Vietnam 'Red Buffalo' Oolong Tea

First steep of this I get a very prominent floral taste. No astringency or bitterness, just flowers, flowers everywhere, up my nose and in my mouth. Haha. It’s also a wee bit cinnamony/spicy, sort of in conjunction with the floral.

Time for my first tea review! I got my sampler set from what-cha.com and decided to review all the teas in it.

This tea is excellent. It tastes surprisingly sweet for an unsweetened tea. The flavour reminds me of honeysuckle, and it’s very light and… spring…y?

I’d recommend it to anyone who’s a fan of lighter green teas, or anyone who’s stuck in the midst of gloomy weather and wants a little taste of spring.

A sweet enriching taste in honey and also a right amount of sweet to still keep it smooth.

5g/100 ml

Dry leaves smelled like sweet tea to me. The first steep is pretty complex and the liquor has a deep color. I can’t quite separate all the flavors, but I’m definitely getting a spiced sense, and it leaves a hint of faint honey sweetness on the tongue. The more I drink, the sweeter it gets. It’s smooth in the mouth and a unique sweet scent clings to the empty cup.

The second steep is definitely sweeter and the aroma is rich in a somewhat woody/earthy kind of way. I got a good few more steeps out of this one with the same good flavor. I definitely look forward to exploring this tea further!

Seconds/steep
1st: 10
2nd: 15
3rd: 20
4th: 30
5th: 45

a lingering sweetness and heaviness in the taste, like hot water with a spoon of honey.

Ah, the famed Red Buffalo.. finally getting my grubby mits on this Oolong after hearing people talk about it for ages.

First few steeps: really super smooth honey water with slight cinnamon/spicy notes, especially the aroma of the steeped leaf. In fact from the leaf aroma I would have guessed this was a Dongfang Meiren. I actually have a more spicy Oriental Beauty that would blend very well with this tea im pretty sure, I love it when there is a prominent sweet honey taste to counter the dry woodsy spice which can get a bit overbearing. I was surprised there wasnt a stronger roast, but it turns out its not that sort of tea.

Steeping it out the honey note fades & we are left with a very mellow, creamy & soft slightly woodsy tea – in fact If this tea was any more mellow it would be asleep. Such an easy drinker, & anyone with a sweet tooth its just totally up your street.

This is one of those teas that you give to the unenlightened with the hope you might save their poor nonbeliever souls, that they embrace the one true hot drink & find the pearly gates of Theaven. Its just that far removed from where most mortals think tea should be

A very nice tea, quite sweet. The honey aroma and taste is definitely there, but I feel like there’s a lot more going on while still keeping the smoothness. That’s what I like about it mostly. After a few steeps the sweetness starts to invade your mouth by instants only, but it’s quite powerful. Besides, the creamy texture makes it a pleasant drinking experience overall.

This tea has a really amazing sweet/cinnamon aftertaste, also not as floral as green Oolongs and also a bit thicker. Has really rich honey/caramel flavor with along with a sort of wood flavors that turn to cinnamon. This one was just really pleasant to drink, also quite complex so its never boring.

This is definitely one of the teas that shows me how much more I enjoy more oxidized or roasted Oolongs.

The initial sip is toasted malt, quickly yielding to honeyed sweet cream and a delightful note of cinnamon that becomes more prevalent in the aftertaste. Smooth, reasonably thick, and very satisfying.

So I’ve been holding off on reviewing this one since I wanted to try it a few times before coming to a conclusion on it. Having now done so, I would say that this is a very solid oolong if you’re a fan of the darker, roastier flavors of oolong backed by rich caramel flavors and honey sweetness (which I definitely am).

I generally went with boiling water on all of these, or a little under because I am lazy and look at how dark this thing is, it’s not going to mind a little boiling water. Having played with leaf amount, this definitely benefits from over leafing and tastes a little overwhelmingly roasty if you oversteep (which I may have done due to not enough leaf) and loses a lot of the more delicate sweet notes. Still delightfully complex and layered, though, reminds me a bit of an excellent, baklava with much less sugar and honey and generous with the roasted nuts on top. The brewing is also forgiving, although you can certainly make it too intense if you forget about it.

With the warm profile, this tea would be extremely comforting any time boiling hot tea would be welcome, so I will be stocking up on this once I run out and I give myself clearance to buy more tea, haha.