Guangzhou Milk Oolong

Thank you to Courtney for this sample!

The dry leaves smelled really buttery. This was cause for some concern. For whatever reason, I think of milk oolongs like Chardonnay. And I was worried that this one was going to be the equivalent of an over-oaked butter bomb…But it wasn’t.

I liked this tea pretty well. It is extremely creamy and sweet with a hint of floral. Milk oolongs usually smell like peaches and cream to me. This one really only had peaches in the aftertaste, and that same kind of aftertaste that actual peaches leave (a little bit acidic or something).

This tea is so delicious I am speechless. Seriously. Stop reading reviews and go ahead and order yourself some. It’s like drinking liquid gold… but better.

Just not my thing apparently. I wonder if it is the oolong or the flavour… oh well I’ll try a few other oolongs before I say for sure.

I am wondering why I haven’t written about this one yet—it’s absolutely amazing! I tried fake milk oolong thinking it was the real thing and boy was I so wrong. This tea definitely has a lighter, more delicate scent to it. After it has been steeped, you pick up the delicious cream aroma and you taste it too! I really love how smooth this tea goes down. I feel like I am drinking a latte! Why must you be so delicious and so expensive at the same time!

With the whole day ahead of me, I decided to dedicate my Saturday to essay writing and tea steeping, and this tea definitely wins the prize for best study companion. The ideal reward to successfully writing a few pages of an essay is getting to infuse another mug of buttery, milky, goodness.

I wanted to see how many successful re-steeps I could get from this tea. The verdict from this round? Five!

Infusions one and two were the best – there was a floral, buttery scent and a sweet, milky taste. The bottom of the cup was extra creamy. Infusion number three was still excellent, full, and milky, but starting to fade slowly. By the fourth infusion, the scent of the brewing leaves was still strong, but the flavour was growing weak. Finally, I had to stop at infusion number five – the leaves lost most of the scent for me. The tea itself was still had some flavour, but most of the milky essence was gone, leaving a light oolong taste.

I think this could have easily gone for one or two more rounds had I cut the infusion time shorter for each cup. This tea is definitely worth the price and is a perfect for long weekends days of work. The unique taste is absolutely delicious and having a cup feels like a treat.

This is another one of those “everyone’s favourites” teas.
I had high hopes and expectaitons coming into my first steep of the Quangzhou Milk Oolong. It smelled heavenly, and the price was quite exorbitant.

To be honest, upon my first sip, I was underwhelmed. It smelled nothing like it tasted. It was not a distinct oolong at all. Seemed pretty pricey for something so run-of-the-mill—or so I thought. This tea really grows on you, especially because of its high re-steep value. And for some, it grabs you upon the first steep as a winner. It really took me a while for me to love it, but I did end up loving it eventually.

Upon perfecting the steeping of this tea, I managed to find a way to bring out the milky fragrance in the actual tea, I was hooked. This is one of those teas that you don’t want to oversteep. In fact, a shorter steep gives a milkier taste and fragrance to the tea, while a longer steep brings the oolong out more. I like the tea FOR its milkiness so I tend to go for the quick steeps. If I want a prominent oolong taste, I go for my High Mountain Oolong instead.

As mentioned, it’s great for many steeps, and I usually tend to think that second and third steeps are the best ones.

If you like an oolong with a bit of oomph, and want something you can steep over and over again, this is definitely a good go-to tea. Remember, don’t be overgenerous in the amount of leaves you steep if you want to keep the milky flavor, and do NOT oversteep it. Otherwise it becomes a strong Oolong, but no milkiness.

I’ve restocked this tea twice now. I’m so glad I learned how to steep this to my liking, because it has become a staple.

Went into David’s on a whim, looking for a cream tea of some sort. Since all they have is cream earl grey, and that really isn’t a favourite, this one and buttered rum were suggested as alternatives. I got a cup to go, brewed 5-6 minutes or so in my travel mug.

Yep, it tastes like a milk oolong. And surprisingly, the western style brewing hasn’t made it bitter or astringent. I do feel I’m missing a lot of the flavour drinking it in my travel mug, though, since so much of what I like about oolongs is the scent.

While I do like this tea, and it’s not upsetting my tummy like some other oolongs I’ve tried, this isn’t really what I was looking for. I opted to not purchase this until I’ve sipped down some of the other oolong teas in my cupboard, and purchased 20g of buttered rum to experiment with. :)

I decided to try cold brewing this tea. 3 teaspoons in 18 oz cold water for about 7 hours. I initially planned to steep longer, but I took a taste and I thought it was good, and I usually hot brew this one for shorter than the recommended time as well.

Anyway, just like when I made it hot and iced it, I feel like this tea was a little bit muted. It just has so much more to offer in terms of mouthfeel and light, delicate flavor when it’s enjoyed hot. The flavor of the cold brew was preferable to the iced hot brew, but I’ve now decided for good that this is a tea to enjoy warm.

I’ve come to love oolongs as my favorite tea in general, but, I think I may have found my new favorite. Even over the Tie Kuan Yin first grade oolong that I got to try a little while back.

The smell is intoxicating, it’s hard to place, and even with the possibility that it’s simply the suggestion from the name and the label it definitely evokes images of cream just from the smell. The first sip I was greeted with a smooth light tea, that hid the tea flavor rather well. It’s not quite milk, but, definitely gives hints of the taste. As you drink it’s easy to discover multiple flavors in this tea, like dairy combined with a light oolong and just a hint of floral taste; the label says orchid, I’m not sure I agree that’s what I’m tasting, but, eh, it’s flowery! :)

I’m definitely taking this to the next tea party I have.

I think inexperience is hitting me again. This is not quite what I was expecting. My limited experience with Oolong has been with flavored ones. I was expecting this to be more “woody” and less “grassy”. The leaves are beautiful when unfurled, and the tea is light and delicate, but like I said maybe a bit too grassy for my tastes. I think I would prefer an oolong that is more toasted? not sure of the right word, but this one is too green for me. I don’t think it’s bad, just not what I was expecting.