Tag: Teakan

Honey Oolong by Teakan
Oolong Tea / Straight
$38.00 for 61g

Honey Oolong is part of Teakan’s Volume 6 Exploration Kit, a collection of five single origin teas. Honey Oolong makes up 15g of the 61g kit.

First Impressions

Honey Oolong comes in the very familiar packaging from Teakan – a sealed and resealable kraft paper pouch with a minimalistic white and black label. On the front, the label details the location where this tea comes from (Minjian, Nantou, Taiwan), the type of tea (oolong), and when it was harvested (spring 2021).

Single origin teas are always a treat to enjoy, because everything from the amount of rain, sun, altitude, soil and fertilizer quality all make a huge difference on the tea plants for the growing season.

Honey Oolong has tightly bunched up leaves that are a mix of cream, deep green, and brown in colour. The aroma of the leaves are sweet, fruity, and floral. It’s really an inviting fragrance for the senses.

Preparation

Teakan has steeping recommendations for both western steeping and gongfu steeping.

For western steeping, Teakan recommends using 90°C (194°F) water for 2 to 3 minutes.

For gongfu steeping, Teakan recommends using 90°C (194°F) water for 30 seconds.

My initial steep of Honey Oolong was done western style, and I used the recommended water temperature and steeped for 2 minutes.

First Taste

Honey Oolong steeps to a light yellow. The aroma is (unsurprisingly, given the name) sweet and floral. The flavour of Honey Oolong is sweet, with a floral undertone. The floral notes remind me of peonies, if I had to pinpoint a specific flower. I found that the texture of Honey Oolong has a slight thickness to it, with a pleasant mouthfeel. There is no bitterness or astringency.

A Second Cup?

Honey Oolong’s leaves opened up so much after the initial steep. I resteeped Honey Oolong six times (seven leaves total with the same leaves), and found that the flavour remained fairly consistent throughout, only decreasing in intensity after the second resteep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Teakan’s Honey Oolong. This oolong was a treat for the senses from the dry leaf to the steeped tea, and even examining the spent leaves. Honey Oolong has a beautiful flavour and aroma, it was quite enjoyable to steep and drink. I enjoyed it hot, but I also had a cup that had cooled down so I think this tea would be great iced as well – the natural sweetness is a nice touch.

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

Rou Gui by Teakan
Oolong Tea / Straight
$30.00 for 65g

Rou Gui is part of Teakan’s Volume 5 Exploration Kit, a collection of five single origin teas. Rou Gui makes up 10g of the 65g kit.

First Impressions

Rou Gui came as part of Volume 5 of Teakan’s Exploration Kits. This oolong comes in a sealed, resealable kraft paper pouch. There’s a white and black label on it, which tells me that it’s an oolong tea from Wuyishan, Fujian, China. This particular oolong is from spring 2021. This particular little pouch carries 10g out of the 65g tea sampler kit – which is enough for a few cups of tea.

The leaves are a dark, dark green, with very minimal streaks of lighter green throughout. The leaves are long, wiry, and it really does take up a large volume of space for the weight of tea that’s in there. The aroma is lightly floral. There is something slightly earthy about it that reminds me of shittake mushrooms.

Preparation

Teakan recommends steeping Rou Gui in 96°C (205°F) water and doing an initial steep of 2 to 3 minutes for western style steeping and a mere 10 to 15 seconds for gongfu style steeping. I opted to do an initial steep of 2 minutes in my western style tea pot.

First Taste

Rou Gui steeps to a golden yellow. It has the light aroma of florals. Flavour wise, I found that Rou Gui has a bit of sweetness and floral flavour to it. There’s almost a cinnamon note to the aroma that takes the backseat to the floral fragrance, but it fades away when I drink it. There’s a smoothness to this tea that is inviting – I found zero bitterness or astringency to it, which is nice. I found it easy to drink.

A Second Cup?

Rou Gui was resteeped five times (six steeps total) with the same leaves. I did add an additional 30 seconds with each subsequent resteep. The leaves opened up a significant amount, and were pleasant shades of green throughout. I found the flavour to remain fairly consistent. The floral flavour was stronger for the first resteep, and then slowly began to fade after that.

My Overall Impression

I loved Teakan’s Rou Gui. The last couple of teas from Teakan’s Volume 4 have hit the spot with me because I’m such a fan of oolong. Rou Gui didn’t disappoint when it came to aroma, steeping, flavour, or resteeping. Sipping this oolong was a pleasant activity to do over an afternoon and I greatly enjoyed getting to taste it and experience the nuances of the flavour from this Wuyishan oolong.

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

Charcoal Roasted Tie Guan Yin by Teakan
Oolong Tea / Straight
$30.00 for 65g

Charcoal Roasted Tie Guan Yin is part of Teakan’s Volume 5 Exploration Kit, a collection of five single origin teas. Charcoal Roasted Tie Guan Yin makes up 15g of the 65g kit.

First Impressions

Charcoal Roasted Tie Guan Yin came as part of the Volume 5 Exploration Kit. This oolong tea comes in a sealed, resealable kraft paper pouch. There’s a simplistic white and black label folded over for the front and back. This particular oolong comes from Anxi, Fujian, China, and was harvested in spring of 2021.

The leaves are dark, very deep brown with hints of green throughout. The aroma has a strong nuttiness from the roasted component, with a fruity undertone that strongly reminds me of plums. It has a nice aroma, I don’t really get much of a charcoal feel to it, but the roasted nuttiness does come through in the aroma of the dry leaf.

Preparation

Teakan recommends steeping Charcoal Roasted Tie Guan Yin in 96°C (205°F) water for 2 minutes 30 seconds for western style steeping, and 45 seconds for gongfu style steeping.

I opted to do an initial steep of Charcoal Roasted Tie Guan Yin in the western style of steeping for 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

First Taste

Charcoal Roasted Tie Guan Yin steeps to a golden orange, very clear, and has a nutty aroma. On first taste, I get the nuttiness, an astringency, and just a touch of fruitiness that reminds me of plums, but the nuttiness is much stronger. The astringency leads to a dry mouthfeel, but there is no bitterness. I find the astringency and that dry mouthfeel makes me want to drink more, just to quench that thirst that it creates. It has a pleasant flavour though, with just the tiniest hint of sweetness.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Charcoal Roasted Tie Guan Yin a total of six times (seven steeps total with the same leaves), and added an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. I kept with the same steeping method and water temperature and I found that the flavour stayed fairly consistent. I found it to remain lightly astringent with plum-notes throughout, along with that dry mouthfeel at the end of each sip.

My Overall Impression

I loved Teakan’s Charcoal Roasted Tie Guan Yin. I’m not sure what I was expecting when I saw the name Charcoal Roasted Tie Guan Yin, but I don’t think this was it. I was pleasantly surprised in the fact that it was had more roasted notes than what I had assumed it would be like, which would have been something closer to a lapsang souchong (and honestly, not one of my favourite types of tea) because I saw charcoal and thought smokey. The nutty flavour carries through well, and the plum notes really carry with each steep. I would highly recommend resteeping this oolong as much as possible.

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