This is a strong, alluring cup of pure, unblended oolong that tastes like fruit and flowers with a dash of pollen/honey. The taste is surprisingly rich for a straight tea.
I feel like a fancy aristocrat with such a delicacy at my hands. Like my porter bright it straight from Asia as an offering from a king trying to curry my favor.
(Side note: “Curry favor”? Like… make it spicy and delicious? I’ve never thought about the phrase “curry favor” before, and had to Google it to make sure that was the exact phrase. It is. Do you ever have linguistic moments like this?)
This tea makes me think about how big and magical the world is. We have these plants that come up from the ground that we’ve selectively bred and handle in specific ways to make them tasty. There’s nothing else in this cup. Just leaves. We put the leaves into some hot water and taste pours out.
Some people put beans in hot water for the same reason. But they’re wrong. The leaves are better.
If you want to enjoy these leaves in particular, they’re for sale at the TeaRunners site. The site is run by a girl who’s been in several science fiction TV shows I like. I showed up to support the girl. I stayed because I liked the plants she picked out for me to try.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Tea Runners
Description
From the family farm of a nationally recognized tea master, this fabulous Mi Lan Xiang (“Honey Orchid Fragrance”) Dan Cong Oolong tea sets itself apart with its distinctive golden color and strong fruity aromas.
This alluring and addictive tea has strong notes of orchid, honey, lychee and mango, with a touch of spice. It lingers on the palate for hours and will have you coming back for more.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Golden Osmanthus from Perkse Coffee & Tea. . . .
This tea packs a wallop. Despite being a honey-and-flower blend, it has a sturdy, spunky edge. Its sweetness is balanced with just enough deep vegetal counterpoint to make you think “hey, this is a treat, and it might ALSO be good for me.”
IS it good for you? I googled it, and I found out that oolong tea benefits “are doubled because of the combined qualities of black tea and green tea.” Which is great, because oolong is my legit all-time favorite. Sometimes it tastes green. Sometimes it tastes black. It’s a whimsical, shape-shifting Loki of a tea.
This one in particular is more green in texture, flavor, and vibe, but that sturdy base is reminiscent of a black. Green ones are sometimes wispy. This one doesn’t fall into that trap.
If you’re a person that enjoys blends, I think this would be a great oolong intro. It has that much flavor.
I shall take this tea’s optimistic vibe with me on my trip today — I’m going to Disney World! DRIVING THERE. It’s sixteen hours. Oh MANNNNN. TEA GIVE ME STRENGTH.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Perkse Coffee & Tea
Description
Golden Osmanthus (also known as Huang Jin Gui) is an Anxi oolong whose name means “Golden Flower.” A lightly roasted oolong our “Bolero” reveals an intensity with hints of honey and flowers you will find enticing and seductive.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Mt. Wudong Mi Lan Xiang Dancong Oolong Tea aka Honey Orchid from JK Tea. . . .
Honey Orchid, what an alluring name for a tea. That just makes you feel like this tea is going to deliver on sweet floral notes. What that name doesn’t say is this tea is also robust, rich, and full of a slight earthy flavor that mingles perfectly with the honey and floral tones.
This particular oolong from JK Tea, a tea shop dedicated to offering high quality teas to the tea community, doesn’t have any notable aromas when you first open the tea. But after brewing this tea with fresh water prepped right under boiling and allowing the tea to brew for a few minutes, this tea gives you all the loving you can handle.
Gorgeous rich but subtle earthy notes lay the ground work for these pops of sweet floral touches that you can pick up through each sip. There is also this underlying fruit note that adds to the sweetness. I greedily gulped, yes gulped, this tea down. With all the wonderful flavors being so well balanced, I couldn’t help myself.
Don’t judge this tea by how simple the flavors sound. This is one of those teas that you need to literally sit down and thoroughly enjoy without distraction to really focus on what the tea leaves are yielding. Highly recommend this tea for those that are looking for a break in what they normally drink or just to change the pace up a bit. Simply beautiful!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: JK Tea
Description
When we come to the shape of the Mi Lan Xiang Dancong Tea, if you look for some photos, you can see resemblance with dried seaweed, both in color and it’s twisted, stick-like shape, but the texture of the Tea is a bit firmer and maybe we can even make a comparison with vanilla sticks, if you can imagine them ultrathin and strained. For the taste, it enjoys strong, delicate honey aroma with light floral aroma as well; sweet taste with lingering after taste sweetness; rich & complex mouth feeling after sipping the tea liquid. For some people, it is hard to believe that such strong fruity flavor is developed naturally and with such sophisticated process, but this is true.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Ginger Lily Oolong from Tea Ave. . . . .
Tea Ave has some of the most NATURALLY AMAZING Oolongs I have ever tried. Recently I was luck enough to sample Ginger Lily Oolong by Tea Ave and I knew right away I just HAD to share my thoughts and feelings with you!
Ginger Lily Oolong by Tea Ave features an Alishan Jin Xuan Oolong base with low roasting and oxidation levels. It’s light, sweet, smooth, and somewhat earthy with a subtle ginger finish that gently lingers onto the aftertaste.
My mind was puzzled as I sipped on Ginger Lily Oolong by Tea Ave. How could this flavor happen to such a light oolong? Tea Ave’s Ginger Lily Oolong is prepared using the ancient method, in which the tea absorbs the flower fragrance during the baking progress. It then produces a scented tea that’s aromatic and flavorful without using any additives or chemicals.
It’s mild, soothing, refreshing, FRESH, and almost like experiencing SUMMER in a cup! Because I live in the snow belt area of the east coast of the US I always try to hang on to every bit of summer that I can. Ginger Lily Oolong by Tea Ave certainly helped me do that. Maybe not literally but at least in my dreams while sipping on this lovely tea!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Tea Ave
Description
Our Ginger Lily Oolong is prepared using the ancient method, in which the tea absorbs the flower fragrance during the baking progress, producing a scented tea that’s aromatic and flavorful without using any additives or chemicals. It’s good for you and delicious. Ginger Lily Oolong has a mild, soothing aroma.
Ginger Lily Oolong is sweet and smooth with a light body. Ginger Lily blossoms from Taiwan are blended with high mountain oolong tea (Alishan Jin Xuan) to yield a tea that has an earthy oolong taste with a light, sweet ginger finish with pleasing honey notes. A lovely, approachable, refreshing tea. Call it summer in a cup.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Oolong Mi Lan Dan Cong from Canton Tea Co
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Canton Tea Co.
Tea Description:
Dan Cong is the champagne of oolong tea: ripe with intense fruit and sweetness. The first time people taste this tea they are astonished by the arresting honey and floral notes – all completely natural. The tender leaves are thoroughly fermented and baked to produce a rich liquor bursting with peach, lychee, honey and orchid flavours. Grown on a plantation on the lower slopes of Wu Dong Mountain, Chao Zhou, this high-grade Chinese tea can be enjoyed through multiple infusion.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Canton Tea Co. is another company that I have always wanted to try but never did. I don’t have an answer of why I never ordered from them or swapped with a fellow Steepster friend, but I just seemed to stay in the realm of flavored teas. I lived a sheltered tea existence. . . until recently when I started devouring straight teas.
This tea delivered everything single flavor that is mentioned in the description. This particular oolong is sweet and full of flavor. Honey like with floral notes all the way. Hints here and there of a baked taste that just makes you want more. I can’t describe this tea to the level it should be. I’m actually in awe of how much I love this tea.
I was able to get several more infusions out of this tea even to the point of getting more of the peach notes that are described in the description. Just so delicate so light. The right amount of floral and the right amount of sweet. I have a crush on this tea.
I prepped this up using water heated from my One Touch Breville and I swear I was brewing up tea every 2 minutes. My tea cup seemed to be perpetually empty. I know. #First World Problems here.
This tea is a most for me when I start ordering teas again. I’m on a slight hiatus with the upcoming nuptials in all. (AH! I’m getting married in November!) But as soon as we get back from the honeymoon, Canton Tea I’m coming for you!