The Mountain Tea co

The last of the sample. It was good.

Another one from Nicole! Thanks so much — it’s very appreciated! This one sounds interesting! It looks really delicious too — very dark leaves for an oolong with hints of red.

First steep —waited around 10 minutes for the water to cool. Then I would infuse for 20 seconds, take the infuser out, sip a bit of it, and then steep for another 20 seconds. I did that until I got to two and a half minutes. Somehow, the flavor stayed consistent. I wasn’t finding the magic in this cup like others have found. There is like a light charcoal flavor and fragrance. I wasn’t finding the apple or anything else fruity that others have mentioned. There really wasn’t any typical oolong flavors here. There is something oaty and vegetal about it. It also dries the mouth a bit. It’s a tough one to describe.

Second steep — I used just boiled water and steeped for one minute. I couldn’t taste test right away — the water was too hot! But it tastes exactly the same as the first cup.

I can’t really tell if this is a tea that you should steep for around 15 seconds or minutes. It seems to taste the same either way. The Mountain site wasn’t too helpful either! I don’t dislike this one, I just think I’m missing something!

Full Review on www.sororiteasisters.com on Feb 3rd but here are my snippits:

Upon sipping Medium Roast Osmanthus Oolong from The Mountain Tea Company I find it to be surprisingly lighter than I had anticipated. Keep in mind however I love oolong, the darker the better, so maybe its just lighter on my palate.

There are woodsy notes, and even some notes that lean toward a vegetal flavor slightly, but I am not picking up on the sweetness of the osmanthus. I do get the floral aspect of the osmanthus for sure which is lovely, fresh, and delightful. I was hoping for the sweetness from it however.

Now I am a huge fan of The Mountain Tea Company, I repeat, huge fan, but this is not my favorite tea from them. That is not to say it is a bad tea whatsoever! It is quite nice especially if you love floral notes in your oolong. Its not as sweet as some of their teas, nor as complex in my opinion, but what it does deliver it delivers well.

This is a well-balanced roasted oolong. Although the roasting comes through in all infusions, there are also distinct floral and honey notes when one allows the liquor to cool before drinking. Quite pleasant.

First infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz water, 90 deg., 1:45 min.

Second infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 90 deg., 2:30 min.

Third infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 90 deg., 4 min.

Fourth infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 90 deg., 10+ min.

This was a tea I had bought during the black Friday sales. I left it vacuum packed in a box under my desk since my usual cupboard didn’t have room for more tea at the moment. I vowed that I wouldn’t open new packages of tea (except samples :p) until I made more room. Well, my dogs had other ideas.
Husband and I went out to dinner with friends and came home to find a pair of furry escapees waiting for us at the door and a pile of vomited tea leaves. They found the tea under my desk and chose this one to rip open and gorge on until sick. Genius. I’ve got to say though, best smelling pile of vomit ever. So floral and sweet smelling. Too gross? haha

Thankfully, pup was fine, and I got to have some new tea. Weee! While this is a very tasty oolong, I wouldn’t say it’s particularly honey tasting. Very creamy and milky. Nectary stone fruits. Fresh and green and summery. Delicious. Subsequent steeps are vegetal like steamed greens. Still smooth and milky. Not much honey. Am I missing something? Maybe I should try again when I haven’t just had banana spice waffles for breakfast.

This one of two teas I ordered from Mountain Tea’s Black Friday sale. I don’t have any plain green teas in my collection – the closest being some Genmaicha – so I decided this would be a good opportunity to try some!

This tea is different from any plain greens I have encountered. Even the look of the dry leaves is unusual – large, dark and curled. It brews up into a pale green-yellow liqueur. The taste is very smooth, vegetal and curiously salty. It reminds me very strongly of the sea.

I think this tea is quite nice, though I find that it’s more enjoyable in small quantities. I say this because whenever I brew an entire pot, I start out enjoying it, but after a while the taste will become a bit overwhelming. Just an observation, but otherwise it’s a nice change from the usual sencha!

No notes yet.

Full review will be on http://sororiteasisters.com/ on the 21st – until then here are my snippits;

Ginseng Oolong from The Mountain Tea Company is just like every tea they sell, perfection! I have to say, I approached this tea with trepidation. I really don’t know why but ginseng is not an herb I favor. I have plenty of experience with herbs and I know the health benefits of ginseng but I simply have never really cared for the flavor of it. Ginseng, to me, has been something you have when you are needing an energy boost, or are falling ill, etc, and I generally prefer to avoid it. Well you should see me blush when I found myself actually enjoying this cup of tea!

Just as their description says, you can still taste the beautiful oolong beneath the ginseng which does not over take the cup with cloying sweetness but is perfectly balanced between sweet, floral, herbaceous, and creamy.

If you are like me and fear the ginseng – don’t be fearful! This tea is something I would drink anytime, anywhere!

I was going to hold off logging this till I had done a few more steeps, I’m brewing gongfu after all and I’ve only brewed for 5-8 seconds but oh my goodness this tea is blowing my mind and I had to share. First off, thank you to tperez for sending me a big pouch of this, several ounces in fact along with many other delicious teas. When I saw this on the swap board I didn’t look it up, I just thought it was the large rolled balls of black tea. I was surprised and delighted when it arrived and I found out that it was far more unique. I think tperez mentioned it was a Taiwanese oolong processed as a black and described it as tasting similar to Teavivre’s Bailn Gongfu Black, yum! However this says it Sumatran, I once passed on a Sumatran Oolong at TeaGschwender and regretted it. Anywho!

At only five seconds this is rich and dark and sweet. I picked up dark rye, raisins and dark chocolate. Then something happened in my cup that flipped my world upside down. I had never understood how a black tea could be fruity, never experienced it beyond the wine notes or a hint of plum or raisin in Darjeeling and a few high mountain teas. But this, oh my goodness, fruit! There are berries in my cup! Raspberries and strawberries and juicy plums and now that I’m reading it, yes apples!

Mind you I didn’t read any descriptions or tasting notes before drinking my first cup. But now I’m off to brew a second and am very excited. I hope the fruit sticks around for awhile! I should probably also eat something, as my head is swimming, beyond my giddiness.

WOW! This really is quite different!
Full review on http://sororiteasisters.com/ on the 14th but here are the snippits:

I will confess, I am getting a bit of a tea high while sipping on it. Either that or I just need a nap but I am feeling quite laid back and cozy in this sipping moment.

The aroma is a sensory explosion! Sweetly floral, and fruity, peppery notes, and the aroma of a wooded place. The aftertaste is so very familiar – what IS that flavor? Savory, vegetal, something buttered perhaps, GAH what is it? … Squash, Zucchini perhaps. I will come back to that another time it may drive me batty. It is delicious regardless!

Ah the second infusion really brings forth the fruit notes! Now I get that raisin note that another reviewer had mentioned on Steepster!

I am also pretty sure this is the type of oolong served at a couple of the local Asian buffets here local to me. Now granted I do not think they are near this level of quality of an Oriental Beauty Oolong but hey at least its not Liptons!

Oh and if you order from The Mountain Tea Company be sure to look for the button on their item pages that says “Tweet for Discount” if you have a twitter account you can get a code for 5% off your purchase.

Loose
Appearance: med size, knobby oolong, bicolor
Aroma when Dry: milky, sweet (eastern)
After water is first poured: vanilla and milk
At end of first steep: deeper milky notes, almost hinting at spice
Tea liquor:
At end of steep: clear
Staple? YES
Preferred time of day: afternoon, evening
Taste:
At first: creamy, buttery, deserty
As it cools ? Starts to get nutty, little less creamy, less sweet
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? No
Lingers? Yes, buttery, thick, creamy vanilla-ish notes, slight citrus quality

Second steep 4min
at first: nutty, deep, woody, no milkiness
As it cools? tea sweetens again, milky, nutty layers

third steep (6min)
Milky, sweet still but getting lighter, floral notes surface

Soo many teas I need to try and write notes for! And I think I have some more waiting for me when I get back to school. :P

Dry leaves: The dry leaves have a thick, chocolaty aroma that reminds me of brownie batter. Its mostly chocolaty, but with some nutty/bready smells as well.

Brewing: The wet leaves have a strong, juicy aroma of red apples. Not like “a little bit apple-ish”, like “if I was blindfolded I would think there was a red apple in front of my face” haha This tea brews lighter than I expected, with the red-gold color of oriental beauty.

Tasting: The tea has a heavy charcoal flavor that sort of reminds me of the coffees grown in Sumatra. I wonder if this is coincidence, or a flavor imparted by the land like the Wuyi “rock” flavor? There are notes of honey, walnut, fresh red apple, and I might be crazy, but anchovy? Not in a bad way, just interesting and I don’t have a better word for it. The tea has a soupy quality that reminds me of some Chinese greens like long jing and bi lo chun.

Overall this is a fairly nice tea. Not a favorite, but definitely unique and worth trying, especially with Mountain Tea’s low prices.

No notes yet.

Okay, revisiting this one today.

I get none of the same oily Chinese food smell from it now. Maybe it was just something from the packaging.

I’ve steeped this twice for four cups so far. I still get no apple notes at all. But I do get quite a bit of maltiness, no bitterness at all, and wow, do the leaves ever expand! There is a fair amount of stems in this, though maybe that is to be expected with these kinds of dark oolongs. And while I’m here, Mountain Tea Co. lists this in the Dark Oolong section of their site, but the description just says “black tea.” So I’m not really sure if this is an oolong or not. But I am liking it more than my first time around.

Photos of the steeped leaves:
http://s1165.beta.photobucket.com/user/dagony/library/Black%20Pearl%20by%20Mountain%20Tea%20Co

Liquified dates, or perhaps prunes or sticky raisins. Wonderfully sweet and succulent.

First infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz water, 90 deg., 2:30 min.

Second infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 90 deg., 3:00 min.

Third infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 90 deg., 4:00 min.

Fourth infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 90 deg. 7:00 min.

Fifth infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 90 deg. 10+ min.

No notes yet.

My second infusion of these leaves produced a stronger flavor than the first … still deliciously buttery, still a delicate vegetative taste although there is more to it this time around.

Enjoying a cup of this tea thanks to Azzrian … thank you for sending me some of this!

This is really nice. It took me a few sips to sort of figure it out, because it is different from most green teas … from the dry leaf – these leaves are HUGE! – to the flavor, it is softly vegetal, mostly buttery, and smooth. It has a very delicate flavor. Think a Silver Needle delicateness with the taste of a green tea rather than a white tea. That’s what I taste. It’s very refreshing and light. I like!

Tea like this is why I drink tea!
I do favor darker oolongs more than light ones but come on! This is INSANELY good!
I have written a long review for SororiTea Sisters site but let me just say YUMMMMMM!!
Here are some Sound Bites from my full length review:

A bit like a peach that is not quite ripe enough to be eaten yet but temping nonetheless. There is a subtle sweetness as well somewhat like honey but not cloying. A nutty note plays around but disappears quickly, lingering fresh asparagus, dandelion, and fresh flower notes prevail.

Things just slow down around you. I find myself not quite so annoyed by my doggies incessant barking at the neighbor’s dog, not quite so bothered by the television blasting noise from the other room, not quite so anxious. Through all that noise I rather am picking up on the birds chirping happily outside, the sun is steaming into the house more brightly, and I just feel peaceful.

Ohhhh Yes!! This is one of those teas that makes me realize how far I have come as a tea drinker.

Lots of honeyed sweetness in the liquor of this tea, along with more subtle flavours of caramel and peach. Very light and delicious.

First infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz water, 90 deg., 2:00 min.

Second infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 90 deg., 4:00 min.

Third infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 90 deg., 10+ min.

This is a very dark, highly-oxidized oolong, very close to a black. There are notes of molasses, and a sweetness that is present through all infusions. Although not roasted, there is a certain “roastedness” to it.

First infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz water, 90 deg., 1:30 min.

Second infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 90 deg., 2:30 min.

Third infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 90 deg., 4 min.

Fourth infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 90 deg., 7 min.

Fifth infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 90 deg., 10+ min.

I decided to have this one after seeing someone else had it today as a rainy day oolong, I waited for the rain to stop actually and I turned on the music to cheer myself up and I brewed this one up Gangnam Style, thats when you put on a fancy shirt and hat and dance the horsey dance while trying to make tea and you get water everywhere, ya get a little wet but its fun, wet outside wet inside. Really good tea sweet and delicious with peachy or apricot notes, slight floral tones and just intense yummy flavor, really good tea, If ya drink it from a small cup and have a long tongue you can lick whats left from the bottom of the cup mmmmm it’s really good like that too :) Thanks Azzrian!!!

Another delicious sample from Azzrian!

Rainy days are oolong days. This one is deliciously sweet, but still tastes natural and oolongy :)

Brewed Western style, 2tsp/16ish ounces.

Mmmm…. creamy, lightly citrusy background notes and a most definite presence of honey. This is a light oolong, which puts it solidly in my “like” category.

Brewed up a pot for Tea Club at work on Friday after our office holiday lunch. Figured we could all use something a bit light to round out the afternoon. It went over well. I only wish we’d had time to try a 2nd steep. I’m glad I went with a larger package of it on Black Friday even though I had not tried it before.

I did steep it for much longer than recommended and it was still very tasty, so perhaps that means this is a forgiving tea. :)