese Gui Fei.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 10 seconds. This infusion was chased by 12 subsequent infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 12 seconds, 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, and 3 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of dates, raisins, spices, honey, and roasted almonds. After the rinse, scents of osmanthus, peach, apricot, apple, butter, malt, and wood emerged. In the mouth, I picked up on notes of honey, osmanthus, apricot, dates, raisins, malt, butter, roasted almonds, and wood underscored by gentle spice, apple, and peach flavors. Subsequent infusions saw the spice notes separate into distinct impressions of cinnamon and nutmeg while the wood notes became reminiscent of cedar and pine. Impressions of rose, brown sugar, vanilla, and minerals also began to express themselves on the nose and in the mouth. The later infusions were milder, offering lingering notes of minerals, butter, malt, almond, vanilla, and wood balanced by increasingly distant impressions of honey, peach, osmanthus, dates, and rose.

Both extremely approachable and surprisingly complex, this oolong made for a great late morning/early afternoon session. I appreciated its strength and the tenacity of its aroma and flavor components. If you are a fan of traditional Taiwanese bug-bitten oolongs, I’m willing to bet you would also appreciate this tea.

Flavors: Almond, Apple, Apricot, Brown Sugar, Butter, Cedar, Cinnamon, Dates, Honey, Malt, Mineral, Nutmeg, Osmanthus, Peach, Pine, Raisins, Rose, Vanilla

Preparation
6 g 4 OZ / 118 ML
cuddlesmom

I really love how thorough your reviews are!

eastkyteaguy

Thank you.

Evol Ving Ness

What she said!

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83
526 tasting notes

This was an odd one.

The leaves are lightly red and tightly rolled with an odd roast tone. I can pick some starch-y cloth scents (linen?) with heavy dark fruit notes. I warmed up my shibo, and I placed what I had inside. The smell is an exact copy for run-of-the-mill hongcha. Malt. Roast. Nutty. Dark. I washed the leaves once and prepped for brewing. The taste is comparable to Bang Dong from White2Tea. The tea has some roasted tones with a bit of sweet fruit and malt. The aftertaste is nice with a succulent red fruitiness covering my throat. The tea is interesting and smooth. This isn’t something that I would seek, but it was a decent tea. It was fun to drink Vietnamese oolong.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BR6A7GBg-Hz/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel&hl=en

Flavors: Fruity, Malt, Red Fruits, Roasted, Smooth, Wood

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 5 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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82 tasting notes

A lot of goodness has already been written about this well known Oolong.
It was my first tea from Vietnam and easily became a favorite daily drinker.
Moreish.

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