Taiwan High Mountain Oolong Tea

The texture of this Taiwan High Mountain Oolong Tea from Teavivre is exceptionally smooth and silken, reminding me of milk oolong except that this one is more floral. I like it a lot!

Thanks to Angel and Teavivre for the free sample! This is an all right oolong. It’s vegetal and buttery. I’m not getting anything floral. There’s maybe a hint of minerals, but that’s about it. The aftertaste fades quickly. I think I should have gone for a longer infusion because the flavor doesn’t taste entirely developed yet.

Second infusion for 2.5 minutes is surprisingly not very flavorful either. The aftertaste is weird and mineral-y and just not good. I’m confused. This tea seems like a dud and Teavivre isn’t known for producing duds. I tried a third infusion for 5 minutes before giving up on this one. The initial flavor was slightly better but the aftertaste is still mineral-y and unpleasant. I can’t say I recommend this one, though their other oolongs have been much more enjoyable.

Yesterday I went to the post to take what I thought was a letter (that is that the postman had written on the document ) and they brought me a small package … cute with Chinese inscriptions . It was my packet of Oolongs samples generously sent by Angel at Teavivre .

I get nice little oxidized leaves, from an emerald green. After 5 minutes into a boiling water , the leaves swell very impressively.

The liquor is of an exceptional transparency, very pale yellow/ green.

The texture of this tea is very light. It has no velvety body, it’s not smooth at all . Sometimes we get small spikes of bitterness that soar … and immediately fall , caught up , channeled through a certain sweetness .

This is an extremely floral and green tea. The aftertaste is essentially herbal. It leaves an intense feeling of purity . An extremely green and pure tea.

It will delight fans of Oolongs with a low oxidization. I’m more a fan of semi and highly oxidized oolongs , but I must recognize that this tea is from very high quality and very pleasant to taste .

Thank you again to Angel for allowing me to test this tea and to take me out of my comfort zone. It ’s thanks to Angel I am knowing by now I am really enjoying pu- erh teas. I need to be a little pushed and shoved in my convictions and preferences sometimes .

you can see some pics of my session with this Oolong here : https://thevangeliste.wordpress.com/2014/11/29/taiwan-high-mountain-oolong-tea-teavivre/

Got this one from Sarsonator in our swap a few weeks ago. She surprised me and gave me a whole lot of Teavivre samples. ^^ Because she is just awesome like that!
Now unlike Oriental Beauty, this one actually is floral-y.
It’s smooth and strong. Kinda grassy but really floral-y.
So it’s definitely a win in my mind! Woo!
Thanks, Sarsonator! :D

This is a very floral and slightly sweet oolong. It’s not as exciting as other floral oolong teas I’ve tried but it’s nice in a simple way. The broth leaves the sensation of a buttery coating on the tongue- that’s something I usually appreciate!

So I agreed to play grandpa style tea trial today. And in my hurry this morning, I picked this one because it was already measured out. I just dumped the whole sample packet into my carry mug, added some water, and out the door I went.

I probably should have rinsed this one first, but oh well.

The first bit was a little strong, but after I added more water, and more water, and more water, and more water, and more water, and more water, every time I got to about 2/3 or half full of tea and leaves, it was delicious.

I can see doing this a lot more often.

It’s a nice, easy way to enjoy tea, and it’s tasty.

I wish I’d tried this oolong a different way since it was my only sample of it, but c’est la vie. I would drink this again, for sure.

Oh, I decided to keep my water temperature lower, under 170°F because I wanted it at a temperature I would never have a problem drinking. (Especially since I did this in the carry mug and it doesn’t cool off.)

This is the last of the oolongs I needed to try from Teavivre’s oolong pouch. They have all been amazing. I used an entire pouch of these leaves: two flat teaspoons and not even half of another teaspoon. Another gorgeous green leaf color and the fragrance is mostly creamy vegetables with a hint of flowers.

Steep #1 // just boiled // rinse // 1 min
As usual, the flavor is amazing. This one is mostly butter. Not cream or milk… just BUTTER. Hints of floral in the flavor as well. A little savory like the oolong I tried the other day, but not as much. Very delicious.

Steep #2 // just boiled // 1 3/4 min
I was going for one minute on this steep too, but it ended up steeping more than I would have liked. It didn’t ruin the cup though! Another flavorful cup with just a touch of astringency to it. Otherwise, the flavors are identical to the first cup, just stronger. I think I’ll try all of these oolongs again with just one teaspoon, to see if they don’t get just that hint of astringency. They are very flavorful with two teaspoons though. So much oolong flavor!

Steep #3 // just boiled // 1 3/4 min
Another delicious buttery cup… still extreme amounts of flavor! I could probably steep this one 30 more times.

All five of the oolongs in this sampler have been the highest quality, most flavorful oolongs I’ve ever had the honor of steeping up. They are all slightly different and I loved brewing them all with the same parameters to make sure I could tell the differences. I have loved all of the oolongs that I’ve tried in general from Teavivre… except for the Anxi Monkey King for some reason (That one isn’t to my tastes unless I steeped it incorrectly the one time I had it.) My absolute favorite is the Iron Goddess TiGuanYin. Just mentioning it makes me want to steep up a cup right now! I’m so glad I started drinking tea. It’s something small that adds happiness to each and every day. There is always tea!

Method: 1.5 tsp, 8 oz, 195 degrees, grandpa style

Dry Leaf Aroma: Surprisingly non-floral. I didn’t smell much of anything.

Brewing Aroma: Buttery and floral.

Flavor: This is a great oolong! I have found that lightly oxidized oolongs tend to be my faves. I love picking out floral notes when I know the tea has not been scented with petals. I oversteeped this, because I forgot to set a timer and got distracted, but the tea was forgiving. There wasn’t bitterness in the first cup. I added more water, and the floral was there, but there was also fairly pronounced bite. Not the tea’s fault!

Thanks to Angel @ Teavivre, who provided very generous samples. Because of that, I can try this again and steep it properly. I think this may benefit from short steeps and/or gong fu brewing. I’ll update when I try it again!

I’ve decided this an oolong weekend. This one smells floral, and a little green. It has a smooth, sweet flavour, more towards the floral side.

Green oolongs are my home tea. From here I go out and explore other teas, but I always come back to green oolongs, my first and true love. :)
I love to floral green aroma. Just like spring! That luscious hydrating liquid. Better than water for thirst. :) This tea makes me happy. It is not remarkable, but it is excellent.