Showing posts with label Oolong. Show all posts

Hatvala Three Moon Estate Oolong

Hatvala Three Moons Estate Oolong
Origin: Son La, Vietnam
Harvest: 2016
Cultivar: Quingxin
 I’ve been in the mood for oolongs a lot recently and have been having trouble finding one, not necessarily because a lack of good options since almost sixty percent of my tea horde is oolongs at the moment. I decided to sample Hatvala’s Three Moon Estate oolong, I’ve had it sitting in my to be sampled pile for at least a month, recently I haven’t been as attentive to how long I’ve not touched an unopened box.
 Aroma: Floral and Toasted Nuts
Flavor: Floral, Honeydew and Vegetal

I was initially a little off put by the aroma of the dry leaves, while it had an undoubtedly strong floral aroma, there was a strange roasted smell that I tend to associate with GABA oolongs of which I am not the biggest fan. Nonetheless I soldiered on and tried the tea despite my prejudices and I liked it. There was some hard to describe taste in it that reminded me of GABA oolongs, but this definitely tastes like a green floral oolong, more on the floral side then the vegetal one. While it doesn’t have a lot of complexity it reminds me a bit of a lightly aged pouchong that has potential, but will be so much better with a couple years under its belt.  Which definitely is a possibility since it is so inexpensive that I might purchase a couple hundred grams to squirrel away to play with later on.  
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M&K’s Tea Co. Cherry Blossom Oolong (Sakura Phoenix)

(Tea Provided For Review)
M&K’sTea Co. Cherry Blossom Oolong (Sakura Phoenix)

I decided to try this Sakura Phoenix tea today because it felt the most interesting of my samples as it is a Chinese oolong mixed with pickled Japanese cherry blossoms. I am not sure if I have ever had a tea like this before; I have had both Chinese Oolongs and pickled cherry blossoms, but never blended together.  M&K to describes this as:

M&K's is proud to offer our exclusive Sakura Phoenix tea! We take the famous Feng Huang Chinese oolong tea picked from wild and independent (Dancong) tea bushes growing on the mountainside, and combine the tea with pickled Japanese cherry blossoms, which retain their unique cherry scent straight from the tree they were picked from in Kyoto, Japan. Sakura Phoenix tea combines tastes of  honey and cherry blossoms with an aroma of garden orchids.  
*We highly recommend you "rinse" this tea before you drink it (because of the salt on the cherry blossoms as well as the Phoenix tea opening up with a rinse). Simply pour boiling water over the tea, allow it to sit for about 10-15 seconds, discard the water, and then proceed with a normal brew!


Dry Leaves: The dry leaves smell strongly of salt which is not surprising, I am a little disappointed that I could not smell any of the base Dancong. As for the tea leaves they are pretty typical of Dancongs, mostly dark brown although there are hints of yellows and greens. As for the pickled cherry blossoms they are in pretty good shape.


First Steeping
Temperature: 190oF
Brewing Time: Twenty Seconds
Aroma: Salt
Flavor: Orchid, Almonds, Salt and Floral
Tasting Notes: I was not planning on steeping this for as long as I did, but I had a bit of a problem with my camera, I’ve had problems with my camera not focusing on liquids before, but nothing like today. Anyways I hope you like out of focused blurry images; because that is what you are in for today. Nevertheless this is a very interesting tea, but first I must admit I did rinse this tea quite a lot; I did three rinses each for five seconds with boiling water to get most of the salt off.




This is a very sweet tea although if you are expecting a strong cherry taste you may want to look for a tea blended with hibiscus instead of pickled cherry blossoms, nevertheless I rather enjoyed it. I suspect most of the sweetness comes from the cherry blossoms, as the base tea has a lot of heartier tastes.  This sort of reminds me of a Mi Lan Xian for some reason. Anyways I decided to describe this as both Floral and having and Orchid flavor because when I brewed this tea it had a very noticeable Orchid taste and a slightly murky floral aftertaste.


Second Steeping
Temperature: 195oF
Brewing Time: Thirty Seconds
Aroma: Salt
Flavor: Orchid, Almond, Peach, Salt and Floral
Tasting Notes: Like the last infusion there is not much of an aroma which is quite a shame, because I suspect the base tea may have a nice aroma, I already mentioned the base tea reminds of a Mi Lan Xian since the Dancong flavors are starting to become stronger.




I prefer this infusion over the last since the salty flavor is starting to wane although more of the base tea and cherry blossom to shine, although the contrast is disappearing as well.



Third Steeping
Temperature: 200oF
Brewing Time: Forty-five Seconds
Aroma: Salt and Floral
Flavor: Floral, Almond, Peach and Honey
Tasting Notes: I am sad to say the Orchid flavor is gone; instead it started to become indistinct from the murky floral aftertaste although it was rather interesting to have a very strong murky floral flavor and aftertaste.  I am happy to say the salty notes are gone entirely, but I feel the pickled cherry blossoms were perhaps a little too salty I feel I missed out a lot the delicate early flavors. As for the flavors they are pretty much as strong as the previous infusion, but with some new honey notes, although without the salty contrast they feel much stronger. From here on out the almond and honey notes start to shine and the floral notes disappear around the sixth infusion.  


At the time of writing this M&K is currently selling 42.5g for $7.29 which seems fair although I’d be happier to pay more for 50g. My major criticism of this tea is the pickled cherry blossoms. While I did rinse this three times I feel it was a little too salty especially considering that I actually remembered to rinse it, I have had pickled cherry blossoms before, but I don’t remember them being this salty. I have a sneaking suspicion the cherry blossoms blended in this tea were intended for confectionaries rather than for tea, but at the same time I have not seen pickled cherry blossoms that looked as nice as these did. And then there is the possibility that I just had a very salty sample. I think this is worth checking out, especially if you do not drink a lot of straight teas, I imagine this would be a nice transition from flavored to straight teas since I could actually taste the tea. I have had a couple Cherry blossom flavored teas before, although they have all had green tea bases and blended with hibiscus and cherry flavoring, but this in my opinion is a much better tea.  
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What-Cha Thailand Sticky Rice Khao Hom Oolong

Origin: Doi Mae Salong, Chiang Rai province, Thailand
Harvest: April 2015
Cultivar: TTes #12 (Jin Xuan) cross between Ying Zhi Hong Xin and TTES #8
Elevation: 1000m


I really should start sampling teas in the order I received them, I still have quite a few teas to try from my previous What-Cha shipment and I am already digging around in my latest. I decided to try this because I found out Alistair retired a rather interesting Jin Xuan from Fujian that I rather liked (luckily I still have a bit left over!) and I was in the mood for a nice milky tea. I’ll admit this tea scares me a little bit it seems so unlike anything Alistair has sourced so far, from the name alone it sounds more like the kind of a certain tea store infamous for their teas blended with feathers and nails than any of the teas from What-Cha. Nevertheless I decided to take the plunge and order 50g. What-Cha describes this as:
Has a creamy texture and sticky rice aroma, imparted unto the tea during processing by heating the sticky rice plant's leaves along with the tea leaves.
Sticky rice scented tea is a specialty of northern Thailand, although traditionally green tea is used, Jin Xuan Oolong produces just as good if not better results.
Produced in Northern Thailand in what was once the hub of the 'Golden Triangle', the farmers in 1994 turned their back on opium production and switched to tea, importing a range of tea plants from Taiwan's famed tea producing region Alishan. 
Despite my reservations I love Khao Neeo Mamuang and the idea of a tea that tastes like sticky rice is amusing.



Dry Leaves: The tea is very irregular which I am taking to be a good sign, I tend to have good luck with oolongs that are not perfectly uniform. And the aroma is amazing! There are tons of toasted rice smells, as well as the smell of slightly burnt rice (like the smell of rice at the bottom of a rice cooker that has started to brown). There are some fruity notes, but the toasted rice is too strong for me to distinguish anything else


First Steeping
Temperature: 176oF
Brewing Time: One Minute
Aroma: Sticky Rice
Flavor: Sticky Rice, Toasted Rice and Popcorn
Tasting Notes: Oh my god this is amazing! It tastes pretty much exactly like sticky rice, although it desperately feels like it is missing something. From what I can infer from the description this is a scented Jin Xuan and I feel scandalous for saying this, but what if this was coated in tapioca powder? While this does taste and smells very much like sticky rice it is missing the tapioca sauce commonly served with Kaho Neeo.



Other than the amazing tastes and aroma, this has a wonderful buttery mouthfeel, it feels much nice than a tea grown at 1000m should feel!  


Second Steeping
Temperature: 180oF
Brewing Time: Two Minutes
Aroma: Sticky Rice
Flavor: Sticky Rice, Toasted Rice and Popcorn
Tasting Notes: Pretty much everything is the same as last time, although the strength of the flavors are a little different. The primarily sticky rice flavor is a little stronger, while the toasted rice is weaker.



I’m in love with this tea! While it does feel a little one note, it is absolutely amazing.


Third Steeping
Temperature: 185oF
Brewing Time: Three Minutes
Aroma: Sticky Rice and Floral
Flavor: Sticky Rice, Popcorn and Fruity
Tasting Notes:  The toasted rice flavor disappeared entirely and the popcorn flavor is waning, although the sticky rice notes are as strong as ever. There is a new fruity flavor which I suspect is the base tea coming out. The sticky rice flavor stays around for a couple more infusions, but after this infusion I feel that the base tea’s flavors start to become very apparent. I feel pretty confident in saying that the base tea before it was scented was on the greener-floral side and slightly vegetal. According to What-Cha’s description Sticky Rice tea is traditionally made out of a green tea rather than an oolong and while that does sound interesting, I rather enjoy this and going to make an uneducated guess I probably prefer a Sticky Rice Oolong over a Sticky Rice Green tea because of how long I can continuously brew an oolong.



After my first experience with this tea I did experiment around with it a little, mostly changing how long I brew this for although I did mess around with how hot of water I use to brew this with since the recommended starting temperature is a little low for an oolong, but I think the aroma comes out better when using water below 190oF. Nevertheless I loved this Jin Xuan, even more than the Fujian Jin Xuan I wrote about last year although in an ideal world I’d love for this to have a tapioca flavor as well as a mango flavor, but I am perfectly content with this as it is. At the time of writing this What-Cha is selling this tea for 50g at $7.50 and that is an amazing deal for this tea. I am a sad to say that What-Cha has retired the Fujian Jin Xuan I liked so much, but I think this is a nice replacement for it.




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Tea From Taiwan’s Zhong Shu Hu Ooolong

(Tea Provided For Review)
Origin: Zhang Shu Hu Village, Ali Shan, Chia Yi County, Taiwan
Harvest: November 2014
Cultivar: Cui Yu (Jade TaiCha #13)
Elevation: 1400m


Tea From Taiwan was kind enough to send me a couple samples of the teas I forgot to purchase after my review of their DaYuLing and I randomly decided to try this first. Tea From Taiwan describes this as:
Zhong Shu Hu oolong tea comes from the Zhong Shu Hu area of Ali Mountain (Alishan) - one of the most famous tea producing regions of Taiwan. The climate here is cool and moist with cloud cover and mists every day. These conditions are ideal for tea because the plants grow very slowly and produce tender, flavorful tea leaves and buds.
Zhong Shu Hu oolong tea has a sweet taste and refined aroma. Each brewing brings out new flavours and taste sensations. This tea has a complexity that provides continuous nuances with every cup.
Zhong Shu Hu oolong tea can be re-brewed several times while maintaining an excellent flavour. We recommend the Gong Fu method of preparation to bring out the best of this excellent tea.
I did not read the description until after I tried the tea and I was shocked to find out it is from the AliShan area; the tea reminds me much more of a LiShan tea than an AliShan, perhaps I haven’t had as good AliShan as this before. Many AliShan teas I have had in the past with a few exceptions have paled in comparison to this. I kind of regret not using my aroma cup on this.

Dry Leaves: The leaves are a little irregularly shaped, I’m guessing this is either a hand plucked tea or at the very least a hand rolled tea which is not surprising for a tea of this quality.

First Steeping
Temperature: 190oF
Brewing Time: Thirty Seconds
Aroma: Cinnamon and Roast
Flavor: Cinnamon, Floral and Vegetal
Tasting Notes: I already mentioned that I thought this was a LiShan at first, mostly because of now sweet and light it is, I've been hearing for quite some time that there is a bit of a tea forgery problem for quite some time, but up till now I never really paid much attention to it. I've had a few good AliShan in the past, but for the most part I've had some pretty mediocre teas that supposedly came from there. While this tea is delightfully buttery, it does not have that thick mouthfeel that many GaoShaCha are known for, but at the same time it is not exactly thin.


So far it is outstanding, it has a very strong floral aroma and taste as well as a distinct, yet light roast taste. As you probably already know I tend to prefer the more floral Taiwanese oolongs over the more roasted ones, but this was quite different from either the greener, but floral or roasted oolongs I tried in the past. At first I was just getting the floral and cinnamon notes, but after a couple seconds I was able to tell there is some roasty notes as well, still on the lighter side, but quite pleasant nonetheless.

Second Steeping
Temperature: 195oF
Brewing Time: Forty-five seconds
Aroma: Orchid, Cinnamon and Roast           
Flavor: Cinnamon, Floral, Vegetal and Roasted Nuts
Tasting Notes:  The liquor is becoming a little dark, yet it still taste like a greener oolong, even though it has a roasted nut flavor that I see more in Muzha oolongs. It is a little strange because it has these amazing green oolong flavors as well as some minor roasted oolong flavors. Regardless I am absolutely in love with this tea.



It has a nice mix of floral and vegetal taste. Tea From Taiwan’s description is absolutely spot on. While the cinnamon notes are the strongest of the individual flavors, I can’t help but taste the vegetal and nutty flavors as well. Whoever roasted this tea needs recognition because this is absolutely amazing! This was my favorite of these three infusions mostly because of the strength of the aroma while all the scents are still pleasant in the subsequent infusion I found the roasted scent a little too strong in the next infusion.

Third Steeping
Temperature: 200oF
Brewing Time: One Minute
Aroma: Roast and Floral
Flavor: Floral, Spicy Cinnamon, Spinach and Nutty
Tasting Notes: It was a little strange to see the cinnamon aroma disappear entirely and the roasted aroma become so pungent. The floral aroma is still there, but it feels a little underwhelming (it’s interesting to note that in later infusions the floral aroma becomes the sole scent remaining). As for the liquor it is becoming darker once again; while this tea does have a rather long life I got a little more than fifteen steepings out of the leaves before they felt completely used up, but the liquor tends to get very dark in later infusions. As for the flavors the cinnamon note has a new spicy edge to it which was rather nice and the vegetal taste has become distinctly spinach like.

I loved this tea. It is quite an elusive tea to describe, while it has these wonderful floral elements, it also has some slight roasted ones as well. I already mentioned how I originally thought this was a LiShan, but I have yet to mention that I was shocked to discover this is a fall tea. It has that wonderfully complexity that I associate more with winter oolongs. Regardless Tea From Taiwan at the time of writing this has this tea is on sale for $19.80 for 75 grams and that feels like a very good price for a tea as amazing as this. 




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Tea From Taiwan’s Wu Ling Oolong

(Tea Provided for Review)
Origin: Wu Ling Farm, Li Shan, Taichung County, Taiwan
Harvest: Winter 2014
Cultivar: Chin Shin
Elevation: 1800m



After being impressed with Tea From Taiwan’s Zhong Shu Hu I decided to try this Wu Ling despite the simple name. Tea From Taiwan describes this as:
Wu Ling oolong tea (wu-long tea) is our best tea in our regular collection. Wu Ling is a mountain area in Taichung county and its high altitude (more than 1800 meters) contributes to the ideal growing conditions for wu long tea.
Another reason why Wu Ling wu long tea is of such fine quality is the soil of the Wu Ling area. Wu Ling was a fruit producing region for many years until economic conditions favored imported fruit over home-grown apples and pears. Former orchards in the Wu Ling area were converted into oolong tea plantations, and Wu Ling wu long tea is renowned for its fruity quality.
Wu Ling is located on Mount Li (Li Shan or Pear Mountain) and wu long tea from Mount Li is the most prized wu long tea in Taiwan. It is ideally suited for gong fu style brewing and can be re-brewed up to eight times while still retaining plenty of flavor.
More information about the Li Shan area of Taiwan (including a section on Wu Ling wu long tea) can be found on this website about Wu Ling farm.
It sounds a bit like this is TFT’s house oolong. It’s cool that TFT list’s the farm’s website, although the English language version is currently unavailable. Although it is pretty strange for a vendor that specializes in Taiwanese teas to essentially give away their source especially when there are tons of online stores that specialize in Taiwanese Oolongs, I suspect TFT must get a really good deal on teas from the Wu Ling farm.





Dry Leaves: There is not much of a fragrance to the dry leaves, but the actual leaves have quite a strange shape, while they are tightly rolled they remind me a little of embryos. Perhaps they are hand rolled, but I am not sure.



First Steeping
Temperature: 190oF
Brewing Time: Thirty Seconds
Aroma: Cinnamon and Floral
Flavor: Floral, Fruity and Roasted Vegetal
Tasting Notes: It’s very silky. I do not think I have ever had a tea with this soft mouthfeel. Instantly I am reminded of the Zhong Shu Hu, while this Wu Ling lacks the cinnamon flavors of the Zhong Shu Hu it feels very similar. It does have that light roasted taste, but this time it feels more like roasted vegetables, more on the dark leafy green side, perhaps not as strong as kale yet.





The fruity notes are a little elusive; it took me quite some time to realize there were some fruity notes in there. So far I think I prefer the Zhong Shu Hu to this, although this has a much nicer mouthfeel.



Second Steeping
Temperature: 195oF
Brewing Time: One Minute
Aroma: Cinnamon and Floral
Flavor: Floral, Fruity, Vegetal and Sugar Cane
Tasting Notes: It is not as silky as the last infusion, but instead it is becoming creamy. I am happy to say it is starting to taste less like the Zhong Shu Hu, the roasted notes disappeared entirely and instead the vegetal notes are becoming very green. And there is a new sugar cane flavor that was quite nice, while this tea is certainly on the sweeter side it is not sickly sweet like some oolongs.





The cinnamon aroma is a little strong and overpowers the floral notes which are a little sad since there are some lovely orchid and violet notes in there.  Regardless all the flavors are very clean and refreshing.



Third Steeping
Temperature: 200oF
Brewing Time: Two Minutes
Aroma: Floral
Flavor: Peachy, Floral, Vegetal and Sugar Cane
Tasting Notes: It is becoming incredibly creamy! And it is starting to become a little darker, while the floral and vegetal notes are still present in the subsequent infusions the vegetal notes become more apparent and the sugar cane starts to become caramel-y. In the next infusion there is a rather interesting taste that I struggled to identify, almost like a sweet butter, but not exactly.





Regardless this is a lovely tea, I prefer it over the Zhong Shu Hu mostly for its rich flavors, while it lacks the incredible aroma of the ZSH it more than makes up for it with its incredible mouthfeel. I can see why this is one of Tea From Taiwan’s best teas in their regular collection.  At the time of writing this TFT is selling this for 75g at $29 or $4 for a 7g sample, it’s definitely worth checking out.




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Tea Ave Wenshan Baochong

Origin: Ping Ling District, New Taipei City, Taiwan
Harvest: 2014
Cultivar: QinXin Oolong
Elevation: 400-800m



I decided finally write this review, I put off looking at another Tea Ave tea ever since they launched their site, not because I do not like Tea Ave teas, but Tea Ave had a very successful PR campaign leading to them being everywhere. I do not know how many samplers they sent out before they launched, but I have a feeling they sent out a lot judging by their presence on the various tea forums I regularly read. In fact when I published my Tea Ave preview I did so prematurely. I have not discussed why I publish my reviews or even what I get out of this blog. I do not make any money off this blog, but I do get the occasional samples; for every ten queries from tea vendors I reject nine of them for a number of reasons. In fact the few companies that I accept samples from I regularly buy tea from. If you have been an attentive reader of this blog you may notice I always disclose at the beginning of my posts whether or not I received samples for the sake of review.

As I already said I do not get any money from this blog, the primary reason I write this blog is that I enjoy having a space to record some of the teas I try and recommending teas that I enjoy or think are interesting. While I do try to limit the posts on this blog to teas I either enjoy drinking or at the very least have interesting characteristics I try not to post my thoughts on teas that I do not enjoy. This may come as something of a shock to some, but there are quite a lot of teas that I do not like, even more scandalous there are teas from some of my favorite vendors that I do not enjoy.

Regardless I finally feel like the various tea forums I read are not oversaturated with reviews of Tea Ave’s teas. Tea Ave describes their Wenshan Baochong as:

If oolong tea can be chic, Wenshan Baochung is it: sophisticated, refined, unctuous (save it for your fanciest friends—or for yourself). One of the most fragrant oolong teas in the world, Wenshan Baochung is known for its rich, long-lasting aroma (we highly recommend enjoying it with our aroma cup). Unroasted with floral aromas, most of Wenshan Baochung Oolong’s tea leaves are unoxidized, giving it a quality reminiscent of a green tea with a dash of Dong Ding. Floral notes and aroma arise naturally from the tea leaves.
Wenshan Baochung Oolong grows in the Wenshan region of Northern Taiwan, where the year-long mild climate and fog-filled air give the tea a distinct, refined quality. Wenshan Baochung tea turns a golden honey-green color when infused and has a delightful floral flavor with a sweet finish.
Tea leaves are bright green and twisted into long strands.

The only statement I disagree with Tea Ave’s description is “save it for your fanciest friends—or for yourself” makes this sound more like the kind of tea you want to save for special occasions, but I feel this is more of a daily drinker. I know some see the phrase “daily drinker” as a slight, as an inexpensive tea perhaps of dubious origins, but I am not using it in that sense. I like to describe some Taiwanese Oolongs (LiShan, DaYuLing, etc) as being like cotton candy, something that is quite enjoyable, but you cannot live off them; while daily drinkers are more nutrious. As much as I enjoy DaYuLings, I do not think I could ever regularly drink them, while teas like this I could easily see myself drinking this often.



Dry Leaves: The leaves are very aromatic, there are a lot of floral notes, but the strongest is orchid. The dry leaves are pretty evenly blue and green, generally in my experience in lower quality baochongs I often see leaves that are mostly blue while in higher quality baochongs I often see mostly greens; I rarely see baochongs that are equally balanced like this. While the color of the leaves do not always telegraph the quality of a tea, for a baochong I like to assess the quality by the aroma of dry leaves and the aroma of these leaves is simply amazing. I can see the occasional stem which I do not often see in Baochongs. 


First Steeping
Temperature: 190oF
Brewing Time: One Minute
Aroma: Floral and Vanilla
Flavor: Orchid, Honeysuckle, Spinach and Honey
Tasting Notes: As always with Taiwanese oolongs I did a quick rinse with boiling water. I decided to not follow the recommended brewing parameters Tea Ave lists on their website and their packaging, not because I disagree with what they recommend, but I feel that brewing this in very short steepings will not produce very different tastes and aromas in subsequent steepings and if I brewed this for long periods of time I would undoubtedly miss out on some of the subtler flavors and aromas. Long time readers may have noticed I have a template for how I write my reviews, I generally only post my notes on the first three steepings of any tea, and I feel that the first three steepings are the most important. Not surprising this is a very floral tea, although there is a bit of a vegetal notes coming out.



I rather enjoyed the honeysuckle notes more so than the orchid ones, but I found the spinach notes lingered a bit which was a nice contrast to the floral notes; while the vegetal flavors pale in comparison to more vegetal teas like senchas (etc) I always enjoy Taiwanese oolongs that have both floral tastes and vegetal ones.

Second Steeping
Temperature: 195oF
Brewing Time: Two Minutes
Aroma: Floral and Vanilla  
Flavor: Orchid, Honeysuckle, Violet, Spinach and Honey
Tasting Notes: The floral flavors are becoming more intense! I’m rather enjoying how these very strong floral notes are interacting with the spinach.



It was not until this steeping that I realized how much I liked the vanilla aroma of the tea. I do not often encounter vanilla scents in oolongs as green as this, but it was quite enjoyable although it did kind of clash with the floral notes
.

Third Steeping
Temperature: 200oF
Brewing Time: Three Minutes
Aroma: Floral and Vanilla
Flavor: Floral, Spinach, Nutty and Honey
Tasting Notes: I’m sad to say the floral notes are starting to become less distinct, this tea still has quite a lot of life left, but from here on out it starts to become simpler. Although I am happy to say the spinach and nutty notes do not wane until the very end.



This is a very lovely Baochong, at the time of writing this Tea Ave is selling this for $13.75 (CAD) for 25g is well worth the price. It definitely ranks pretty high on the baochungs currently being sold between $10-15, you can tell it is machine harvested, but it tastes much more like a hand plucked tea.


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