Asiatica tea

Sipdown (248)

M is for…Milk Oolong

I got through a lot of this in the March sipdown tournament so it seems fitting to finish it off today in another Mastress Alita-inspired sipdown adventure.

Because of the tournament, I wrote a lot about this one and since its a fairly consistent tea, I don’t have much new to say. Just want to mark the sipdown and take a second to thank Roswell Strange again for sending this my way. Thank you!!

Round 2 battles of the sipdown tournament continue today with this tea vs. What the Fluff by 52 Teas. I am pretty confident which tea is going to win but let’s taste test anyways. Check out the review for What the Fluff here: https://steepster.com/rachel12610/posts/416407#

Today its a bit less creamy than the last time I had this. It is more of a true milk oolong, with a thin milky profile and the soft floral notes of the base. It’s smooth and not at all drying, so its quite nice. An easy drinking tea.

Today’s head-to-head battle is a battle of the oolong teas: this tea vs Muscatel Oolong by Lupicia. Both teas in this battle came from Roswell Strange so thank you Ros for both and the fun chance to get to compare them!

This one I have had before. I recall being slightly disappointed by it because I compared it to other milk/cream oolongs that are much sweeter and more creamy. Today, however, this is really good. It’s so smooth and definitely creamy, it just is not like a vanilla custard – which is why I preferred the other milk/cream oolongs. The base is a bit floral but its not coppery or drying at all so I don’t find it detracts from the milk component of the oolong.

Both were basically on par. It came down to a coin toss and this tea won. Check out the tasting note for Muscatel Oolong here: https://steepster.com/rachel12610/posts/416114

This tea seems to be highly rated here on Steepster but at least from my cup today, I feel like it’s an alright milk oolong. But just alright. Not amazing. Not special. A milk oolong that is enjoyable but there are better milk oolongs out there. The Tea Haus milk oolong comes to mind and so does the random milk oolong from either Sil or Evol Ving Ness.

With that said, this is quite buttery. More milky than creamy, which is why I think I prefer other blends a bit more since that makes for a richer/more decadent mouthfeel. This also has more of a green tea-ish undertone aka grassy notes. It’s fairly smooth though and not overly heavy with any sort of flavor which makes it an easy-drinking tea for a daily drinker I guess. Since I don’t drink the same tea daily though, this isn’t something I need stocked. I will be alright to work through the sample that Roswell Strange sent me though. Thanks for sharing!

Another tea from Roswell Strange, thank you!

Saw this in my box of tea last night, and just felt like a milk oolong. This tea did not disappoint. Nice and creamy with a smooth oolongy base. Yep, that’s my description of it. It compares favourably to my memory of other milk oolongs, and I have to agree with Roswell that there’s no way this is naturally flavoured, but it doesn’t have the chemically taste that some flavoured milk oolongs have. I got three solid infusions out of the leaves, and the last one brought out some really delicious flavours, but I had trouble identifying what it reminded me of, and now the moment is lost. Oh well. It was quite good.

I was really craving butter this week so I ended up pulling out a couple different milk oolongs over the coarse of the week. This was has such a thing buttery quality that makes me think a bit of move theater popcorn. It’s good when it’s really hot, but as it cools more of the coarseness of the green tea comes out and it gets a little unpleasantly bitter – but it worked in a pinch!

Not super smooth but still lovely. Very buttery/creamy notes that are easy to wind down and loosen up with – even if it is flavouring, I just love that flavour note combined with the floral and already buttery notes of the oolong. A little bit of sour green/grassy notes; definitely highlighting that this isn’t the best quality milk oolong ever – but for a daily drinker/casual Western cup type of oolong it’s pretty perfect.

Picked this one up from a book store here in Montreal; I had never heard of the tea brand and y’all know how I am about impulse tea shopping – especially when it comes to trying new teas/companies. But also I’ve just been deeply craving milk oolong ALL winter and so the chance to scoop up more milk oolong was something I didn’t hesitate to take advantage of…

I actually liked this one at lot – it was very smooth and floral with a thick, creamy mouthfeel that coated the mouth and those deep buttery notes that are just phenomenal in a tea. That said, it’s also clearly a flavoured milk oolong. I’m sorry, but no natural milk oolong tastes buttery in quite that same way. Like, I’d place good money on this one being flavoured even though the tin doesn’t explicitly say so.

Of course I prefer natural milk oolong to flavoured – but I do personally think there’s a time and place for both depending on situation/mood. Still, not a chance in hell that this milk oolong is going into my newly purchased yixing pot that I plan to dedicate to milk oolong…

I remember receiving a chocolate tea from a friend, where the tin had to be opened twice. Those tins were a little difficult to open, but not as difficult as the tin that encased this tea. Both covers were hard to get off, as it wasn’t so much they were stuck, just the way the tins were made.

The tea itself isn’t much. Full curled brown to black leaves, with a lightly woody aroma.

Steeping gives it a better texture, very earthy and dark.

The liquor gives you that very familiar pu-erh rich earthy aroma, as well as that very handsome deep thick color. I have likened myself to smokey and strong teas, and pu-erhs are some of the best teas you can have.

The flavor is not as strong as you would like it to be. There is that earthy and smokey flavor, like a fresh forest, but it isn’t as rich as I can recall other pu-erhs to be. It is quite rich, don’t get me wrong, but not a brilliant richness as, say, Imperial Organic’s bagged pu-erh.

Nonetheless, you get a nice cup of pu-erh that is full bodied and rich.

this is fantastic. i’m tempted to say this tea tastes sweet. but it’s more like Dragonwell flirts with sweetness. the tea walks up to my sweet-sensing tastebuds, winks, and say “How yooo dooin’…?”

good stuff.

Before tasting this tea, I was just a tea drinker. This turned me instantly in a tea lover, into someone who searches for tea, who wants to deepen his knowledge and open new tasting horizons.

This is a very sweet tea without, as far as I know, any flavorings added. The leafs are rolled into little beads and when infused uncurl to nice healthy and thick complete leaves. Very green and quite large, the leaves can be infused several times (4-5) and reveal their taste without loosing any quality. After that, much longer steeps are needed.

The taste is very milky, close to milk candy. Hints of fresh sugar cane being chewed also come to mind. The color is a soft yellow, close to dried hay.

Asiatica seems to be fairly new in Montréal, Quebec as their site pops as “coming soon”. Their products are all packed in round metal tins with two caps. I haven’t found them in lots of places but IGA seems to sell some from time to time.