Tag: Oolong Tea

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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.

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DavidsTea’s Life Long Oolong

Life Long Oolong by DavidsTea
Oolong Tea / Flavoured
$9.98 for 50g

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First Impressions

Life Long Oolong is a tea that I had gotten as part of a boxed collection that I had purchased from DavidsTea, it was one of those “Oh, look at what popped into my shopping cart…” moments. Life Long Oolong came in one for DavidsTea’s standard silver resealable bags, which I quite appreciate. Because it came in a box set of teas, this one came heat sealed at the top. Nothing a little ripping action couldn’t fix!

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Life Long Oolong smells like exactly like peaches – the description given to the tea does not disappoint in that manner. It’s easy to see the oolong mixed in with the other ingredients and it smells quite nice! I like peaches (the fruit) and this reminds me of peaches a lot. The ingredients for Life Long Oolong are: Shui Xin oolong tea, apricot, peach, almond, orange peel, safflower petals, natural and artificial flavouring.

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Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping in 85°C (185°F) water for 4 to 7 minutes. I did my first steep for 4 minutes.

First Taste

Life Long Oolong steeps to a beautiful golden orange, the tea leaves unfurl nicely – I would highly recommend giving any oolong room to grow. It is a fairly heavy tea, I find, what with all the additions of fruit and almonds to the tea. After steeping, it smells like peaches and is very close to the pre-steeped dry leaf smell.

I found that Life Long Oolong has a very sweet peachy taste to it, and I can make out the oolong base to the tea. The taste of apricots does make its way into the flavour profile and I find it adds just a bit of natural sweetness to the tea. It’s not a tea that needs the addition of sweetener, unless you have an extreme sweet tooth. I think because of the fruit content and the natural sweetness to the tea, it would make a really nice iced tea. That said, it makes a good cup of hot tea as well.

I wound up pouring a separate cup with some ice cubes and found it to be delicious and refreshing. We’re going to ignore the fact that I had a cup of iced tea in October.

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A Second Cup?

I resteeped Life Long Oolong an additional two times – both times adding about an extra minute to the steeping time (so steep #2 was for 5 minutes, steep #3 was for 6 minutes). I found the peachy flavour of the tea to be the best for first steep, and the flavour and aroma of peach and apricots in the subsequent steeps to be lacking. The second steep isn’t terrible, but the third definitely tastes watered down and anemic in flavour and excitement.

My Overall Impression

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I liked DavidsTea’s Life Long Oolong. The name is fun to say, the tea tastes great, and it does well both hot and cold. That said, it doesn’t do well with resteeping, which is a shame because it does have a tasty oolong base. I found the additional steeps to be poor echoes of the original steeping of Life Long Oolong, which made it disappointing. It’s a one steep wonder, in my opinion. That said, it’s a delicious peachy tea that’s naturally sweetened by all the fruit that’s in it, which is why I gave it three cups out of four.

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

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For Tea’s Sake’s Skinny Sip

Skinny Sip by For Tea’s Sake
Oolong & Green Tea / Straight
$9.99 for 30g

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First Impressions

I picked up this tin of tea while I was on a ferry returning home after a wine tour with some girlfriends on Vancouver Island. There was a bunch of the For Tea’s Sake’s teas on clearance and I picked this one out because it was the only one that was not a rooibos or an herbal infusion. I do like oolongs and I do like green teas, so I figured I would give it a try. I didn’t pick it up because it was a “skinny” tea. There’s a lot of teas and companies out there that make bold claims that drinking tea will make you skinnier, or feel more full. I don’t care about all of that, I just like to try new-to-me teas. The label on the tin states “Gain better health by drinking lots of water but kick it up a notch with the benefits of green and oolong tea. Enjoy a cup before exercise and in the afternoon to stave off cravings and rev up your body’s metabolism.”

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For Tea’s Sake happens to be a Canadian company, based out of Ontario, and I’m all for supporting Canadian tea companies. Skinny Sip comes in a small tin, it feels quite air-tight. The tea itself is loose and comes in a silver foil bag inside of the tin. This silver foil bag is not resealable, which I am okay with since the tin feels sufficient for keeping air out. The dry leaves seem quite compacted when I took a spoonful out. There’s this earthy quality to the dry leaves, along with a buttery smell.

Preparation

For Tea’s Sake recommends steeping Skinny Sip in 90°C (194°F) water for 3 to 5 minutes. I opted to steep mine closer to 3 minutes because there is the green tea in this and I didn’t want to over steep it and wind up with a bitter cup of tea.

First Taste

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Skinny Sip steeps to a nice golden yellow. It smells buttery and has a light earthiness to it that reminds me of the way that dirt smells following rain. Skinny Sip meets my expectations in that it does taste creamy with a beautiful buttery quality to it. That earthiness in the flavour is hard to pick out as it gets overpowered by the butter taste though, which is alright by me because I do like creamy teas. For Tea’s Sake mentions on the tin that “milk and sugar are not recommended”, which is a fair recommendation given that it is an oolong and they’re trying to market a tea that promotes a healthier lifestyle. Not sure how much I believe that the tea will help in gaining a more fit body or help with weight loss though.

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A Second Cup?

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Skinny Sip resteeps beautifully, which I was expecting given that it is an oolong tea. It resteeps to a much deeper golden yellow colour. The tea itself gains a stronger creamy butter quality to it, the earthiness is only present in fragrance on a second steep. I was able to resteep Skinny Sip a total of three times before it started to become weaker in taste and scent.

My Overall Impression

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I liked For Tea’s Sake’s Skinny Sip. I will always greatly enjoy a tea that can be resteeped well, which Skinny Sip definitely fits the bill. The primary reason why I take Skinny Sip three cups out of four, instead of the full four cups, is because of the fact that it is boasting health benefits. While I think tea is always a better alternative to sugar-laden drinks, I’m not one to recommend a product for health benefits without knowing a bit more behind the science of it. One reason why this tea may be good prior to exercise or to help keep you full is because you are taking in more water when you drink this – water is fantastic and necessary when you exercise. Despite the health benefits mentioned on the product, I do think it’s a delicious tea. I don’t think it’s going to make me shed the pounds, but I do think it’s tasty and would recommend it if you’re looking for a Canadian based-tea company which puts out a good oolong and green tea blend.

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