Siam Ruby Oolong / Great Tea Road

What a truly wonderful oolong.

It is like life, so quick and fleeting. The aroma and the taste are wonderfully silky and light. This seems to be a medium oxidized oolong.

One can tell due to the color of the tightly curled leaf and slightly dark amber color of the liquid. When steeped too long it almost reminds me of a grapefruit. Perhaps that is where the ruby comes from?

Ruby red grapefruit. It has a bitter, metallic twang (only when steeped too long) that is unlike anything in a tea I’ve had before. So strange even the aroma on the aroma cup is so unique. Sweet, almost like candy. This was the second infusion.

We will try one final third infusion. Lost a bit to the over steeping but it still retains the floral qualities in the flavor. Floral mainly but I am also noticing some unique mineral notes. Truly a unique oolong.


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Great Tea Road
Description:

From a high elevation mountain of Thailand. The steeped tea has a golden color. The aroma of dry tea is more like spinach but when brew its floral aroma is released. Smooth, complex and rich flavor. It has a notes of toasted hazelnut.
CAFFEINE LEVEL: Medium
BREWING DIRECTIONS: 1 Tea spoon | 7oz Water | 2-3 Minutes | 195 F  ​| Multiple infuses.
ORIGIN: Thailand

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Discovering Nunshen’s Oolong. . . .

G’day, tea-ple! It’s time for another foray into the Land of Oolong — a lush valley between the mountains of Black and the rolling hills of Green. (Disclaimer: this is not literal.) Oolong is like Doctor Who: it can travel between green and black at will. You never know where it will be. It will always surprise you.

Today’s pick comes from Nunshen, which has a really chic Bauhaus-style logo.

The pouch that held the tea sachet was made of a fine matte plastic that felt like a high-end business card. The sachet itself was made of a nice cotton/linen sort of material and had the stitching turn into the string that held on the tag. (David’s Tea’s sachets have similar construction. I was always impressed by those, too.)

I’m sharing this because I LOVE good design. It shows, right from the get-go, that these people care. (Well-packaged tea might not always be delicious, but you know that they had some meetings and they WANTED your experience to be nice, at least.)

The oolong that came out of this hella-chic packaging is surprisingly earthy. It’s like I momentarily entered the world of Helvetica/Bauhaus and forgot that tea existed. All of this smooth black-and-white sans-serif typography is covering up… plants for me to drink. RIGHT. I WAS HERE FOR THE TEA.

More than anything, this tea tastes like healthy cereal. The descriptor on the bag uses the word “oats” and “long.” I’m absolutely getting the oats. When I ran out of my own cereal once, I tried substituting my mom’s, some kind of uber-fiber keep-you-regular comes-from-the-earth blend. This is that. If you love oats and earthiness, this is for you.

I do not, for the life of me, now what “taste: long” means. I actually opened up Dictionary.com and typed in “long” thinking there was some kind of secondary meaning. A Google search on “long taste” offered up a jumble of results, including one that mentioned aftertaste.

So I stopped sipping, and yes, I do still taste this in my mouth a moment later. So maybe they mean it’s a lasting flavor?

REGARDLESS, if you love some malty oat flavor, you’ve gotta get on board with this tea. And then report back to me on what you think “long” means. Please help.


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Oolong
Where to Buy:  Nunshen
Description

Get closer to nature with fresh grassy flavors and scents that will remind you of an open meadow in the spring.This blend is guaranteed to cœrce your mind and body to feel at peace and one with the Earth.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

MrsPremise’s Oolong-A-Thon. . . . .

As I delved into my tea cabinet recently, I realized I had been stockpiling oolong teas.  Where did they all come from?!  

Since the season is finally starting to turn, and oolong teas always make me think of spring, it seemed like a good time to try them all.  

So I had an Oolong-A-Thon and brewed ten samples from my stores.  The numbers below aren’t a “best-of” ranking, but they roughly move from most delicate in flavor to the most potent in flavor.  . . . .

 

  1. Alishan High Mountain from Cameron Taiwan Premium Loose Leaf – The dry leaf smells sweet and nutty, and this sweet-oat flavor is echoed in the first steep with additional notes of green melon.  The second steep is nuttier still more oat than fruit, though a bit of the green flavor lingers on the aftertaste.  (See a review from my fellow Sororitea Sister). 
  2. Alishan High Mountain Eco First Pluck from Terrior Tea Merchant – The dry leaf smells like sweet grass and sour fruit.  The first steep is not sour at all, but very green and buttery, with more interesting notes like citrus or bok choy coming out on later steepings. 
  3. Ding Dong Oolong from Eco-Cha – Prior to brewing, this tea smells dry and earthy, like hay or dried grass.  Brewed, the first steep is roasty and savory, with just a hint of starchy sweetness in the aftertaste.  The second steep has nutty, brown rice flavors, but still remains light and drinkable.  (See a review from my fellow Sororitea Sister).
  4. Ding Ding Oolong from Cloud Nine (Spring 2015) – The first steep features fruit notes like plum, grape, and currant.  There are almost red wine or acai berry flavors.  This potent fruit flavor drops off in the second steep, with more green notes and fewer berries, more like green grapes and white wine, though the brew never got too bitter or dark even with longer steep times.  
  5. Ping Lin Pouchong from Cameron Taiwan Premium Loose Leaf  – These long dark tea leaves smelled like caramel or burnt sugar when dry, but their first steep was surprisingly green and floral.  The brew turned out to be slightly buttery, with almost-seaweed notes.  The second steep wasn’t distinctly different, with similar savory tones and a smooth, buttery aftertaste.
  6. Jin Xuan Milk Oolong from Teavivre – The first steep of this tea ended up tasting like sour grapes and bright florals, with a hint of roasted nuts and a supremely smooth mouthfeel.  The second steep increased the almost-honey flavor and feeling of the tea, and brought forward some either, grassier notes to the brew, and maintained the milky smooth texture.  
  7. Tie Kwan Yin Oolong from Tea Ave – The first steep was surprisingly roasty, with notes like warm toast or freshly baked bread.  There were no green or floral flavors, but the starchiness was well-balanced with an herbaceous earthiness.  The second steep brought out a stronger roast, and slightly bitter, dry hay notes, though the flavors were still balanced and very drinkable.  
  8. Shui Xian Oolong from Origins Tea – The tightly rolled dark leaves, smelled like hay and earth slightly bitter, though the first steep had a pop of tart currant, quickly buried under strong, roasted almond flavors.  This tea had a dry mouthfeel, very nutty and savory, with even a hint of smoke, like an oolong for lapsang-lovers.  The second steep brought out even more sweet, starchy, marzipan flavors.  
  9. Alishan Charcoal Fire Heavy Roast from T-Oolong Tea (Spring 2012) – Despite the name the first steep of this tea did have some bright notes like a greener alishan oolong but with a distinct, roasted, malty depth.  There are some charcoal notes: mineral and toasted.  Both steeps brew up dark in color, the second steep maintains the toasted rice and malt flavors as the first steep, but develops a smoother mouthfeel.  (See a review from my fellow Sororitea Sister). 
  10. Gingseng Oolong from Enjoying Tea – I tried this tea last, because it was the only flavored oolong in this grouping.  Anything with added flavor was bound to be more potent than just the leaves alone.  This tea smells sweet in the dry leaf, and brews sweet and sour with a very strong passionfruit flavor: green and slightly tropical.  The second steep is earthier, less sweet and more like wet foliage, still some lingering passionfruit notes, especially on the aftertaste.  

And there you have it– the results of my Oolong-A-Thon!  

Like black or green teas, there are many variations and flavors to be had from trying a variety of oolong teas.  From my point of view, there wasn’t a bad tea in the bunch, and each had its own flavors to suit the changing weather or my variable tea cravings.  

There is certainly an oolong out there that will fit your tastes as well.  Happy oolong brewing!

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!