Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Driftwood Tea
Tea Description:
Osmanthus Oolong combines high quality Jin Xuan variety loose leaf tea with fresh osmanthus flowers to produce a most spectacular tea. Handmade and scented using only natural methods this is an example of an aromatic tea that tastes as good as it smells.
Learn more about this Oolong tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve tried a few Osmanthus Oolong teas … but I think that this one from Driftwood Tea might just be the best one I’ve tried thus far! It is sweet, creamy and absolutely DREAMY!
The dry leaf is very aromatic, and just opening the pouch fills the nostrils with a delightful fragrance that is part fresh cream, part flower, and part sweet fruit! Once brewed, the tea smells sweet, with floral notes and a scent that reminds me vaguely of a milky Oolong. The fruity aroma is less apparent in the brewed tea than it is with the dry leaf.
The flavor … oh the flavor is amazing. Ahh-MAZ-ing! It is sweet but not cloying. No bitterness whatsoever. Smooth and supple mouthfeel, with a slight astringency toward the finish. The aftertaste, I taste a floral note, but during the sip, I taste mostly fruit and cream, with mere hints of flower. It’s very much like peaches and cream, and yes, I find myself in agreement with my sister Azzrian, there is a similarity to White Rabbit candies. Imagine those candies with a sweet peach … you would have what I’m tasting here.
But what I love is that even though this tea tastes of candy and sweet, luscious fruit, it doesn’t get sickly sweet on the palate. The faint astringent note at the tail cleanses the palate … so the aftertaste doesn’t taste overly sweet, and my mouth feels ready for another sip!
This tea is pure enjoyment … something that I could easily drink on a regular basis … YES please! An absolute pleasure to sip! And be sure to take this one through its infusions … I got six very flavorful infusions from one measurement of leaves.
Organic Oolong 17 from Driftwood Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Driftwood Tea
Tea Description:
Organic Oolong 17 is considered to be Thailand’s finest tea. Oolong 17 was developed from imported Taiwanese stock and, given Mae Salong’s similar altitude and climate, is highly comparable to the quality and taste of high mountain teas grown in Taiwan.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The dry leaf of this Organic Oolong 17 from Driftwood Tea has a strong vegetative aroma. It’s really quite fragrant, smelling almost like a cross between steamed spinach and kelp.
I brewed this tea in my gaiwan, giving it a quick 15 second rinse and then proceeding with the infusions, starting at 45 seconds and adding 15 seconds to each subsequent infusion. I combined the first and second infusions to create my first cup … and it is marvelous! Sweet and buttery, but not so much “creamy” buttery, but more like the taste of butter. It has a smooth texture, but not really a creamy texture.
It has a light vegetative taste … lighter than I expected given the scent of the dry leaf. It is also lightly floral and just … really sweet and pleasant!
The second cup (infusions 3 and 4) is a bit sharper than the first … with more distinct floral tones and less of that buttery taste that I noticed in the first cup. There is more of a tangy astringency in this cup than in the first cup.
My third and final cup (infusions 5 and 6) is very much like the second cup. The floral tones have emerged very distinctly now. This is no longer buttery, that ‘heavy’ buttery taste has lifted to allow the complexity of the cup to come through. This cup is very refreshing: vegetative and floral.
A very nice Oolong … and it is one I’m really glad I got to try. This one is quite different from the “usual suspects” … in fact, if you’re an Oolong fan, I’d recommend putting this on your to try list because it’s just different enough from other Oolong teas out there – it’s one that you should definitely try!