I’m drinking the 2015 winter harvest of this one, with Gong fu style brewing in my very traditional Perfectea maker from teavana. I only have experience with davidstea’s milk oolong, which I love, so I was really excited to try this one! When I first opened the bag, the very familiar milky aroma washed through me and I was overjoyed.
The First sip made me realize that maybe davidstea’s had too much milk flavouring for its own good because this is quite balanced and im very happy about it. I taste the same milk flavour .. or a very similar one, but its right alongside it is the taste of the oolong itself. The Jin Xuan seems quite vegetal and a bit roasty, though it’s a bit hard to differentiate between the milk and the leaf itself. The milk flavour, however, is rather thick and filling, it’s almost exactly like a deep fried milk ball, you know those? its really quite lovely, and very sweet.
Second steep is sort of.. less creamy? but still very milk ball tasting, I’m also noticing fewer vegetal/roasty notes, and this steep is really astringent.. I actually didnt notice whether the first steep was astringent or not. I’m gonna go with yes, but in any case, this steep is a bit more prominently milky than the first. Less complex.
Yeah I forgot to time this steep but I guessed and I usually have a pretty decent internal clock so… yeah anyways so this one seems to be creamier than the last, which is strange it sorta went back and forth there (maybe i just steeped this one really long .. ) It’s a little less sweet, and a bit more like the dt milk oolong im familiar with. There’s a weird feeling in the back of my throat kinda like im getting sick.. im not sure if thats cause of the tea but at this point im kind of hoping it is.. I really better not be getting sick right now.
I think it is the tea.. It’s kind of a weird sensation, honestly I’m not sure how to feel about it..
But anyways, the 4th steep was still nice and milky, just less creamy and sweet than before. It’s actually so impressive how much flavour these leaves are holding, i’m already like 10 minutes in and Zen Tea says I can go for about another 10? We’ll have to see
This is almost definitely some weird psychological thing but I swear the fifth steep was creamy again.. but nevermind that it probably isnt. lets just say its not, cause yeah so anyways it’s getting a bit more vegetal again as the milkiness is fading, which I’m not at all opposed to. Also i should say that it’s still quite milky after the 5th steep.
It’s just barely holding on to that milk aftertaste now, and the colour is fading a bit
Alright I’ve written about too many steeps now, It’s just waning in flavour all around (still delicious and flavourful, mind you)
This one just seems to go on and on (hey! just like this review is), even when I stopped expecting it to. Well done, my milky oolong. You’re a real trooper
lol I feel like a bachelor going around finding all the teas I can get my hands on and then never ordering it again, like I don’t know if my goal is eventually to settle down with the few best teas in the world, but I don’t think I’d ever be satisfied..
God I love tea culture right now
Flavors: Astringent, Caramel, Creamy, Milk, Seaweed, Sweet, Vegetal