Tag: Oolong Tea

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Grand Tea’s Organic Fragrance Tikuanyin

Organic Fragrance Tikuanyin by Grand Tea
Oolong Tea / Straight
$58.00HKD for 25g

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Grand Tea has provided me with Organic Fragrance Tikuanyin for the purposes of providing an honest review. I received this product at no charge to me and received no other compensation.

First Impressions

I always love a good oolong, so I was excited to try the Organic Fragrance Tikuanyin from Grand Tea. The tea leaves are tightly rolled and the leaves have a nice mix of light and dark green to them. There’s a light floral scent from the tea leaves. The leaves themselves are quite compacted and the floral scent to them is enjoyable without having a sweet smell to them. Organic Fragrance Tikuanyin is a straight oolong tea. For those that enjoy learning about different teas, tikuanyin is also called tieguanyin or Iron Buddha oolong. Grand Tea’s Organic Fragrance Tikuanyin is a non-roasted, green oolong.

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Preparation

I steeped Organic Fragrance Tikuanyin in 90C (195F) water for an initial steep of 2 minutes.

First Taste

Organic Fragrance Tikuanyin steeps to a pale yellow in the first 2 minutes. There’s a sweet floral smell to the tea that just wafts up from the tea cup – it’s very inviting. While sipping this tea, I found that it has a slight nutty finish to the tea. The tea itself has no bitterness, with a pleasant, smooth mouthfeel to the tea as I drink it. The floral taste to the oolong is enjoyable, and the sweetness to the tea isn’t overpowering the complexity of the flavour profile as it changes from floral to nutty in the same sip. The change in flavour is enjoyable.

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A Second Cup?

I always resteep my oolongs, so it should be no surprise that I resteeped Organic Fragrance Tikuanyin as well. The second steep (steeped for 2 minutes 30 seconds) was deeper and richer in flavour, the nutty flavours at the end of each sip was more pronounced, and the tea steeped to a deeper yellow. I steeped the same leaves a total of eight times, adding an additional 30 seconds for each steep. I found that the flavours were the strongest for steeps 2 to 4, and began to lose its intensity after the fourth steep. The eighth steep was quite watery, so I would recommend up to seven steeps total.

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My Overall Impression

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I loved Grand Tea’s Organic Fragrance Tikuanyin. I really enjoyed the complex flavour profile that this oolong has, the changes in flavour in the same sip is pretty enjoyable. I love a good oolong that can be resteeped over and over again, and this tea does not disappoint! Because it does resteep so well, it’s definitely a tea I would recommend starting the steeps in the morning and having throughout the day.

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Oollo Tea’s Alishan Wild Harvest High Mountain Oolong 2016 Winter

Alishan Wild Harvest High Mountain Oolong 2016 Winter by Oollo Tea
Oolong Tea / Straight
$15.00 for 25g

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Oollo Tea has provided me with Alishan Wild Harvest High Mountain Oolong 2016 Winter for the purposes of providing an honest review. I received this product at no charge to me and received no other compensation.

First Impressions

I was super excited when Jenny of Oollo Tea asked me if I wanted to try their new High Mountain tea. Of course, I said yes, she gave me samples of two of their new teas. This one is Oollo Tea’s Alishan Wild Harvest High Mountain Oolong 2016 Winter. It came in sample packaging, which is not representative of their retail packaging.

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The tea is a beautiful green colour, there’s this light fruity smell that also has some creamy notes to the fragrance of the tea. In the dry leaf, I also noted there’s a subtle nutty aroma to it, which may have resulted from the production process of the oolong. There isn’t a lot of information up yet about this tea on Oollo Tea’s website, I do know it’s a straight oolong tea and it was harvested from Alishan (which is a mountain range) at higher elevations.

Preparation

I steeped Alishan Wild Harvest High Mountain Oolong 2016 Winter in 91°C (195°F) water for 90 seconds for the first steep.

First Taste

Alishan Wild Harvest High Mountain Oolong 2016 Winter steeps to a beautiful pale yellow colour after just 90 seconds of steeping time. There’s a very subtle fruity smell that isn’t as obvious as the dry leaf. The first thing that I notice with the tea is that there’s a nice creamy texture to it, it’s smooth and has a light natural sweetness to it. The nutty flavour comes through near the end of each sip, it reminds me almost a little bit of cashews. The short steep time was a good choice, I feel, the tea is smooth and doesn’t have any signs of being over steeped or burnt.

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A Second Cup?

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Like I always do with oolongs, I resteeped Alishan Wild Harvest High Mountain Oolong 2016 Winter a few times. The first resteep, the tea got quite a bit darker in colour to a golden yellow. There’s a creamier taste with a buttery texture. The flavours became much richer for first resteep. I resteeped it a total of 7 times (so 8 steeps in total with the same set of tea leaves). I found that the flavour got richer up to the 4th resteep. After that, the flavours started to be less pronounced. I add 30 seconds for each steep, so steep 2 was 2 minutes, steep 3 was 2.5 minutes, and so on.

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My Overall Impression

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I loved Oollo Tea’s Alishan Wild Harvest High Mountain Oolong 2016 Winter. I thought the flavours were great, and found that it resteeped very well. The sample that I received was 6g and I had used half of that (3g) for my tea pot that I subsequently steeped eight times over. I think it’s great value for the price, due to it’s ability to be resteeped repeatedly. I love the nutty flavour with the creamy texture, it’s delicious. The light natural sweetness to it is a nice touch without being overpowering, I think it would be a great tea to have with either sweet or savoury snacks. It also makes for a great tea to have throughout the day to fully maximize the steeping potential.

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Oollo Tea’s Qingjin High Mountain Oolong

Qingjin High Mountain Oolong by Oollo Tea
Oolong Tea / Straight
$10.00 for 25g

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Oollo Tea has provided me with Qingjin High Mountain Oolong for the purposes of providing an honest review. I received this product at no charge to me and received no other compensation.

First Impressions

It’s time for another oolong steeping session! I’ve taken to having oolong when waking up after I sleep off the ill effects of working night shifts. There’s a certain sense of mindfulness that I go through when steeping tea, and the process of steeping and resteeping oolong works for me while I adjust back to a normal sleeping pattern. Today’s review is of Oollo Tea’s Qingjin High Mountain Oolong. It’s pretty gorgeous with a beautiful deep olive green colour in the leaves that are so tightly pressed together. The dry leaves have a fragrance that reminds me of flowers and there’s a subtle vanilla aroma to it that is enticing – much like the smell of vanilla in a kitchen when baking.

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On their website, Oollo Tea describes this as a Qingxin Oolong that is grown in Qingjin, Nantou, Taiwan at 1600m elevation. According to Wikipedia, Nantou is a region known for producing high quality oolongs. The smell and look of this dry leaf is exciting. I’ve become quite fond of oolongs over the last year so I’m looking forward to trying this one.

Preparation

On the packaging, Oollo Tea suggests steeping Qingjin High Mountain Oolong in 90°C (194°F) water for 1.5-5 minutes. On their website, the steeping instructions are for 2-5 minutes in 90-95°C (194-203°F) water. I opted to steep it in 90°C (194°F) water for 2 minutes for the initial steep. The sample packet contains 5g of tea, I used half of it for my tea pot (DavidsTea’s Tea For One).

First Taste

Qingjin High Mountain Oolong steeps to a pale yellow for the initial steep. I love watching tightly rolled leaves unfurl in hot water, it’s very relaxing to watch. There’s a delightful floral smell to the steeped tea, with subtle vanilla notes that are very inviting. With my first taste, the quality in the tea that I notice first is the creamy taste and texture. There’s a smoothness to this tea that makes it very easy to drink as it goes down well. There’s no bitterness or astringency, and I find that the floral and vanilla notes blend well with the buttery creaminess that I’m finding in this tea.

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A Second Cup?

The packaging from Oollo Tea suggests that it can be steeped up to four times, so I do take this as a challenge. I steeped Qingjin High Mountain Oolong an additional five times, increasing the steep time by 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. The colour of the tea got sequentially darker for steeps 2 and 3. The colour and flavour starts to decrease in steep 4 and I found that steep 5 was still tasty, but beginning to lose that impact with the well-blended mix of floral and vanilla that I so loved with the initial steeps. I would say that Qingjin High Mountain Oolong is good for at least five steeps total – maybe even more if you had the time to drink cup after cup.

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My Overall Impression

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I loved Oollo Tea’s Qingjin High Mountain Oolong. I loved watching the leaves open up and seeing how big they could get. A small amount of this tea goes a long way in terms of flavour and I found that I didn’t need a lot of it in my pot to get a good amount of flavour. The floral and vanilla flavour combination is divine and I think it’s quite enjoyable. It’s definitely a tea that I would steep again after a day off after a long night at work as it’s just delicious and relaxing. The quality in the leaves is evident in its ability to resteep, which is something that I always look forward to with oolongs and Qingjin High Mountain Oolong does not disappoint.

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