Quangzhou Milk Oolong

I said I wasn’t going to buy any tea (outside of groupons) before I went to China, but I allowed myself to buy a hot cup of tea from the tea shop near where I get my hair cut. It doesn’t count if I don’t add anything to my stash, right? I don’t actually go there all that often, mostly because they seem to be mostly just wholesale blends and these days I dry to buy from places that blend their own tea. One thing I did discover is that they seem to carry Teas Etc.’s Fig Formosa tea, and since the smallest size Teas Etc. sells on their website is 3oz, I will be able to try it from You, Me and Tea in smaller quantity, which is great.

Anyway, I decided to get this milk oolong to go. The dry leaf smelled like your typical milky oolong, creamy and milky and sweet. I had no control over anything to do with the steeping parameters of this cup. The woman making it put some cold water in the cup before adding water from the presumably near-boiling water in her water heater, and it seemed like the timer was going for about 3 minutes.

When I first smelled the steeped tea it totally shocked me. It smelled like straight up vegetable broth, very savory, definitely not what I was expecting. Early on when the tea was still very hot I couldn’t detect any creamy aromas or flavors at all, but as it cooled they came out. In the end the tea was very much like buttered veggies and was decidedly the most un-floral green oolong I’ve ever tasted. It reminded me more of the Bi Luo Chun Green tea I had from Teavivre than any oolong I’ve had. It tasted pretty decent once I got used to it but it just took me a while to get past my initial expectations. I have no idea how much this experience had to do with the steeping parameters, so I’m not going to rate the tea, but I’m also not going to buy anymore, heh.

So far this is my favorite milk oolong tea that I have tried. I’ve sampled DAVIDsTEA, Holy Mountain, American Tea Room, The Republic of Tea and ThePuriTea milk oolongs. The leaf of this tea is quite large, even in its rolled form. The scent is of vegetables with a light spray of milk. Once steeped, the cup is very floral and I’m detecting honey notes as well. The scent lacks the buttery tones that I’ve found in other milk oolongs. There isn’t a sense of thick, rich milk, but this cup is brilliant. Even though I’m looking for creamier and richer notes, the honey sweetness mixed with the smooth floral flavors make for a very enjoyable cup. I will be sad when this is gone, but will look forward to my next milk oolongs.

Absolutely magical! It tastes so deliciously creamy and milky, with no milk added. Its scent is divine. My new favorite tea.

The first thing to note about this tea is the smell, it has a very strong – don’t even have to open the bag to sniff – aroma that is also very unique. (I went around my office asking co-workers to smell it :P) It definitely has a sweetness to it but I can’t pinpoint what else – maybe caramel or/and fruit?

It brews to be a light green tea with a subtle aroma. The taste can also be described as smooth with a soft unique/interesting flavor that it really hard to place. When I tried it yesterday, I was thinking maybe peach? One co-worker thought maybe milk and vanilla, one just said it needed sugar, and another also couldn’t place it. I tried it again today and still can’t place it. :-/

It re-steeps well – holding onto some flavor and not getting bitter.

Because of its uniqueness, I will recommend giving it a shot (it’s different) but I would not buy it again (too confusing). I might play with mixing the rest of what I have with some of my other teas and see what I end up with. .