Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong, Mei Shan, Taiwan, Winter 2011, Late November Harvest
Where to Buy: Stone Leaf Teahouse
Tea Description: A full bodied oolong famous for its soft crème aroma and light green infusion. A particularly nice large leaf High Mountain varietal. It is really quite smooth, crisp, and refreshing,
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Have you ever had one of those teas that simply puffed up so much that you didn’t have enough room in your gaiwan, cup, steeping basket, etc… for it?
This is one of those teas! As if given miracle growth water the tiny little nuggets just poofed up into this huge puffy cloud of tea leaves. Beautiful!
I did a quick rinse and then steeped my first sampling. In the dry form we have typical oolong nuggets that smelled of earthy soil but that was nothing of the taste in this tea.
The first aroma to hit my nostrils was corn, sweet corn. First sip was also that of a sweet ripe corn, but perhaps a white corn rather than yellow. The mouthfeel was of milk, cream, and butter. I do love a creamy buttery tea.
When I ordered this from Stone Leaf Teahouse I had called to have a few question regarding their teas and website clarified and John Wetzel, at Stone Leaf was so accommodating and helpful. Which we all know good customer service is key in any business. John explained some of the differences between teas and helped me choose teas that I would most enjoy and he hit my taste buds as if they had a target on them! I am loving the flavor profiles of this Zin Hsuan which John educated me the literal translation is Golden Daylily.
The color of the cup is such a faint golden color that at first I was suspicious that there would be any flavor in there! To my delight I am finding my cup to be full of rich wonderful flavors and aroma!
The leaves unfurl into long stems with three to four leaves attached.
I was able to get multiple steeps from the leaves though out the day and with each cup the flavors held strong and true.
This is a lip licking tea that keeps you wanting more but it is rich and decedent! Dare I say a dessert tea? Normally I use the words “dessert tea” for flavored teas however this creamy delight for me is one that says YUMMMM Dessert!
If you too love flavor profiles that scream creamy, milky, buttery, with a vegetal hint then you must get some Zin Hsuan Golden Daylily from Stone Leaf Teahouse!
Ancient Emerald Green Tea from Basic Tea
Tea Type: Green Tea
Where To Buy: Basic Tea
Product Description:
This long, wiry organic tea leaf comes from the Jing Mai village in Yunnan, China. This “emerald” green tea is famous for its full-bodied taste and lasting aroma, which can be infused two or even three times throughout the day. Steep 1 generous tsp. per 6 oz. cup for 3 minutes. ENJOY! 3.5 ounces $11.50
Tasters Review:
This tea makes my head spin with all sorts of thoughts! Let me explain…it’s sort of like a word association thing…
When I see or hear the word ANCIENT I automatically think of tradition, history, smart, and for some reason when I think of EMERALDS I think of Green, of course, but also words like special, superior, and nature come to mind. In a way I can relate all of these thoughts to this tea in some way, shape, or form. Other things that come to mind while drinking this tea are…YUMMY! Of Course the taste is YUMMY but it’s also sweet. It’s not grassy. It has a lingering sweet green aftertaste. As far at the aroma…it smells like…
gently buttered veggies, sweet, nutty, yet warm.
This tea was much better than I anticipated! I was thinking it was going to be ‘average’ but it better than average! A nice surprise! I would drink this again – maybe even often! To sum in up on one word…YUM!
Golden Monkey Tea from Georgia Tea Company
Leaf Type: Black
Where To Buy: Georgia Tea Company
Company Description:
Black tea from the Fujian province of China. Golden Monkey tea is hand-processed each spring with a careful plucking of only one leaf and one bud. It is among the finest Chinese black teas available today. The name comes from its unique appearance: the leaves resemble monkey claws. If you enjoy full-bodied teas with an abundance of flavor, we urge you to give this tea a try.
Golden Monkey tea hails from the Fujian province of China, one of its most prolific. This region accounts for one-fifth of China’s total tea output. And the high quality of its teas keeps them in high demand. This region’s exports of tea account for a quarter of the country’s total. Fujian teas benefits from an excellent climate, combining mild temperatures, abundant rainfall and mountainous terrain. It has a long history of cultivating tea: over one-thousand years.
Taster Review:
Over the past month I have been fortunate enough to try several teas from Georgia Tea Company and I have to say I have enjoyed my tea tasting experiences immensely. Their customer service is TOP NOTCH and the aroma of their teas are out of this world. Nearly everything I have tried I have been anywhere from pleasantly surprised to completely blown away with the wonderful taste!
Today I would like to tell you about Golden Monkey from Georgia Tea Company. I used to LOVE Adagio’s Fuijan Baroque and Adagio’s Yunnan Jig and I still do…but…Georgia Tea Company’s Golden Monkey seems to be the taste of both crammed into one tea but even BETTER.
Their Golden Monkey has a cakey and chewy goodness to it…malty and bold. The taste lingers long after your sip is complete. I found myself longing for that next sip and after my cup was gone thinking about another.