Thailand 'Red Tiger' Oolong Tea

Tea type
Oolong Tea
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Caramel, Apricot, Berries, Blackberry, Bread, Butter, Cherry, Drying, Floral, Grapes, Honey, Jam, Jasmine, Mineral, Muscatel, Nuts, Plum, Raisins, Roasted, Wood, Banana, Brown Toast, Camphor, Cream, Fruity, Juicy, Oily, Paper, Resin, Roasted Nuts, Smooth, Soft, Spring Water, Sweet, Tangy, Tannin, White Grapes, Woody, Bitter, Brisk, Flowers, Persimmon, Spices, Viscous, Nutty, Stonefruit, Almond, Grain, Toasted Rice, Vanilla, Cinnamon, Cocoa, Malt, Orange, Rose, Autumn Leaf Pile, Molasses, Tar, Blood Orange, Brown Sugar, Peach, Pear, Red Apple, Fig, Melon, Sugar, Sugarcane, Musty, Brandy, Dark Chocolate, Creamy
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Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Organic
Edit tea info Last updated by derk
Average preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 1 min, 45 sec 6 g 13 oz / 392 ml

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From Our Community

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10 Want it Want it

16 Own it Own it

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35 Tasting Notes View all

  • “Sipdown. This is delicious. I don’t know that I have much to add beyond what derk and leafhopper have noted. I’m not super-drawn to red oolongs, but woo… this is lush with plenty of mystery. Edited...” Read full tasting note
    88
  • “Red oolongs get less attention than they deserve, so I was happy to see this sample in my last What-Cha order. (Then, of course, I let it sit for over a year. . . .) I steeped 5 g of leaf in a 120...” Read full tasting note
    83
  • “March 2021 harvest, gone gongfu. This is a very approachable oolong like most highly oxidized, or red, oolong. In character, it is much like a bug-bittern oolong mixed with a dark white tea. The...” Read full tasting note
    75
  • “Based on the reviews, it is a polarizing tea, with some reviewers being clearly disappointed and turned off by it, while the others sing praises. I am firmly on the side of the smitten and...” Read full tasting note
    94

From What-Cha

Another brilliant red oolong from south-east asia with a smooth sweet honey taste coupled with baked cherry notes.

Tasting Notes:
- Smooth sweet taste
- Notes of honey and baked cherry

Harvest: Spring 2016

Origin: Choke Chamroen Tea Estate, Doi Mae Salong, Chiang Rai, Thailand
Altitude: 1,350m
Organic: Certified organic by OneCert
Sourced: Direct from Choke Chamroen Tea

Cultivar: TTES #12 Jin Xuan
Oxidisation: Medium to High
Roast: Light to Medium
Picking: Hand

Brewing Advice:
- Heat water to roughly 90°C/194°F
- Use 1-2 teaspoons per cup/small teapot
- Brew for 1-2 minutes

Packaging: Resealable ziplock bag

About What-Cha View company

Company description not available.

35 Tasting Notes

90
56 tasting notes

Brewed as the directions dictate this tea is the heavy on the malt! It’s right up there with a deep nut brown ale or a dense homemade wheat bread. A honeyed sweetness, maybe the very slightest fruitiness, it’s like drinking a cup of fresh baked honey wheat bread with a little banana snuck into the dough. There’s also a damp leafiness to it, the way a rainy autumn day smells. Later steeps see a softening of the honey and a strengthening of deciduous leaf flavor, though the honey always remains on the nose. The smell of the empty, cooling cup is like sticking your nose in a honey pot.

A gongfu session for me brought out the best flavors, the first steep at only about 12 seconds with a high leaf:water ratio seriously pumping out the honey notes and creamy mouthfeel. Every subsequent steep is delicious but lacks that thick honey flavor, winding down almost immediately into the musty leaf and bready flavors with that tempting honey on the nose. That first steep really left me wanting more. I’d rate this one a solid 100 if that flavor weren’t so fleeting.

Edit: tried a batch cold-brewed as I do with almost every new tea. Pretty unremarkable compared to the hot.

Flavors: Autumn Leaf Pile, Bread, Honey, Malt, Musty

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 2 min, 0 sec 5 g 5 OZ / 147 ML

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86
836 tasting notes

Brewed tea has a wet leaf aroma with a hint of vanilla, fruit, and cinnamon. There’s a savoury bread-y note in the aroma as well.

Bright and fruity flavour on the sip with a sweet spice aftertaste.

Flavors: Autumn Leaf Pile, Bread, Cinnamon, Fruity, Vanilla

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 13 OZ / 375 ML
Indigobloom

Rariteaaaaaa!!! MISS YOU
Sounds like an autumn tea to me :P

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83
676 tasting notes

This came as a free sample with my last What-Cha order (thanks Alistair). I’m not much for dark oolongs but this one was pretty good. It has a comforting aroma of toasted nuts and warm bread. The taste is a cross between bug bitten oolong and black tea. I got a lot of spice and toasted nut steeping it gongfu. Grandpa steeping smoothes it out and gives the tea a honeyed edge. The fruitiness here sorta reminded me of GABA oolong.
Overall, a pleasant oolong with a nice fruity flavor and no char.

Flavors: Fruity, Honey, Roasted Nuts

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 1 tsp 10 OZ / 295 ML

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80
1430 tasting notes

This was provided as free sample in my What-Cha order, along with one of the nicest notes I’ve ever gotten from a tea company. Thank you, Alistair!

The first time I made this up I went with a western style steep. I consistently got comforting honey and fruit notes for all four re-steeps. There was no real dynamic progression of flavour, but this tea has a good thing going for it, so I’m not complaining.

Today I’m using shorter gongfu steeps, and unsurprisingly the 1st 15s yields that amber honey note. 2nd 18s steep has a profile which I generally associate with Chinese black teas; it’s creamy, malty, and almost chocolaty, with an incredibly smooth honey-sweet finish. Chocolate and baked fruits notes linger.

Steep Count: 5

Anyways, this was a great first foray into “red oolong.” I’d definitely pick up more of this as a “family dinner tea” and then short-steep it when I’m on my own. I’ll probably check out the other varieties first though!

(2016 Harvest)

Flavors: Cherry, Cream, Honey, Sweet

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C
Plunkybug

Wow, a red oolong? I’ve never heard of this. I’ll have to check it out. Looks really interesting.

Crowkettle

I’d definitely recommend checking out What-Cha in general! There’s some handful of interesting scented teas and numerous unique straight teas worth checking out. :)

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80
15019 tasting notes

Sample from crowkettle this is a pretty tasty oolong. Not a roasty sort of tea – instead it’s sweet, honey like, fruit notes etc.. not a super complex oolong but relatively tasty overall.

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1113 tasting notes

Comparing this one to Ted Buffalo. Turns out a bit lighter which makes it great to drink alone while the Red Buffalo is bold enough to drink while eating something as well.

Semi sweet, a little texture, and some depth that comes through the oxidation that mimics a black tea in taste but an oolong in all other regards.

Good tea, but not as bold as I would want this style to be.

Daylon R Thomas

I like the Buffalo a little more too

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358 tasting notes

Steeped a full 10g sample of this in my largest gaiwan, and it’s proving to be the perfect treat to the palate after something that wasn’t quite to our liking.

This one has a fairly delicate aroma, and the first steep comes out a nice, reddish gold. It’s smooth and has just the right amount of sweetness. Really enjoying this one. Sweet honey and creaminess for a good few steeps. I’d like to have gotten more steeps out of it, but it was good while it lasted.

Flavors: Creamy, Honey, Sweet

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921 tasting notes

This is the last post of the year! I realize that a combination of the ‘just married’ giddiness, general holiday craziness (Ben’s side of the family is very big into LOTS of events for holidays) and the sad crushing realization that I am coming down with some sort of sniffling/coughing/everything tastes and smells weird bug means my focus is just not in my writing. I really do try to limit the amount of my derp you all have to put up with! Also I promise this has nothing to do with the Minecraft update that dropped today (that I have been waiting anxiously for) though I probably will play it (a lot) during my little vacation. I shall return after the new year, either blogging Monday-Friday or Wednesday-Saturday to match Ben’s schedule…still trying to decide that one. Happy (insert your holiday of choice) everyone!!

Ok, enough announcement stuff, tea! You know what I haven’t done in a while? Had a What-Cha Wednesday, so let’s look at Thailand ‘Red Tiger’ Oolong. This particular tea is a Jin Xuan varietal made in what appears to be a Hong Shui style, meaning it is heavily oxidized but only lightly roasted. Oh man, I knew from the first sniff that I made a serious mistake not getting this, as it was included as a sample in my recent order. I waffled between it and the Royal Pearl, I should have just gotten both! The aroma is very similar to a Gui Fei, very fruity and nutty, like a stone fruit compote with a touch of tropical fruit. Notes of cherries, papaya, apricot, and peaches, it is very sweet and the underlying note of walnuts is very welcomed. This is truly an immensely sweet and fruity tea when dry, and is about to become stronger.

I decided, since the aroma is so similar to a bug-bitten Oolong that brewing it in my smaller bug-bitten Oolong pot would not be a terrible mistake, though it does remind me I need to get a Hong Shui style Oolong pot soon. The aroma of the now soggy leaves is pretty impressively sweet, strong notes of plums, apricots, papayas, peaches, cherries, and an undertone of plumeria and walnuts. The aroma of the first steep is like someone took those fruits, stewed them in brown sugar and orange blossoms, and sprinkled a bit of walnuts on the top…and this is a dessert I really need to make now. It is very sweet, bordering on decadent

The first steep is surprisingly thick, it coats all the mouth and is dense, very buttery and smooth. You know me, I love my Oolongs thick and juicy! Like the aroma, the taste is immensely sweet and fruity, starting with brown sugar stewed plums and peaches, moving to papaya and cherries, and finishing the fruity cocktail with a bit of apricot. There are also notes of flowers amid all the fruit, gardenia and orange blossom being the main notes with a touch of plumeria in the aftertaste. And that aftertaste, oh how the apricot and plumeria nectar lingers.

Ugh, this tea is so good!! Sadly (if you consider this a sad, I do not) there is not really any variation between the steeps note wise, the variation comes from intensity of the notes. Considering it tasted so good in the first place I am ok with that. I am also really glad I took the tasting note for this tea before my taste/smell went all wonky. I really want to get more and try this tea grandpa style, I love drinking darker unroasted oolongs in that way, especially when I feel ick or I am gaming and just want to chug something tasty. I got seven solid steeps out of this tea, it was awesome.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2016/12/what-cha-thailand-red-tiger-oolong-tea.html

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90
1704 tasting notes

Sipdown.

I enjoyed this tea while I had the sample. Cherry roasted tea against wicked below zero winds. I need to focus on non-attachment. Better yet, balanced attachment. It applies to people and to tea, but I will focus on tea, a thing.

I want more tea and I don’t. I want jade oolongs but I don’t want to spend a lot more money on more tea. I ordered 50 grams of a Da Yu Ling for $20 on discount, but I desire more jade oolong, but I don’t know if I want a flavored or an unflavored. I want to get some chai for my tumbler, but I do not want a lot more black tea. But I would like more Darjeeling. I want to order more tea from What-Cha, but I also want to order from Hugo Tea, Liquid Proust, Beautiful Taiwan Tea Co., and Quarter to Tea. But I want to cut down on my caffeine to help with my attempts to hide my anxiety. Stimulants pumping blood into your forehead and brain does not exactly help one be cool and collected.

Oh well. I’ll give myself a break about it. TMI

Evol Ving Ness

Daylon, are you a Gemini?

Daylon R Thomas

Aries Sun Libra Rising Scorpio Moon

Daylon R Thomas

People always guess the air signs for me. How deep do you go with astrology?

Daylon R Thomas

I do have a Mercury Retrograde in my first house if that’s what you’re getting for the Gemini.

Evol Ving Ness

I was guessing air. Hence, the Gemini. Possibly signs of Libra too, but that didn’t seem like a good fit.

Daylon R Thomas

Too mercurial lol. My writing voice is slightly different from my speaking voice. I’m a lot more gentile and nervous in person, unless you already imagined that.

Evol Ving Ness

Yes, the mercurial aspect comes across. :)

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