Category: Review

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Sunny M’s Formosa Bloom

Formosa Bloom by Sunny M
Oolong Tea / Straight
$38.00 for 100g

Sunny M has provided me with Formosa Bloom for the purposes of writing an honest review.

First Impressions

Formosa Bloom comes in a sealed, resealable pouch from Sunny M. It features a one-way air valve to help keep your tea fresh, which is still such a neat feature to me. Quite a bit of information about the tea itself on the packaging (front and back). This particular one is from the Charm of Hearts tea estate in Taiwan. It’s hand-picked, whole leaf, the cultivar is Taiwan No. 13 and they describe the roasting technique used to create this tea.

Formosa Bloom is a tightly bunched tea – the colours vary from dark brown to brownish red. There’s a strong floral aroma that is truly enticing, it’s just got a light nuttiness to the undertone, and it just seems really inviting overall. Because the leaves are so tightly bunched, I would recommend steeping it in an gaiwan or with an infuser that really lets the leaves open up as much as possible.

Preparation

Sunny M recommends steeping Formosa Bloom in 85℃-95℃(185℉-203℉) water for 4 to 6 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep for 4 minutes with water that had been heated to 93°C (200°F).

First Taste

Formosa Bloom steeps to a really brilliant golden orange colour. There’s a strong amount of floral aroma that comes from the steeped tea. The tea itself has a lovely sweet and floral flavour to it, there’s a hint of nuttiness in the background that I believe comes from the roasting technique used. It’s very smooth with zero astringency or bitterness at the steeping temperature and time I had mentioned earlier.

A Second Cup?

Formosa Bloom was resteeped seven times (eight steeps total with the same leaves). I used the same temperature water, just adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steeps. I found the leaves stood up really well to being resteeped and that the flavour remained very close to the initial steep throughout, just getting a bit weaker at the end.

My Overall Impression

I loved Sunny M’s Formosa Bloom. I found the floral aroma from the dry leaf was inviting, and the steeped tea was just so easy to drink! This is definitely an oolong that you’ll want to resteep because it does so well and you’ll get a lot of flavour from it. Formosa Bloom would be a great tea to pair with something savoury or sweet, I just think it’d balance nicely and the flavour of the tea just really holds up well to being resteeped over and over again, so it’s a great tea to serve with a group of people because all you’ll need to do is keep the kettle going.

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Oteas’s Oolong Tea with Ginger

Oolong Tea and Ginger by Oteas
Oolong Tea / Flavoured
$7.49 for 33.75g (15 sachets)

Oteas has provided me with Oolong Tea and Ginger for the purposes of writing an honest review.

First Impressions

Oolong Tea and Ginger is a blend from Oteas that comes portioned into tea sachets with plastic free packaging. Oteas encourages recycling of the cardstock box, the inner liner (that holds all the tea sachets) can be composted at home as well as the tea sachets themselves – how great for the environment! The sachets themselves are the pyramid-shaped ones, I tore it open to take a better look at the contents since that’s what I’m all about.

The aroma of the dry leaf is definitely ginger-heavy. The listened ingredients are Chinese oolong tea (green tea) and natural stem ginger. I’m a wee bit confused about the classification of oolong tea and green tea (since they are different types of tea), but I also know that some oolongs behave more like green tea in terms of steeping time and temperature, so I’m not too fussed. But if you read the packaging and get confused too, you weren’t alone.

Preparation

Oteas recommends steeping Oolong Tea and Ginger in 85-90°C water for 2-3 minutes. With my kettle, I opted to do an initial steep with 85°C (185°F) water for 3 minutes. I did steep the tea in the pyramid shaped tea sachet, and found that it was pretty full with the expanded leaves when I was done steeping.

First Taste

Oolong Tea and Ginger steeps to a really nice golden orange colour. It has a strong ginger-forward aroma, which is well reflected in the steeped tea itself. There are some grassy and earthy notes from the oolong that balances well against the ginger – with really reminds me of a ginger ale of sorts. It’s a nicely balanced blend.

A Second Cup?

I restepeed Oolong Tea and Ginger once, adding an additional 30 seconds for the subsequent steep. I found that the ginger notes weren’t as strong, as I think I used up some of that flavour in the initial steep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Oteas’s Oolong Tea and Ginger. I thought the balance of flavours between the oolong base with the ginger was really well done, I appreciate the plant-based, compostable packaging materials that Oteas has sourced out to use for their products. The flavour of the tea is nice and I find that the ginger is really flavour forward, which makes for an easy blend to reach for when you’ve got an upset stomach if ginger helps you.

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Masters Teas’s Bai Hao Yin Zhen

Bai Hao Yin Zhen by Masters Teas
White Tea / Straight
$34.00USD for 1.5oz (43g)

Masters Teas has provided me with Bai Hao Yin Zhen for the purposes of writing an honest review.

First Impressions

You know who loves a good white tea? Me.

Masters Teas kindly sent me some Bai Hao Yin Zhen (better known as Silver Needle) that was harvested this year. It just doesn’t get any fresher than this! Bai Hao Yin Zhen comes in a sealed, resealable pouch that has a label across the front (and more information on their website!). This one is from Fujian, China, and is grown at 450m above sea level and hand picked from 5 to 10 year old trees (how amazing is it to get that level of information?).

The leaves of this tea are so lovely – white fuzz with some pops of spring green. It has a very light aroma to it – a pleasant blend of floral and grassy notes. I can’t tell which one is stronger than the other, it has a nice balance to it that I feel like they both play nicely with each other and I’m really hopeful that it continues to the steeped tea.

Preparation

Masters Teas recommends steeping Bai Hao Yin Zhen in 170°F (77°C) water for 2 to 3 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep in 175°F (79°C) water for 2 minutes.

First Taste

Bai Hao Yin Zhen steeps to a very pale yellow. The aroma from the steeped white tea is a very light floral aroma. It’s very much a spring aroma to me. I found the taste of Bai Hao Yin Zhen has a nice sweet floral flavour, and subtle grassy notes in the background. It’s a very delicate tasting tea, and I wouldn’t add anything to it – the natural sweetness does so well on its own.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Bai Hao Yin Zhen an additional 3 times (4 steeps total with the same leaves). I found that the tea leaves handled being resteeped very well, as it had a more fruity note by the end of it – although the floral flavour was still very much present. It had some hints of what reminded me of melon, which has a nice crisp brightness to it.

My Overall Impression

I loved Masters Teas’s Bai Hao Yin Zhen. This white tea does not disappoint from the fuzziness of the dry leaf, to the aroma of the tea as it steeps, to the process of enjoying it. I found it did really well with resteeping, which I do think is a must to really enjoy all of the favour from these leaves. It’s such a treat to experience a new white tea and I think it’ll continue to be a treat as I finish up what’s in the bag.

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