driftwood tea

Backlog:

A really good Oolong. Strongly vegetative in the aroma, but the flavor tends to be a bit more on the mild side than the aroma suggested. It still has a vegetal tone, but, not nearly as strong. I’m really impressed with Driftwood’s quality.

Sweet, buttery but not so much of a creamy buttery note… it’s more of a taste than a texture. This one becomes more floral as I continued to infuse.

Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2013/03/04/organic-oolong-17-from-driftwood-tea/

Oh boy am I ever behind! Review just posted on http://sororiteasisters.com/
for this really amazing oolong!

here are snippets:

Organic Oolong 17 from Driftwood Tea brings us an oolong that is for the faint of heart. That’s right, IS, rather than isn’t. This is a very delicate, soft, gentle, oolong that does not pack a powerful punch. It is lilting, and lovely. This is the perfect oolong for those that typically do not like oolong’s rougher edge.

There is a slight resemblance to a Dong Ding, but more like Dong Ding’s well-mannered female cousin. She is younger, more playful, and less intense, yet has enough of that robust nature that you know your drinking a tea of quality. Yet on the other side you get her floral breath that beckons you to come out and play with her in the sunniness of her color, and she makes everything feel cozy and smooth with her creaminess.

See more here:

http://sororiteasisters.com/2013/04/19/organic-oolong-17-from-driftwood-tea-2/

As I try these rare and exotic teas (at least that’s what I consider them), it really opens my taste buds and my mind to what is truly out there! Teas like this make me realize that I had been missing out on this whole other world of flavors. It sounds hokey but it makes me feel closer to other cultures and regions trying all these interesting teas from different parts of the world. Its just so much fun.

Anyhow… This is a such beautiful tea. It starts off kind of earthy or woodsy and as it cools it has a floral & honey way about it. Finally, it ends with a citrus aftertaste. All of these notes in a very smooth oolong base. This is the type of tea I like to savor and hold in my mouth to appreciate. I decided to make this at the end of the night, so I could relax and sip slowly. I love the smell of this tea brewed as well. The scent has a dark and exotic way about it and tastes so different than the typical Oolong.

Thanks Azzrian for this delicious sample. My tea journey just gets more and more fascinating with every taste.

Full review on http://sororiteasisters.com/ on the 26th of March but here are the snippets:

Doke Organic Silver Needle Second Flush from Driftwood Tea offers a crisp, clean, and juicy sweet cup.

The mouthfeel is what I can only describe as medium, not light yet not heavy, it is somewhat brothy but it has a very nice cleansing effect on the palate.

The natural sweetness is delicious but I find the fruity notes very light, more apricot than peach on my palate.

I must admit this is not my all time favorite tea from Driftwood tea, but then again they have so many teas I have throughly loved, and obviously white tea is not something I drink a lot of. I enjoy it, but have to be in the mood for a straight white tea.

This was the first tea that I tried from Driftwood. It was a sample that James sent when he noticed that I have a taste for Oolongs. I’m not a tea aficionado yet, but I’m trying. I brewed the first for 2 minutes western style using water heated in my Utilitea kettle set to maximum green on the dial. The tea is smooth and fruity at first. The sweetness hit me right on the front of my tongue and lingered. The next two steepings were 1 minute longer each and the floral notes were more pronounced.
I could drink this tea every day and be happy! Can’t wait to try more of my order.

Full Review on March 15th here http://sororiteasisters.com/
For now here are the snippits:

Oriental Beauty (Dong Fang Mei Ren) from Driftwood teas does what Oriental Beauty always does for me, surprises me. I am always taken aback by this tea because I adore oolong, but this is never what I expect an oolong to be! This tea is light, sweet, and fruity, with notes that lean toward muscatel, and juicy peach.

One thing that is a bit different from this Oriental Beauty is that the honey notes are really thick, as in lay in the back of your throat thick, and so wonderfully sweet. Also unlike some Oriental Beauty this tea does not have that drying sensation in the back of the throat. The tea coats the throat and lingers lightly with honey kissed floral notes.

Driftwood Tea certainly does bring us a wonderful example of a high quality Dong Fang Mei Ren with a light smooth taste and mouthfeel. Light, yet so very flavorful! You won’t be wishing for more flavor because this tea has it all from woodsy, sweet, fruity, spiced, and, muscatel, almost in a Darjeeling way, to apricot and floral notes.

Sweet, Creamy, light, a pure delight! Good for multiple infusions! I like the 2nd one just as good if not better than the first! A Might Fine Tie Guan Yin! Lovely!

Nice!

This is really a delightful Tie Guan Yin. Sweet, light and creamy. I like that I’m not getting a really heavy floral note, some Tie Guan Yins tend to be so overly floral and it’s almost inundating, not the case with this first cup (the result of my first two infusions following the rinse) … this is light and refreshing, with a nice buttery taste that hits the palate toward the end of the sip and lingers a little in the after taste. Looking forward to a few more infusions with this!

This is Floral and Creamy! More floral than Creamy, I think. As it cools I can taste more of a sweet-leaf to it, too! Another non-nonsense type of tea…this time around a nice, solid Oolong for the stash! Very pleasant! Nice to sip! Nice to Gulp!

This is a terrific Oriental Beauty! A memorable one for sure! I LOVE the honey notes. The fruity-likeness is that of apricot which many of you know I enjoy! There are also subtle hints of sweet wood which are nice and I think the level of this subtleness is right where it needs to be! It’s smooth, too! I can understand what Nicole pointed at with the Darjeeling-esque flavor, too, but, like she said, without ANY astringency!

This is REALLY REALLY Nice~I like this very much!

WOW! This is a LOVELY Silver Needle! It really IS!

Soft fruit and pine needle aroma. Creamy, clean, Sweet-floral, apricot-type flavor.

Completely IMPRESSIVE!

Again, thanks to the generosity of Liberteas I get to try another wonderful tea! This is a light oolong that reminds me a lot of a darjeeling, though not astringent at all. Very smooth and lightly woodsy.

Aroma prior to infusing reminds me of a combo of candy and flowers. Strange but true! :)

After infusing it smells like a ‘chewy’ or more savory-type combo of flowers, if that makes sense.

It ‘brews’ up to a lovely lemon-lime type color.

YUM! This oolong is neat! I can taste a savory-creamy-flavor with a little hint of grapefruit, almost. On the end sip I can pick up a dried apricot flavor, too, which I LOVE. This is incredible! Very unique and darn tasty!

I’ll be sending some of this to Liberteas for her take on it!

I absolutely adore this tea. It’s a beautiful deep red, complex and well-rounded in flavour, with a natural malty sweetness and a satisfying, smooth finish.

What a lovely Oriental Beauty! So sweet and smooth.

The aroma is alive with floral and wood tones, and while those floral notes do not translate into the flavor quite as much as I expected them too, that’s quite alright, because the way this cup comes together is very beautiful, indeed.

It is sweet, woody, and strongly fruity with notes of peach and apricot, as well as a fermented muscat grape taste that surprised me. I taste notes of wood and musk, as well as a hint of spice in the background. It’s a very lovely taste, one that I am really enjoying.

A lovely, surprising Oriental Beauty. Very nice!

RICE! RICE! RICE! This is awesome! As soon as I opened the envelop I smelled the glorious aroma! WOWZA!

Then when I added the water and infused it the scent magnified even more! This completely smells like sticky rice and I LOVE THAT! Chewy, Grainy, Fibery, Cooked, Sticky Rice! Ahhhh! With notes of floral, vegetal, caramelly, nutty-goodness!

This is incredibly impressive!
Highly recommended!

Well, HELLO, my lovely!

This is delightful!

It’s a mellow yet slightly malty and buttery green tea with a sprig of sweetness and the slightest hints of sweet-vegetal and sweet-nutty type notes throughout the sip.

It’s incredibly clean and has a neat velvety texture to it that I really like!

The aftertaste has a little bit of a lingering pine nut type flavor to it.

Neat Tea!

When I first opened the pouch, the rice scent was there, but it really came to life after I started brewing the tea in my gaiwan. It really smells like rice.

Wow… this tastes so good. As I sip on my first cup of this tea, I’m thinking that this could easily become my favorite Oolong – I love this tea. It tastes so much like the rice that … after I cook rice for my family’s dinner, some rice gets stuck to the bottom of my rice cooker, and gets slightly overcooked. Not burnt, but it does get browned and caramel-y. It has a wonderful, chewy texture and a flavor that is a combination of caramel and rice … top that with just a drizzle of melted butter and you have the makings of one of my favorite treats. This becomes dessert for me on the nights that I serve rice for dinner!

And this tea tastes so much like that! Oh yum! It is sweet, just a little caramel-y, buttery, and absolutely wonderful. The Oolong has a hint of vegetal and floral tones, a slight jasmine-esque note, and notes of kettle corn!

I am loving this stuff!

A lovely sweet creamy cup for relaxing in the late afternoon or early evenings!
Reminded me of White Rabbit candies!! OH YUM!
First steep was my favorite but the third steep was like velvet it was so full and rich and creamy!
If you love milk oolongs try this!
Also had some peachy notes as well.
Full review at onhttp://sororiteasisters.com/ the 16th!

My first cup of this (combination of infusions 1 & 2 following the rinse) is really quite delightful. It tastes creamy and has a rich, fruity taste. I’m used to greener Oolong teas like this one to be more floral than fruity and while this does have some floral notes, I taste more fruit tones than flower.

This first cup has a lovely complexity to it, I’m really enjoying it, and anticipating what the subsequent infusions have to offer!

A very delicate jasmine taste but surprisingly I also got a whiff and then taste of CINNAMON in this cup! Strange but I liked it!
This is a sample from my SororiTea Sister LiberTEAS
I have noticed Driftwood Teas a few times being reviewed here and have been curious about them mostly due to their name, Driftwood, which I have a personal love for Driftwood – thus the name made me want to try their teas.
This is a very light oolong, there is not a ton of strong flavor in this cup but it is very interesting even still.
I would have this as an afternoon tea or evening tea.

This is a Tree-Hopper-Nibbled Tea! It smells roasty and toasty…and darn near like camp fire wood.

This is semi-sweet and nutty. There are hints of almond and even a little cocoa powder-type flavor underneath.

Good stuff!

There is a local place where I get fruity-scones and this aroma reminds me of it. The taste is unlike the other GABA’s I have tried. This is velvety-sweet and a touch of fruity-jammy-ness! There are also hints of sweet-wood as well as some type of a grain towards the end of the sip. This is unique and complex and I like it!

Upon Infusing this – I got a whiff of Honey and Jasmine. I’m not real sure where the honey came from…that was rather ODD but pleasant, regardless.

Post infusion – I must say – this is one of the more pleasing jasmine oolongs I have tried! I have been known to see-saw on my Jasmine likes and dislikes but this is tender and true!

It’s sweet, it’s floral, it’s springy, it’s nature in a cup! Two thumbs up!