Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Zi Chun Tea Co.
Tea Description:
This exotic “Champagne of Tea” is probably the most fascinating of all the oolong teas. Its rich taste & sweet, smooth honey aroma gives it a unique flavor, not unlike a fine mellow, black tea.Its processing is characterized by heavy oxidation (60% to 70%) and heavy withering (13% to 25%). The oxidation process is initiated before the leaves are plucked by nature’s assistance in the form of small insects biting the tender leaves. See this article in T Ching for more information on this amazing tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’m really enjoying this Oriental Beauty from Zi Chun Tea Company. Of course, that comes as no surprise to me, because I love Oriental Beauty Oolong teas!
What never ceases to amaze me though, is just how amazing the flavor is of an Oriental Beauty. It’s so different from other Oolong teas. It has a bright fruit taste, rather than a floral one (although there are some floral tones), and this particular Oriental Beauty offers not just a sweet fruit note, but also a compelling and contrasting sour note, providing a very savory tea experience.
I brewed this the way I typically brew an Oolong – in my gaiwan! – using short steeping times. I start with a quick rinse (10 – 15 seconds), discarding the liquid, and then I steep the first infusion for 45 seconds. I pour this into my cup, and then I add the water to my gaiwan for the second infusion. I add 15 seconds to each subsequent infusion, so this second infusion is steeped for a minute. After a minute has lapsed, I pour the liquid into the same cup as my first infusion, combining the two infusions. I like to combine the infusions, as it makes for a very satisfying tea flavor. Each infusion of an Oolong tends to have slightly different qualities, and when I combine the two infusions this way, it provides a rich, lovely flavor.
Subsequent infusions of this Oolong reveal slightly more floral notes, but these are slight. I find that the fruit tone remains strong here, and by the third and fourth infusions, I start to notice a honey-esque note emerge. This gets stronger with the third cup (infusions five and six). By this time, the flavors have become more seamless, and the sour tones have softened significantly. It is a very soothing tea to drink.
I really enjoyed this Oolong – it truly is a beauty!
Oriental Beauty Tea (Dong Fang Mei Ren) from Driftwood Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Driftwood Tea
Tea Description:
Oriental Beauty is also know by several other names including: Dong Fang Mei Ren; White Tip Oolong; and Champagne Oolong. Whatever name it goes by this is perhaps Taiwan’s most special tea and cited by many connoisseur as one of the world’s finest.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is a rather unusual Oriental Beauty – and I mean that in a very good way.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Oriental Beauty Oolong teas, they are one of my favorite Oolong varieties, but, I have come to expect certain things with Oriental Beauty and this one surprised me with some of the flavors I’m tasting here.
Normally, I expect a strong essence of a fuzzy, ripe peach, and I do detect some peach-y notes here, but I’m also tasting a strong muscatel note – so much so that it’s almost Darjeeling-esque! It tastes of fermented grapes, with a hint of wood and musk, and a sweet, apricot/peach note.
The aroma of the brewed tea offers a floral note as well as a woody tone, but I don’t taste a strong floral essence. There are some flowery notes to the flavor, but, the majority of the floral tones remain in the fragrance, and do not translate so much into the flavor.
But that’s alright, because I’m loving the way the flavors come together in this cup, with its strong fruity presence and background notes of wood and musk, hints of spice and whispers of flower. It’s a beautifully complex cup, and offers some surprises to what I expected might be an ordinary cup of Oriental Beauty tea. And while there’s nothing wrong with the typical cup of Oriental Beauty – I love Oriental Beauty Oolong! – it’s nice to have a tea challenge me and question what I thought I knew about this tea!
I love this!
Fig Formosa from Tin Roof Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Tin Roof Teas
Tea Description:
High quality Taiwanese oolong is the perfect base for the rich taste of Smyrna fig.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I love Steepster. One of the things I love most about the tea community is that there is a great opportunity to meet other tea enthusiasts and occasionally, swap teas with them. It’s a great way to taste different teas that maybe I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to try otherwise, not to mention the fact that it allows me to share my abundant tea supply with others!
This is one of the teas that was recently sent to me by one of my Steepster friends. I was excited to try it, because I love figs and I love a good Formosa Oolong.
This tea bears a striking resemblance to the Fig Formosa tea from Teas Etc, the same name and visually, this tea looks the same as I remember the Fig Formosa looking … especially in the brewed tea. The liquor is such a unique color – it’s purple! Purple!
I absolutely loved that tea, and I remember it tasting unlike any other fig tea that I’ve tried. This has that same strong fig flavor, along with the deliciously smooth flavor of the Formosa tea. Delightful!
And this tea also manages to bring me back to those memories of the fig orchards when I was a child. Happy times!
I don’t know that these teas are the same, and it’s been long enough since I tasted the other tea that I can’t compare them properly, but, I really don’t care either. I know that there are a lot of tea companies out there who resell other companies products and to be honest, that doesn’t bother me one bit. As long as the tea is fresh and delicious and has been properly cared for, that’s what matters to me. As far as who the wholesaler is or who is the re-seller in this case (or even if both of them are re-selling teas) … that doesn’t matter to me.
For me, it’s all about the tea … and this tea is good!
Hand-Plucked Top Grade Oriental Beauty Oolong from Fong Mong Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Fong Mong Tea on eBay
Tea Description:
Taiwan characteristic Oriental Beauty Oolong Tea, a long narrow strip like of various colors, is also called Bai Hao Oolong Tea. Bright white-tipped leaves, a symbol of high level Oriental Beauty Tea, can only be cultivated irreplaceable strong fragrance in organic ecological tea plantation. This tea, with very limited quantity, can only be produced by a senior experienced tea master at one harvest each year.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This Oriental Beauty from Fong Mong Tea is truly outstanding. Sweet, fragrant, and absolutely delicious!
The dry leaves are beautiful and whole, varying in color from silver to tan to chocolate brown. They smell sweet and floral, with hints of fruit in the background.
The first flavor that I notice is the fruit note. I usually do notice a peach-like flavor to Oriental Beauty Oolong teas, but here the flavor is so exquisitely pronounced. So sweet and juicy, my mouth seems to water after each sip in anticipation for the next. Delicious!
There is also a creaminess to this that melds beautifully with the peach-y flavors, as well as a delectable honey-esque undertone. Once the palate acclimates to the sweetness of the cup, I start to notice other flavors. This is a wonderfully complex cuppa, with hints of earth as well as a whisper of flower in the distance.
And of course, this tea offers many wonderful infusions. I find that each subsequent infusion seems to become more enchanting. The mouthfeel begins to lighten by the third infusion, and the flavors become smoother and less perspicuous, and yet, as the notes become more unified and less individual the tea becomes even more satisfyingly delicious.
This is one of the very best Oriental Beauty Oolong teas I’ve yet to taste – I highly recommend to all the Oolong enthusiasts out there.
Winey Keemun English Breakfast from Grace Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Grace Tea Company
Tea Description:
This extra slow-fired tea is of a rare and extraordinary quality. Our most well known and famous blend has an unusual depth, body and color that can be likened in description to a fine wine. A uniquely crafted tea blended with varying China, Formosan and Indian teas, Winey Keemun follows the traditional formulation of an English Breakfast blend. It’s one of our personal favorites.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The theme for this month’s Steepster Select Box is “Around the Clock” and features three teas to enjoy at different times … depending upon what time of day it is. As Steepster puts it:
Tea is a loyal companion. Always at your side, ready to infuse any occasion with flavorful, liquid love. Able to pack a punch or hug you close like a warm blanket, there’s a cup that fits any time of day: morning, afternoon, and night. So keep the kettle going for these three teas that will carry you from sunrise to sunset.
Obviously, this Winey Keemun English Breakfast blend from Grace Tea Company represents the morning tea. And what a lovely tea to select as the morning tea! It is bold, rich and delicious. It “packs a punch” but at the same time has a comforting flavor to it. In other words, it is invigorating but it makes me feel good about getting that burst of gusto.
This dark, full-bodied black tea introduces itself with a sweet start, somewhat fruity – like a well-aged wine. During the sip, I notice hints of leather, malt and earth, and a smoky tone in the background. Keemun tea usually has a variable degree of smokiness … some are very smoky while others are on the lighter side, with mere hints of smoky flavor. This tea is on the lighter side of smoky but I don’t know if that is because the Keemun itself is lightly smoky or if it is the fact that it is a component of a blend that includes several different teas, and the simple fact that this is not a straight Keemun tea may be the reason for the light smokiness.
The tea finishes sweet. There is some tangy astringency, but I notice no bitterness. Perhaps this is because I steeped it for just 2 1/2 minutes in my Breville One-Touch which seems to be the magic brew time for black teas such as this, but either way, I am enjoying the lack of bitterness here. The aftertaste is a light, fruity taste that is somewhat reminiscent of a wine-like aftertaste.
A rather enjoyable tea for the morning, I think this would also make a nice tea to enjoy in the early afternoon, perhaps as a pick-me-up, or even just a cup to savor in the company of dear friends.
Two more teas to explore from Steepster’s Around the Clock series, I hope that the teas they have chosen for afternoon and evening are just as enjoyable as this Winey Keemun English Breakfast.