Red Blossom Tea Company

Second steeping of these leaves. Still love it, but I’ve got a good tip:

Don’t overdo it with the amount of leaves. I used what I thought was the recommended amount in the first steeping, as Red Blossom recommended slightly more leaves than the average Oolong brew, before realizing just how tightly rolled the leaves were. When they got wet and expanded, they filled my teapot. Wow, they REALLY expand!

Today I removed about half of the leaves, put them in my backup teapot to save for later, and tried brewing with a lesser amount.

Same big, bold, uber smooth but still thick buttery feel, and the straw and grass undertones were still present and accounted for.

Love this tea!

-E

Finally got a new order in to Red Blossom, and this is the first grab of that order.

For an Oolong, this one is pretty light in flavor, really more towards a thick and tasty green then anything darker. It has a crisp and clear straw color to it, a nice see through yellow.

The taste and smell are full of big, beautiful butter. The taste as well. Crisp, clean, finishes super smooth. The thick, smooth buttery feel and taste are what makes this tea click, but not so overwhelming that the underlying hint of grass and straw don’t get to shine as well.

Red Blossom says this season’s Alishan harvest was plagued by rain and heat, so the quantity was rather low, but “skilled craftsmanship turned that small amount into an exceptional wonderful tea.” Yup, I completely agree. They really nailed it finding this one, I hope they have it for a while!

A tip: These leaves are rolled pretty tight. Red Blossom recommends using slightly more leaves than normal in the mix, which I did, but then realized how tight they were rolled when they expanded. The next time I brew this, I’ll use about 2/3 as much.

This is my first Jing Xuan tasting so I don’t have much of a comparison which is why I will not rate this for now. When I first opened the bag there was a subtle aroma usually given off by green teas mixed with a pinch of sweetness which I enjoyed.

The first two steeps tasted like regular green tea to me which I wasn’t too pleased with but the aftertaste lingered with the same sweetness I smelled upon opening the bag maybe a little peachy? The last steep was the one where I smelled the creaminess of the tea the most and there was a small hint of it upon sipping the tea.

Milk oolong is my favorite tea so far from drinking with friends and this again is the first time I’ve purchased it for myself.

For a key to my rating scale, check out my bio.

A very interesting green tea. All the characteristic flavor notes of the category (nutty, vegetal, etc.) plus a hint of smoke and bright citrus, and lacking the harsh tannins of Dragonwell which makes for a very round mouthfeel. Yum!

I’m starting to feel like dan cong oolongs are not really my “thing” or maybe I just like my oolongs on the sweet and fruity side, which is why I like the Honey Orchid but seem to have problem getting into some of these other varietals.

So, I tried this in the store and I figured the Red Blossom folks would be the ones to show me how to brew this stuff properly. They used a gaiwan with about 2mg of tea in it and water around 190 F (but told me you can also use boiling water with this tea). We did a quick rinse of the tea and then short steeps. I found this to be on the light side with definite citrus-y orange notes that are subtle and build up on your palette over time.

Mostly we did 30 second steeps but also did one steep that was around 1.5 minutes. I was told if you steep it longer it can become astringent and drying but that’s how the local people like it.

I thought it was “just okay” and definitely wasn’t compelled to buy it. Maybe a dan cong connoisseur would appreciate this, but I might just give up on my experiments with them for a while. I just don’t get the appeal, but that’s ok. There are plenty of other teas out there for me. :)

This is a super tasty high mountain Taiwanese oolong (and currently one of the only ones in my stash).

I feel like Red Blossom did a really good job of describing the notes in this one. It is super lush tasting! The tea liquor brews up a light green and has a wonderful cream note with hints of butter and intense fruit. I am getting mango and pineapple. I steeped it around 5 times in the gaiwan and it is still going strong but the fruity notes are a bit more present in the earlier steeps. It has a lingering finish that really coats your mouth after you’ve been sipping on it. I tried this in the store and it is definitely a treat. Great afternoon tea, really relaxing and the flavor makes me so happy! Loved it.

For a key to my rating scale, check out my bio.

This tea is a great example of a classic Taiwanese winter oolong. The floral notes are enhanced from those of a spring flush. The tea has a hard-to-describe mellow crispness. Incredibly clean, with a beautifully lingering finish.

For a key to my rating scale, check out my bio.

It would be difficult to find a more aromatic tea. Mi Lan Xiang (or Honey Orchid) indeed possesses notes of honey. However, this is only one aspect of a flavor profile that includes floral notes, winter fruit, and the dry, mineral or metallic flavor distinct to Phoenix oolong tea.

For a key to my rating scale, check out my bio.

This is a really interesting green tea, perfect for someone who has experience drinking both green and white teas. Not a good representation of a “classic” green tea, but more of an adventure – an experiment. And the tea is just that, crafted from the cultivar normally used to make white tea, but with the method used to make Dragonwell green tea, hence the name Xue Long or Snow Dragon. All the desirable characteristics of a Dragonwell (nutty, sweet, bright) without any of the undesirable characteristics (this tea is not at all tannic or astringent like many Dragonwells, but rather very mellow), plus many of the the flavors of a white tea. A truly enjoyable experience.

For a key to my rating scale, check out my bio.

Brighter than Red Blossom’s Pre-rain version, but still lacking in depth. I would recommend a higher quality Dragonwell, such as their Ming Qian Shifeng (Shifeng – which means Lion Peak – is the mountain in Hangzhou, China of Dragonwell tea’s origin; the most prized Dragonwells come from this mountain) or their Pan’an Supreme. Dragonwell is a tea you need to spend a bit more on to get the most of its flavor.

For a key to my rating scale, check out my bio.

Unfortunately, Dragonwell is one of those teas that you need to spend a bit more on to get the right flavor. This one is lacking in complexity. While it has the nuttiness typical of Dragonwell, it is flat, and lacks the sweetness of higher quality versions. Pre-rain (雨前 – Yu Qian) teas by definition are lower in quality, as they are picked at the very end of the harvesting season after the best flushes have already been picked. As such, it is always best to go with a Ming Qian tea instead (one picked before the Qingming Festival). I would try their Ming Qian Pan’an, Shifeng, or Pan’an Supreme instead.

For a key to my rating scale, check out my bio.

A beautiful, superbly balanced Wuyi Oolong. Deeply layered flavor profile, with complete harmony between all layers.

For a key to my rating scale, check out my bio.

Before trying this tea, I was never a huge fan of black teas, but Red Blossom Tea Company’s “Three Cultivar Red – 三品紅” has made me reconsider. The tea is unusual for a black tea, in that it is crafted with cultivars used normally for Wuyi oolong teas (also called Wuyi Rock Tea). This means that while “Three Cultivar Red” possesses all the trademark flavors of a black tea, it is more layered and nuanced like an oolong.

I am drinking this tea today for maybe the first or second time only. I can’t believe i have never written a review about it…

So this is a rolled white tea that is similar to the jasmine white pearl I also like from Red Blossom. Instead it is scented with osmanthus. I have done several steeps in the gaiwan today .

https://instagram.com/p/zdQjXmoLWX

I get a light yellow tea liquor with this one. It really only needs to be steeped for about 30 seconds. It has a light, cornsilk, buttery type of flavor and while the osmanthus is present, I would say it is fairly subtle in this blend. That is good news for me, as I don’t like overly flowery teas. It has a bit of sweetness but I actually like this with a tiny bit of coconut sugar as well.

There must be something about osmanthus that relaxes you because I find this very soothing when my nerves are feeling stressed out and I’m a bit hyper. Also brings a happy feeling. I am definitely glad to have this in my tea collection!

Additional notes: This tea from a tea box is ancient but it is still SO GOOD. The flavor was once floral, like orange blossoms, but now, there seems to be mostly a natural peach flavor which is also very delicious. I’m raising the rating from a 76 for the longevity. Also because I usually don’t like these types of oolongs. And now it’s gone.

ETA: Whoa, and just looked on the website and it is a BIT pricey.

I haven’t been catching up on reading tasting notes as much as I’d like lately. Hopefully everyone is doing okay!
From a teabox a WHILE back. Speaking of which, the Here’s Hoping teabox has been with the same person for a while… I hope it will eventually move on. Anyway, I used quite a bit of these long and twisty leaves. I have no idea what parameters to use for this tea.. I tried looking at a bunch of Steepster pages for similar teas. Didn’t really find any suggestions. Twenty minutes after boiling seemed to work. The flavor is so floral it seems hard to believe that it’s natural orange blossom. It’s actually like flowers, like perfume was sprayed on the leaves. Hopefully not… hopefully these leaves were just harvested around fragrant orange trees or something. I’m not really accustomed to “orange blossom” but there are definite citrus notes as well as the natural honey flavor of the oolong. The second steep somehow had just as much of the flavor as the first cup, so maybe it is in the leaves itself. The leaves also didn’t seem oversteeped — I thought they might be with just boiled water. I prefer green oolongs, but this isn’t bad.
Steep #1 // 20 min after boiling // less than 2 min steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 2-3 min

This was not a tea I ordered but a sample packet, which are always welcomed, that came with my tea. This was a pleasant, albeit unremarkable, green tea. I steeped it for a full 4 minutes at 175f as I wanted something strong following New Years Eve, but even then it was rather tame. This was especially odd because the Red Blossom site describes it as " one of the thickest and intense green teas we’ve tasted". I likely won’t order this offering, but if you want something light this might be the tea for you.

A soft, smooth, and subtle green tea with hints of apricot. This is a great tea to ease you into your day, or into your bed. Red Blossom does such a great job with their vast selection of green teas, which are always so bright.

Got this as a free sample from Red Blossom with an order a while back, and this lazy, rainy Saturday is a great day to give it a go.

First things first, I’m not a big white tea drinker. Not because I don’t like it, but because I guess don’t know it very well. Guess I should try more it then, yeah?

As far as white teas that I have tried go, I like this one a lot. It has a nice light aroma and taste, and that taste is clear, well balanced, almost buttery with a clean, clear finish.

I do like a bigger, bolder tea, I think the next steeping I will use less water. I might also buy more of this one in the future. Good stuff!

Been saving this one for a while. Aged Tung Ting, ca. 1980, Formosa Oolong.

A 34 year old Tung Ting (yes, from 1980), from when it was still hand rolled in Taiwan, which makes for looser tea clusters, requiring firing at higher temperatures for preservation, in turn producing a richer, more robust tea.

I’m sold.

Actually, I didn’t have to be. This was a sample sent to me from Red Blossom along with an order from several months ago, and I’ve been waiting for a good time to try it. Patience is not my best virtue, so I got sick of waiting and… here we go!

I didn’t use my large tea pot for this one, as I only got a 1 ounce sample. I used my tea ball and set it into a large ceramic mug. I can tell just by looking at it this is something special. Deep reddish in color, very rich and smooth in aroma.

The taste. Is. Amazing. So rich, so smooth. Just a hint of that roasted goodness brings out the richness even more. Hints of cocoa dance on the tip of my tongue. And did I mention it was smooth? So smooth. I could use the word velvet. Like the first bike of a Red Velvet Cake, the way the taste overwhelms the taste buds, the heavens align, and for just that moment, all is well in the world.

This may be the best tea I have ever tried. If, in the end, it is, I’d be OK with that.

-E

This is a sipdown for me…
Bummed that I am all out of it but luckily I know where to get more. ;)

I find that I really like this when steeped western style for 3 minutes. It is such a mellow and flavorful tea, I kind of doubt it would turn bitter even if oversteeped. I love the sweet potato flavor of this and the chocolatey notes that you get with the longer steep. Such a good black tea. I drink my straight black teas more often than anything else and the flavored teas are languishing in my cupboard.I guess I will need to force myself to drink them soon. Maybe in the form of iced tea?

I am really enjoying this one as my breakfast tea. It has that yummy sweet potato, sugary flavor that is gentle and tasty. This is really good too with soymilk, as a latte type drink. Goes well along with my mango for breakfast today :)

I had a 2 hour break yesterday from classes in the afternoon so I went to Chinatown to poke around. I really wanted to go to RedBlossom Tea even though I am broke and of course I couldn’t leave without buying something. Honestly I only go to their store probably twice a year and I just refuse to buy the top shelf teas because they are too expensive for me.

Quite a few other vendors carry this type of tea so I wouldn’t say it’s rare, it’s one of their every day kind of teas. The Golden Monkey by RB is one of my favorite morning teas so I thought I’d get this to compare.

I steeped the tea for two minutes and this may have been overkill because the resulting brew is quite strong. The tea liquor is very smooth and sweet, however. I am definitely getting sweet potato notes, raisin, malt and cocoa but at the longer steep it almost seems roasted.

I tried a second steep for one minute and it’s a lot nicer, very smooth and lighter. I can’t say I am getting maple syrup but I do see how you get orange out of this, especially at the shorter steep. I love Chinese black teas because they’re so easy to drink straight, although sometimes an assam with milk and sugar hits the spot too…

Happy with this brew, I don’t have a lot of other teas like this in my stash at the moment. If you don’t live near Red Blossom I don’t see any reason to purchase this tea especially from them, but it is a nice yunnan, in my opinion.

I make sure I pick up Red Blossom Tea Company’s Pre-rain Dragonwell each Spring, and this one is no disappointment. The hints of butter and nuts are strong, with extra hints of wet straw and grass. This is one of my favorite green teas I’ve had in a while.