Andrew Jesaitis Send Message

A good, but pretty standard oolong. It does brew quite a dark cup of tea. It tastes more nutty than fruity and had a musty overtone. Decent, but nothing to write home about.

In the tin it has a distinctly grassy smell about it. That isn’t too surprising and I ventured on to steep this tea.

First, I steeped according to Adagio’s guidelines for 3min @ 180. Not bad, but a bit one note. I definitely get the vegetal/grass taste and it wasn’t bitter. That’s about it.

Second, I steeped for a much shorter time— 1min @ 180. Pretty much the same, but weaker.

The tea is by no means bad, but it just doesn’t do much for me.

White teas perplex me for two reasons; one mental and one practical.

First, I always think that white teas will be either boring or overflavored. I don’t know where I picked up this notion because I usually really like white teas. This one is no exception. Rishi’s silver needle is really delicate. It has a bit of a sweet aroma. The taste is a bit more on the vegetal side, but really nice. I’d describe it as a mild green tea with any bitterness absent.

The second reason white tea perplexes me is steep times. More than any other tea, white teas have an enormous range of steep times. I’ve seen recommendations ranging from 30 secs to 8 mins. I think 30 secs-2 mins yields a pretty watery cup. It seems like 5 mins is a pretty popular time to use for this tea. Personally, I went with a longer steep time (7 mins) on this tea and have not tasted any of the bitterness I associate with oversteeping.

In any case, this tea is a solid white tea.

Pretty decent, but unremarkable. It has a toasty aroma, but tastes much more earthy—almost musty.

I’ve found that it starts becoming bitter right around the 5 min mark. Definitely better if you stay below that limit for steeping.

Stumbled across this tea at my local Coop and bought enough for a pot or two. While I was scooping some out of the container the aroma was very strong. But, it smelled of real peach, not an artificial peach smell I’ve encountered with some other teas.

The peach flavor very well balanced. It is not strictly sweet—it has a little bite to it, which rounds things out nicely. The white tea doesn’t seem to contribute too much, which isn’t too surprising since it doesn’t take much to overwhelm a white tea.

I think I’ll be buying more.

So I was basically out of tea this morning and was rummaging through the cupboard and found a sample tin of this tea. Hmmmm, chocolate is good, tea is good… does this mean chocolate + tea = great?

In short, no. It is more like chocolate + tea = ordinary. The tin smells great! But, when does chocolate not smell good? Steeping yields a cup of decent black tea with a watery chocolate taste.

Wow. This is on the light side of the oolong spectrum. In fact, I bet I would call it a green tea if I tasted it blind. I think this one of least oxidized oolongs I have tried. It has a definite vegetal taste, but it is slightly sweet. It is very smooth to drink, almost creamy. I think I would use this tea as an alternative to green tea, rather than a tea to fulfill a craving for oolong.

This is a very delicate tea. There is a light jasmine aroma that is much weaker than many other jasmine teas I’ve tried. The taste is similarly light. The green tea component seems like a quality green but is a little on the weak side. It is absolutely devoid of bitterness (which is wonderful), but doesn’t have much of a vegetal taste either. This combination makes it a perfect background to enjoy secondary taste, like jasmine. The problem is the jasmine taste is quite weak as well.

Don’t get me wrong the tea is GOOD, it is just a little muted.

The first thing I noticed about this tea was the deeply nutty aroma. The aroma continues upon sipping, but it just noticeably toastier. I also taste a bit of lychee and peach flavors—both weak, but contributing sweetness. It was a very round taste that builds in your mouth with a lasting finish. I definitely like it, but think that it would suit a cool fall or winter day better than a hot summer day like today. Even so I’l going to have another cup!

This is a really nice oolong. Very well balanced and understated. Although I did detect slight floral aromas while brewing, the taste is more vegetal and buttery. Very enjoyable.