WOW. I received the samples I had requested from Teavivre today, and I am blown away by their generosity! Samples of five different teas, each sample looking to be enough to brew 4 cups. I am so excited to get going on these!
My roommate has never tried a milk oolong (or straight oolong, for that matter) before, and requested we try this one first.
The dry tea definitely doesn’t smell as creamy as DavidsTea’s Quangzhou Milk Oolong, the only other one that I really have experience with, but it does smell good and a bit floral. I’ll have to take better notes next time; I’m not opening up a second packet just to write about how the dry tea smells (and I just don’t remember the details right now).
I used one packet in 250ml of water in my little steeper.
First infusion (~95C, ~2min)
Smells floral and orchidy, with perhaps a hint of creaminess. The taste is delicate and lightly floral, with just a touch of creaminess. I’m getting some vegetal classic “oolong flavour”, particularly lingering at the end of the sip, which is really tasty.
Second infusion (~96C, ~2min)
Mostly a fresh orchidy oolong smell this time. Really not getting any creaminess, just a touch of floral notes back by the delicious oolong flavour.
Third infusion (~96C, ~3min)
Very little aroma this time, and the taste is clean and a bit astringent. No creaminess and barely anything floral left, but still a good infusion because I can taste oolong! Actually, I’m getting a bit of something fruity or sweet in the finish as well. Yum.
Fourth infusion (~98C, ~3min)
Again, pretty much no aroma. The flavour is now somewhat like a fruity, astringent wood, but in the best possible way I can mean that! I’m actually getting a bit of a resurgence of creaminess although it’s a bit different this time. Perhaps buttery instead of creamy.
Probably could have gone for a fifth infusion, but I’m exhausted.
Overall, a good oolong, but the difference between this milk oolong and DT’s is quite striking, so much so that I would have assumed that this one was just a regular tieguanyin. I’ll have to do some direct comparisons to really get my head around it. If I’m looking for a tea that’s very creamy though, I probably wouldn’t pick this one. Next time I plan to keep to stricter infusion times and temperatures, perhaps trying the boiling temperature that they recommend, as it seems people have had success with it? I also should mention that my tastebuds seemed a little off today, so that could account for flavours not tasting as they should as well.
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I agree that I get excited to taste the tea myself but sometimes the tastebuds don’t turn on. Good thing there’s more tea! I’m finding that I have to set time aside for really having a long peaceful space or the experiece falls short. I have 4 tea’s waiting for a review because I need to dedicate half a day to each one at least. This is a new way of thinking isn’t it!
Yes, that’s exactly it. I need to have a good hour minimum and peace and quiet to concentrate so I can really enjoy and think about the tea, and tonight I just can’t focus, and so many distractions were making me have trouble tasting the tea properly. I also have a backlog of teas that I need to take time with trying, and I just haven’t had as much time as I’d have liked lately!
Ohmygoodness, how many teas sit untasted in my cupboard for that same reason… not just that, but I need it to be when nobody else is home. The fam just doesn’t understand lol
I feel terrible, but I hardly ever have the time required to sit down and properly savour my samples from Teavivre (and others!) I have tried three or four of them so far, but only have managed to log 3. It’s not that I’m ungrateful, I just seem to lead a busy life. Working full time, visiting with family, fitting in workouts and really dedicating myself to cooking and health in general leaves me pretty zonked. If I get time in the evening I tend to read and therefore don’t have the focus for a proper review. I usually only have time on weekends, but I tend to be visiting out of town family most weekends. Ah well!
If you want a milk oolong tea with stronger milk flavor. I suggest you have a look of this Flavored Milk Oolong Tea:
http://www.teavivre.com/jin-xuan-tea-flavored/
TeaVivre – I’m not sure that I necessarily want a stronger milk flavour, I was just expecting it after my one experience with a milk oolong! The tea was lovely though, and I’m convinced that my tastebuds may be refusing to acknowledge some more complex flavours right now. I’ll probably put that flavoured oolong on my list for later though :)
I agree that I get excited to taste the tea myself but sometimes the tastebuds don’t turn on. Good thing there’s more tea! I’m finding that I have to set time aside for really having a long peaceful space or the experiece falls short. I have 4 tea’s waiting for a review because I need to dedicate half a day to each one at least. This is a new way of thinking isn’t it!
Yes, that’s exactly it. I need to have a good hour minimum and peace and quiet to concentrate so I can really enjoy and think about the tea, and tonight I just can’t focus, and so many distractions were making me have trouble tasting the tea properly. I also have a backlog of teas that I need to take time with trying, and I just haven’t had as much time as I’d have liked lately!
Ohmygoodness, how many teas sit untasted in my cupboard for that same reason… not just that, but I need it to be when nobody else is home. The fam just doesn’t understand lol
I feel terrible, but I hardly ever have the time required to sit down and properly savour my samples from Teavivre (and others!) I have tried three or four of them so far, but only have managed to log 3. It’s not that I’m ungrateful, I just seem to lead a busy life. Working full time, visiting with family, fitting in workouts and really dedicating myself to cooking and health in general leaves me pretty zonked. If I get time in the evening I tend to read and therefore don’t have the focus for a proper review. I usually only have time on weekends, but I tend to be visiting out of town family most weekends. Ah well!
If you want a milk oolong tea with stronger milk flavor. I suggest you have a look of this Flavored Milk Oolong Tea:
http://www.teavivre.com/jin-xuan-tea-flavored/
TeaVivre – I’m not sure that I necessarily want a stronger milk flavour, I was just expecting it after my one experience with a milk oolong! The tea was lovely though, and I’m convinced that my tastebuds may be refusing to acknowledge some more complex flavours right now. I’ll probably put that flavoured oolong on my list for later though :)