Li Li Xiang Anxi Wulong 2013 Oolong Tea from Seven Cups

lilixiangTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Oolong

Where to Buy:  Seven Cups

Tea Description:

The name “Li Li Xiang” means each leaf is fragrant. Most versions on the market are made from a blend of several tea bushes such as huang dan, ben shan ,mao xie and tie guan. This year we are excited to introduce Li Li Xiang made purely from leaves of the Tie Guan Yin Bush. Experience the stronger dark chocolate aroma, rich lightly roasted flavor and complex aftertaste of this high quality tea. While this tea’s level of oxidation is similar to other Anxi teas like Monkey Picked, it has undergone more intense roasting in its processing. This stronger roast gives Li Li Xiang a golden liquor color and a flavor that is reminiscent of Anxi’s traditional style. The interesting flavor and affordable price makes this a great everyday wulong tea.

Learn more about this tea here.

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Taster’s Review:

The aroma of the dry leaf of this Li Li Xiang Anxi Wulong 2013 Oolong Tea from Seven Cups was very interesting to me, it had a fragrance that was familiar – smelling of a top-notch Tie Guan Yin Oolong – but, the scent was much more intense than I have experienced with other Tie Guan Yin Oolong teas that I’ve tried.  It smelled very lush and “green” but there were also some very intriguing notes of raw chocolate.  The brewed tea loses much of this aroma, smelling mostly of vegetation, but there are some faint hints of raw chocolate if I really focus on the scent.

The raw chocolate notes translate – surprisingly! – to the flavor, and what a delightful surprise that was.  I’m not sure if it’s because I was smelling the chocolate in the aroma that my palate simply wanted to taste the chocolate but … it still took me aback because I’m not used to experiencing chocolate from a pure Oolong like this.

The vegetal notes are present too, but they meld with the other flavors of the cup.  I taste notes of flower and peach, with hints of toasted nut in the distance.  There is a creaminess to the cup too.  This creaminess reminds me a bit of vanilla, but it’s not quite a sweet as vanilla.  I like how the creaminess complements the notes of cacao.

My second cup (infusions 3 and 4) was even more delightful than the first.  The vegetal notes are softer now, and the fruit notes are emerging.  The floral notes blend in with the fruit notes and I like the flavor that the two produce together.  The notes of vanilla remain although this isn’t quite as creamy as the first cup.  I’m still noticing the subtle raw cacao notes.

With my third cup (infusions 5 and 6) the flavors were beginning to soften a bit.  This is still a very flavorful cup, but, I don’t think that I’ll continue to infuse this tea for a fourth cup.   I taste a sweet peach/apricot note mingling with the floral notes.  The vanilla is less discernable now, and I taste very little cacao as well.

This is a really wonderful tea.  One of the very best Tie Guan Yin I’ve ever tasted!

Lishan Hong Xiang Milk Oolong Tea from T-Oolong Tea

LiShanXiangMilkOolongTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Oolong

Where to Buy:  T-Oolong Tea

Tea Description:

This quality Lishan Hong Xiang milk oolong tea is handpicked, handcrafted and produced from Jinxuan varietal. This milk oolong is naturally processed with no artificial flavoring. The aroma of this tea is very floral and milky, and the taste is intensively and naturally sweet, and delightful milky. The aftertaste is very sweet and long lasting. This tea stands up well to multiple infusions, and it is smooth and delectable with almost no bitterness. A healthy and pleasant milk oolong we recommend.

Lishan Hong Xiang Milk Oolong, also known as Pear Mountain Oolong, is one of Taiwan’s highest mountain oolong teas. Li Shan Mountain is located in Taichung County of central Taiwan, and it is renowned for producing the highest quality high mountain oolongs. The tea plantations of Li Shan range in altitude from approximately 1600 meters. The loose tea leaves are thick and juicy with a rich fragrance.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

The dry leaf of this Lishan Hong Xiang Milk Oolong from T-Oolong Tea has a very strong aroma that is vegetal with notes of flower.  Once brewed, the vegetative notes soften significantly, allowing the floral notes to be expressed more fully.

Ah … this is NICE!  I’ve often touted my love for Lishan and Alishan Oolong teas.  This one is a perfect example of why I love these teas so much.  It’s so sweet and creamy.

Now, granted, sweet and creamy are two generalized tasting notes that you would expect from any Oolong touting a “Milk Oolong” identification.  But, let’s face it, some Milk Oolong teas are better than others!  And this is one of the very best that I’ve tried.  And it’s milkiness is natural, this is not an Oolong that has been flavored to taste milky or creamy.

I combined the first five infusions in one cup, and this cup is absolutely divine.  There is a lovely complexity to the tea, with a smooth, creamy taste and texture, an exotic floral sweetness (orchid perhaps?) and mere whispers of vegetal notes.

Currently this tea is not in stock, but this is one of those teas that it’s well worth the effort to check in occasionally with the company to see when it is restocked.  It’s so good!

Superfine Taiwan Qing Xiang Dong Ding Oolong Tea from Teavivre

QingXiangDongDingTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Oolong

Where to Buy:  Teavivre

Tea Description:

In Taiwan Oolong Tea, Dong Ding Oolong Tea is an excellent kind highly praised by the world. Dong Ding is originally planted on Dongding Mountain, which is a branch of Phoenix Mountain, in Lugu Village, Nantou County, Taiwan. The tea is planted in the area at the altitude of 1000 meters. So this is also a High Mountain tea, which is known as its obvious floral fragrance. This Dong Ding Qing Xiang Oolong Tea is made of the tea leaves from Qing Xin Oolong tea tree. This tea has thick and soft leaf, refreshing tea liquid, with strong osmanthus scent. Meanwhile it has strong sweet aftertaste, which makes High Mountain tea more excellent than low altitude tea.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

This Superfine Taiwan Qing Xiang Dong Ding Oolong Tea from Teavivre is absolutely lovely!  It’s so sweet and lush, with a creamy mouthfeel and an intriguing flavor that has exotic floral notes as well as hints of fruit. I’m enjoying the complexity and the soft texture.

I brewed this Oolong in my gaiwan.  First I did a quick “rinse” or awakening of the tea leaves, by steeping them in hot water for 15 seconds and then straining off and discarding the liquid.  Then I steeped the first infusion for 1 minute (I meant to infuse it for 45 seconds, but I got distracted and missed the 45 second mark, so it steeped for a full 60 seconds), and the second infusion for 1 minute 15 seconds.  I poured both of these infusions into the same cup.  Subsequent infusions were prepared the same way.

The first cup was lighter in texture than those that followed, but, it still possessed a pleasantly creamy mouthfeel.  It is so silky and smooth.  I taste notes of peach, hints of vegetation (just a slight “grassiness” in the background), and a overtone of floral notes.  There is a faint astringency that is most noticeable at the very end of the sip.  I start to notice a slightly dry sensation.

The second cup was my favorite, and this seems to be typical of my Oolong experiences.  It seems that I always love the second cup best.  It felt soft and smooth to the palate, and it had a flavor that was both floral and fruity.  The vegetative notes have emerged slightly and they added an interesting contrast to the sweet fruit and floral tones.

In subsequent infusions, the flavors became more of a harmonious taste.  The flavor remained sweet, and I started to notice an almost “honey-esque” note in the third and forth cups.

I enjoyed my afternoon spent with this Dong Ding from Teavivre.  An excellent choice for the Oolong enthusiast!

Mi Lan Xiang Phoenix Mountain Dancong from Verdant Tea

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Oolong

Where to Buy:  Verdant Tea

Tea Description:

Mi Lan Xiang, literally “Honey Orchid Fragrance” is a real understatement for this tea.  The aroma is absolutely heady and enveloping, like walking into a temple burning sandalwood incense with lotus flowers strewn about, and a faint whiff of pine sap and honeydew melon.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

I don’t know why I am sitting here in utter amazement.  You’d think that by now, I’d come to expect an exceptional tea from Verdant, and really, I do expect just that, so I guess what I’m trying to say is that such an expectation would render me not so surprised when the tea is indeed exceptional.

But here I sit, astonished and really, quite bowled over at how good this tea is.

The aroma of the dry leaf should have tipped me off.  It smells incredible, and is quite like it’s described in the above “Tea Description.”  I smell notes of burning incense, flowers and melon.  I also smell something not mentioned in the aforementioned tea description:  freshly baked goods.  My mouth began watering as I stood there, in a daze by the smell of such a delectable fragrance.

I steeped this the way I would normally steep a quality Oolong tea – in my gaiwan, using short steeps following a quick rinse, combining the results of two infusions in one cup and savoring the mixture.

The first cup offered notes of spice and wood.  In my first couple of sips, I did not taste a “lotus” like flavor, but as I continued to sip, the lotus flavor developed.  I found this first cup to be more savory with hints of a honey-esque sweetness underneath, rather than the other way around.  Many times, with Oolong tea it tends to be quite sweet with notes of savory to contrast the sweetness, here it’s the other way around with more savory tones and the occasional sweet note to contrast the savory qualities.  The sip finishes dry with a mineral-y kind of taste, and the aftertaste starts out clean, with more of a melon-like sweetness developing in the aftertaste as I continue to sip.

The second cup is smoother, with more fruit tones.  Citrus-y, with a tangy astringency at the tail.  The description on the website suggests a grapefruit-like taste and I’d agree with that assessment.  I am experiencing less mineral at the finish this time, and the finish is less dry … in fact, I’d describe it as almost juicy.  The sweetness is less like honey this time, with the sweetness focused more on the fruit notes.  I am finding the woody tones developing, and the floral notes becoming softer in this cup.

With my third and final cup, I noticed the flavors becoming a bit softer and smoother, and yet … somehow richer.  The fruit notes are well-pronounced now, and the spice tones have become more significant.  The floral notes are not completely gone, but I find that I notice them primarily at the finish and in the aftertaste, and not so much during the sip, which seems to have become mostly about the fruit notes, a hint of wood and earth, and a lovely set of spices.

A lovely, complex cup.  Definitely a tea I’d recommend to all who enjoy a good cup of Oolong.  It is worth the effort to infuse it multiple times, as each cup produced becomes an adventure.

Tong Tian Xiang Phoenix Mountain Dancong from Verdant Tea

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Oolong

Where to Buy:  Verdant Tea

Tea Description:

This Dancong offers a full and engaging tasting experience.  In early steepings, a crisp mineral or stone quality dominates the texture with a rosewood quality on the sides of the palate.  Soon, a mouth-watering juicy note of apricot makes an entrance and continues to build up a thicker body for the tea.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

I have tried Dancong teas in the past, but I don’t think I’ve tasted one quite like this one.

The first two steepings produced a flavor that is very mineral-y, I can almost feel the minerals on my tongue!  This experience was a little jarring – ok, quite jarring – because I found myself having very little to say about those early sips except for the taste and texture of mineral.  As I continue to sip, I notice fruit tones – yes, apricot, just as the description suggests.

These first steepings are thinner than I expected from an Oolong, but that is not meant to sound like a bad thing, because I find the texture to be quite interesting, especially the almost grain-y kind of feel on the tongue.  The flavor is light but it teases the palate with flavors to come:  more sweet, juicy apricot, hints of wood, and a honey-esque sweetness that slowly develops in the background and then begins to wash over the palate with every sip.

With the third and fourth steepings, the mineral texture and taste remained, but it had softened somewhat, allowing for the apricot notes to shine through more distinctly.  The sip starts off soft, almost silky, and soon develops a mouthfeel that reminds me a little bit of a Darjeeling tea with its light, crisp quality and dry, somewhat astringent finish.  Even with the astringency, I find these steepings to be remarkably soothing, especially at the start with its silky soft (it’s almost fluffy!) presentation.

Later infusions become softer in texture.  The mineral-y taste and texture is but a memory, and now I have a tea that is much more like an “Oolong.”  That is, much more like what I might expect from an Oolong.  The flavor is sweet and slightly creamy.  I notice hints of spice and wood which meld together in a taste that I want to describe as “wilderness” – it is as if I can actually taste the “wild” in this wild-picked tea.

Quite remarkable, really, this tea.  But really, as Verdant has proven itself to offer nothing but the best, I expected nothing less!