My little Tea From Taiwan sampler arrived today and I was so excited to try this one first. I haven’t tried a flavored milk oolong before and to be honest, the idea of leaves being drenched with milk or flavoring sounds delicious to me. Yes, I still love natural milk oolongs, but this sounded like a real treat!
Once I poured the hot water over the leaves, I immediately smelled a rich buttery scent. It didn’t differ from previous buttery smelling oolongs, but made my mouth water. Interestingly, the first steep isn’t as strong as I thought it would be. It does have a buttery taste with a bit of the oolong in the background. What I love about this tea, though, is that it is so smooth. With each sip I’m expecting a drying, astringent effect, but I’m not finding it in this first steep. It’s not really thick in the mouth, more smooth and a light kind of silky without being creamy. I’ve read that many flavored milk oolongs do not last past the first or second steep. I can’t say I’m looking forward to the next steep because I’m enjoying the buttery, sweet tea I’m getting in this cup. That being said, I will steep this again and report back with how it goes.
EDITED: 2nd Steep and it isn’t anything like the first cup at all. There really isn’t any buttery flavor left.. just a bit lingering in the scent. It’s also a bit more astringent. I wouldn’t say that it’s terrible.. just significantly different than the first glorious cup. I still might buy this because the first cup was just lovely.
