Category: Review

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DavidsTea’s Orange Pekoe

Orange Pekoe by DavidsTea
Black Tea / Straight
$6.98 for 50g

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First Impressions

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Orange Pekoe is one of my absolute favourites, and it was recently pointed out to me that I hadn’t reviewed DavidsTea’s Orange Pekoe despite reviewing pretty much all of their other teas because their stores are so convenient to me. DavidsTea boasts that their Orange Pekoe is “the perfect pekoe”, which makes me want to give them some side eye because I love orange pekoe and have yet to meet one that could overtake Red Rose as my absolute favourite (partially due to nostalgia, partially due to economic value).

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DavidsTea’s Orange Pekoe consists of “fine black teas from Ceylon, Sri Lanka”. The dry leaf has a woody and vegetal smell to it that reminds me a bit of hay. My preferred method of drinking orange pekoe is with sugar or honey and evaporated milk. We’ll see how it does to stand up to my way of drinking orange pekoe.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping this tea in near-boiling water (194-203°F or 90-95°C) for 4 to 7 minutes. I steeped closer to 3 minutes, which was probably a good idea because…

First Taste

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Orange Pekoe steeps to a beautiful golden orange that I’m quite familiar with. The smell reminds me a lot of Red Rose, not going to lie. There’s a pleasant familiarity with the tea, and I must say it doesn’t really stand out from other orange pekoes that I’ve tried before in terms of smell. When I first sipped it, there was a moment where I was a bit bowled over by the combination of malty flavour and astringency and… bitterness? There is a mild bitterness to the tea that I wasn’t expecting because I did steep it for less than the recommended steeping time (3 minutes versus 4 to 7 minutes).

I wound up adding some sweetener (honey) and evaporated milk, Hong Kong-style milk tea that I learned from my mom. Much better!

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A Second Cup?

I resteeped Orange Pekoe (for 3 minutes) and found that the taste was consistently the same. Astringent, malty, and bitter! I did not opt to steep the leaves a third time.

My Overall Impression

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I thought that DavidsTea’s Orange Pekoe was just okay. I was really disappointed that Orange Pekoe ended up being bitter despite steeping for less than the recommended time, it doesn’t make me feel confident in their recommended steeping times at all. I think the saving grace for Orange Pekoe is that it did well when turned into a milk tea – the addition of sweetener helped to temper the bitterness, and the milk did wonders for the astringency. I feel that there are other orange pekoes that are much more affordably priced, or just better value for the taste. DavidsTea’s Supreme Pekoe, which is only $1 more for 50g of tea, is a better buy I feel because it just tasted better. Best pekoe, this Orange Pekoe is not. I’ll finish the bag, but it’ll be doctored up to my tastes rather than being drunk straight.

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Murchie’s Ti Kuan Yin Oolong

Ti Kuan Yin Oolong by Murchie’s
Oolong Tea / Straight
$8.95 for 1oz

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First Impressions

Ti Kuan Yin is one of the ‘top shelf’ teas at Murchie’s, which means you can purchase 1oz at a time rather than 2oz (like the majority of their loose teas). I got this one when I popped into one of their Vancouver locations because I just wanted some more oolongs to sip and enjoy. Ti Kuan Yin has a very sweet, floral smell to the dry tea. The tea itself has this amazing green colour that I find difficult to accurately capture in photographs. As a straight oolong tea, the only ingredient in Ti Kuan Yin Oolong is oolong tea.

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I’ve talked about Murchie’s loose tea packaging before, when I reviewed Canadian Breakfast. It hasn’t changed and is still informative with the steeping times and temperatures for each type of tea. I’m always a fan of having the information right on the packaging because it just makes life a little bit easier.

Preparation

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Murchie’s recommends steeping oolong teas in 180-195°F (82-90°C) water for 2-3 minutes. I used my Breville IQ Kettle, which heats water to 195°F for oolongs. I steeped Ti Kuan Yin for about 2 ½ minutes.

First Taste

Ti Kuan Yin steeps to a very pale yellow. The floral notes in this tea really pack a punch because it’s the first thing that I notice – sweet floral notes that play well together. There is almost a creamy quality to the tea that reminds me of smooth butter, but it isn’t as strong as the floral flavour to the oolong that I do need to close my eyes in order to pick it out.

At the recommended water temperature and steeping time, Ti Kuan Yin made for an enjoyable cup of tea. There was a nice smoothness, with just a little hint of astringency at the end of each sip that had a nice mouth pucker feel to it. There was no bitterness, and I feel like the tea would do very well for at least one more steep so that’s exactly what I did.

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A Second Cup?

I resteeped Ti Kuan Yin a few times (in total: 8 resteeps, so 9 steeps in total for the same tea leaves). Each steep I steeped for an additional 30 seconds (3 minutes, 3 ½ minutes, 4 minutes, etc.) until the last steep (6 ½ minutes). The colour of the oolong deepens to a more golden yellow with the first three resteeps, and the creamy quality of the tea gets more pronounced. I feel that the floral notes started to take a backseat to the buttery quality of the tea by around the third steep. By the ninth steep, the tea leaves were really beginning to be exhausted of most of the flavour.

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My Overall Impression

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I loved Murchie’s Ti Kuan Yin Oolong. I am a sucker for a good tea, and while the initial price of the Ti Kuan Yin may have given me a little bit of sticker shock (since I had to double to price in my head to consider it as I usually buy my teas in 50g quantities), there is a very good value to this tea. The simplicity of the initial steep is just a hint of what’s to come, this is a tea that I would highly recommend resteeping over and over again because it gets more interesting and has a much more complex flavour profile than you might initially think if you go by the first steep only. While I love floral teas, I find that the later steeps of Ti Kuan Yin do not disappoint as the floral notes wane a bit and allow the buttery creaminess of the tea to become more and more pronounced.

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Teavana’s Tung Ting Oolong

Tung Ting Oolong by Teavana
Oolong Tea / Straight
$19.98 for 2oz

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First Impressions

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I was at Teavana last month and I had some Starbucks rewards to use up so of course I went and opted for 1oz of tea rather than getting a free drink at Starbucks. I got Tung Ting Oolong (as well as Golden Monkey, a black tea, which will have a review coming up soon!) as one of my rewards. It has this subtle vegetal smell, with a light buttery quality to the aroma that the tea has. Tung Ting oolong has a nice lightness to the dry leaf smell which I’ve come to appreciate in oolongs.

The ingredient list for Tung Ting Oolong is simply oolong tea, it’s a straight tea that Teavana has not added anything extra to.

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Preparation

Teavana recommends steeping Tung Ting Oolong for 3 minutes in 195°F (90°C). I steeped Tung Ting Oolong for the recommended three minutes.

First Taste

Tung Ting Oolong steeps to a pale yellow, and has a beautiful subtle flavour. There’s a milky creaminess to the tea that reminds me a bit of the creaminess that butter has. There is a light sweetness that lingers on the tongue at the end of each sip, and the floral notes in this tea are quite welcome. At the recommended temperature and steeping times, I’ve noted no bitterness or astringency in the tea. I do appreciate it when the recommendations lends to a good cup of tea.

With the recommended three minutes, I noted that not all of the tea leaves had fully unfurled. Because the first steep was delicious, I was very curious about how it would do for one more steep.

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A Second Cup?

Whenever I resteep tea leaves, I generally add another 30 seconds per steep, this is what I did with Tung Ting Oolong as well since I am not steeping it gong fu style. Steeping Tung Ting Oolong for a second time resulted in a brighter, deeper golden yellow tea. The flavour is more buttery and creamy for the second steep. I find that the second steep is more flavourful than the first, what a tasty cup of tea! I steeped this tea for a total of seven steeps, the flavour of Tung Ting Oolong for the sixth steep was waning and watery compared to the first five.

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My Overall Impression

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I loved Teavana’s Tung Ting Oolong. I’ve definitely become a fan of oolongs since I began the journey of chronicling my tea tasting adventures here on One More Steep. While Tung Ting Oolong may be expensive compared to other teas, especially $20 for 2 oz, I think it has value because of the ability of tea to be resteeped over and over again. Because of that, it is a fantastic tea to have when you’re at home and able easy access to a kettle so you can resteep it over and over again.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.