What-Cha

I’ve almost finished the 50g bag. It was my first GABA oolong, and likely won’t be my last. The texture of this tea really stands out to me—it’s thick and has a wonderfully full mouthfeel. It tastes of cooked fruit alongside some of that bready taste of a roasted oolong. Very complex and fascinating to drink, I love the way that the sweet taste of cooked fruit mixes with the spicy (not spicy as in hot but tasting of spices). Definitely one to come back to. The GABA does make me feel less anxious, it’s different from a tea-drunkeness and more like a mellowed calm.

I’m super addicted to this tea. It has a super high quality roast flavor. The aftertaste is insanely great. Easily can get three steeps out of this tea. I highly recommend this to anyone who likes roasted Oolongs. Works great for both Gong Fu and Western

I am once again starting to clear out my backlog of tea reviews. I think I finished what I had of this tea right at the end of October. It was either the last or next to last sipdown of the month. As silver needle white teas go, I found it to be tremendously enjoyable. It was oddly a heavier and more accessible tea than many of its Chinese counterparts.

Naturally, I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea buds in 4 ounces of 185 F water for 10 seconds. This infusion was followed by 18 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, and 30 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea buds emitted aromas of hay, eucalyptus, vanilla, and malt that were underscored by hints of smoke and corn husk. After the rinse, I detected stronger corn husk and smoke scents along with aromas of cream, celery, and butter. I did not notice any difference in the tea’s bouquet on the first infusion. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of hay, smoke, eucalyptus, cream, corn husk, and butter that were backed by hints of vanilla. Subsequent infusions introduced scents of green beans, sugarcane, apricot, fennel, puff pastry, and marshmallow as well as well as a subtle honeydew aroma. Stronger vanilla notes emerged in the mouth as well as belatedly emerging impressions of malt and celery. New impressions of minerals, green beans, sugarcane, apple, puff pastry, honeydew, marshmallow, apricot, fennel, and orange zest also emerged. At the end of the session, the tea liquor had grown a bit astringent, but I could still pick up mineral, celery, cream, fennel, butter, and sugarcane impressions framed by accents of hay, honeydew, apple, vanilla, and eucalyptus.

This was an absolutely fantastic silver needle white tea, one that I would honestly rank up above some of the better Chinese silver needles I have tried. I think I would even put it above the few Darjeeling silver needles I have tried to this point. I would recommend it highly to anyone with an interest in quality white teas, especially someone looking for something more exotic than the traditional Chinese offerings.

Since I reviewed the 2016 version of this tea earlier in the month, I am now taking a few moments to review the 2017 version. Compared to the earlier version of this tea, this one was subtler and perhaps a bit simpler and more straightforward. Of the two, I preferred the 2016 tea, but this one was still very good.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. I dumped the entire mini cake in a 160 ml celadon gaiwan and then rinsed it for 10 seconds in 203 F water. The first proper infusion lasted 10 seconds and was chased by 15 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes. The water temperature was kept at 203 F for the entirety of the session.

Prior to the rinse, the dry oolong cake emitted aromas of cream, butter, custard, and orange blossom. After the rinse, I noted new aromas of mushroom, steamed milk, and vanilla. The first infusion introduced aromas of tart cherry and sugarcane. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered notes of cream, butter, custard, and sugarcane that were chased by hints of vanilla, tart cherry, and cinnamon. The subsequent infusions brought out aromas of baked bread, orange zest, minerals, grass, and gardenia. Mushroom, orange blossom, and steamed milk notes belatedly came out in the mouth along with slightly stronger tart cherry impressions and new notes of baked bread, minerals, orange zest, almond, grass, apple, and pear. There were also some subtle gardenia notes detectable here and there. By the end of the session, I was still picking up notes of minerals, almond, cream, butter, and baked bread that were backed by mushroom, grass, apple, pear, and orange zest hints.

This tea’s profile was very similar to the previous year’s version, but as mentioned above, it was subtler. It also seemed a bit simpler despite displaying depth and complexity rivaling the 2016 production. If I were able to assign this particular version of this tea a numerical score, I would give it an 84 because it was a very good tea, but it was not as satisfying as the earlier production. Overall it just lacked some of the body and texture of that tea, and it also was neither as overtly aromatic nor as consistently flavorful. Still, this was a very good tea and several steps up in terms of quality from the regular China Fujian Zhangping Shui Xian “Floral” Cake Oolong Teas also offered by What-Cha.

It is finally time to get the last of the Zhangping Shui Xian mini cake reviews posted. I had one each of the 2016 and 2017 “Premium Floral” Cakes, consuming them in back-to-back gongfu sessions at the end of last week. I found both to be very good, definitely a few steps above the regular Zhangping Shui Xian “Floral” Cakes offered by What-Cha. Just to be clear, this review will specifically detail my experience with the 2016 cake. I will review the 2017 cake in a separate review at a later date.

As mentioned in the paragraph above, I prepared this tea gongfu style. I plopped the whole cake into my 160 ml celadon gaiwan, rinsed it in 203 F water for about 10 seconds, and then steeped it for 10 seconds to start. This initial infusion was then followed by 16 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, and 15 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry mini cake emitted aromas of cream, butter, custard, honeysuckle, and gardenia. After the rinse, I detected new aromas of steamed milk, sugarcane, grass, and vanilla. The first infusion brought out subtle orange blossom scents. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of cream, butter, and grass that were chased by hints of sugarcane, orange blossom, tart cherry, and gardenia. The subsequent infusions brought out mineral, cinnamon, baked bread, mushroom, and almond aromas. Notes of steamed milk, custard, vanilla, and honeysuckle came out in the mouth along with new notes of minerals, coconut, almond, apple, orange zest, pear, mushroom, cattail shoots, and baked bread. The previously mentioned impressions of grass and tart cherry grew a little stronger as well. By the end of the session, I was just able to pick up on lingering mineral, cattail shoot, grass, tart cherry, orange zest, and butter notes that were underscored by fleeting hints of cream, baked bread, pear, apple, vanilla, and sugarcane.

Much like the other Zhangping Shui Xian mini cakes sourced by What-Cha, this was a subtle and delicate tea that often emphasized body and texture over aroma and flavor. Unlike those other teas, this one was more consistent in terms of body and texture, and the aromas and flavors present were a little more prominent and were layered in a more appealing and sophisticated fashion. Honestly, this blew the other Zhangping Shui Xian mini cakes out of the water, but I also doubt that I would have appreciated this one as much had I not taken the time to try the others.

Third tea of the day, getting a bit of caffeine before class. Did this gongfu style because why not. Malty, smooth, and a nice caramel undertone. As others mentioned, mouthfeel is thick and satisfying. Good kick of caffeine as well, of course. Not much more to it. Very nice black tea.

I’ve had this tea for a while now, and I’ve also wanted to make a steepster review for a while, so this one will be my first!
I’ve had a lot of really solid oolongs from What-Cha, as he is the seller from whom I made my first three “true tea” orders. Wonderful vendor by the way, always sends a nice handwritten note and a free sample.
Onto this Tie Guan Yin, the first of its kind I’ve tried. It is a very nice tea. The last two or three times I’ve had it, I’ve brewed it Gongfu, but it also worked really well Western style. Today, I used a fair amount of tea, enough to fill my 120ml gongfu up to the brim when expanded. I also used F203 degree water whereas in the past I’ve used the suggested 194. I like these parameters as it makes for a stronger brew (obviously) and the taste was not much more dimensional when I used cooler water so I think it was an improvement. The taste profile is very nice—light, fresh, with a hint of spinach underneath the sour vegetation taste. Overall, a crisp and enjoyable experience. Not much evolution over brews, I’m on the fifth now and the lighter notes have been taken over by generally a lower EQ version of the taste with which the tea began. Recommended.

I find that the Doke Silver Needles very delicious. You can easily get 2-3 good steeps out of it. It’s a very smooth taste with no hint of bitterness. It has a slightly vegetable taste with a bit of grape aftertaste. It’s very reasonably priced and could easily be an everyday drinker.

I can’t believe I haven’t already reviewed this! I’ve bought it about three times. It’s a great flavoured or flavour-imparted tea. Slightly sweet, satisfying, rounded. Changes each steeping.

This blend is the first tea I’ve drunk with milk since discovering real tea. I was looking for something to stand in place of the typical English cut-tear-crush teabag tea I would sometimes drink. This blend is just the job.

Malty more than anything.

I’m still desperately trying to get back in the swing of posting reviews on a more regular basis. Obviously, I am not making much progress in that regard. With that in mind, this was a tea I finished back around the third week in October. I generally like smoked lapsang souchong as a morning and/or afternoon tea when fall weather starts to set in, and after rediscovering this tea in one of my storage totes, I immediately put it on my monthly drinking schedule. Even though it had a little age on it when I got around to trying it, it had held up amazingly well in storage. If anything, the significant rest period I subjected this tea to actually improved it; the smoke and pine tar characteristics teas like this so frequently present had mellowed somewhat, allowing a host of other aroma and flavor components to express themselves clearly.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a very quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose leaf material in 4 ounces of 203 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 15 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, and 5 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry leaf material emitted aromas of pine tar, pine smoke, cedar, and char. After the rinse, I detected stronger pine smoke, pine tar, and char aromas as well as subtle scents of malt and coffee. The first infusion then introduced a hint of cinnamon to the nose. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of pine smoke, pine tar, char, cedar, and coffee that were balanced by more delicate impressions of cream, malt, roasted barley, and vanilla. There was also a little bit of vague vegetal character present in the aftertaste. The subsequent infusions did not see the tea’s bouquet change all that much. I was able to pick out some hints of cooked green beans, but otherwise, that was it. Stronger coffee and roasted barley notes appeared in the mouth alongside mineral and caramel impressions. There were also some hints of cinnamon, brown sugar, grass, and cooked green beans, though that last note gradually grew a little stronger. By the end of the session, I was still picking up notes of minerals, malt, cream, and cooked green beans that were underscored by hints of cedar and pine smoke.

This was a lovely Taiwanese lapsang souchong, but I honestly would not recommend gongfuing it unless those of you who still have some of this tea absolutely have to try it that way. In my opinion, teas like this were not really intended for gongfu; the amount of broken leaf material in teas such as this makes for very messy brewing and a rapidly fading tea liquor. Fortunately, I also tried brewing this tea in the Western style, and the result was amazing. I was even able to pick up all of the same impressions I got from the gongfu session. Overall, this was a great Taiwanese tarry lapsang souchong. If you are a fan of smoked black teas and have the opportunity to procure some of this tea, definitely acquire some of it. I highly doubt it will disappoint.

Medium to dark green tightly rolled balls that came in a zip-lock opaque bag. Wet leaves had a nice vegetal aroma, natural orchid fragrance. The liquor is a very light amber color with greenish tints. The taste is smooth, soft, mellow and savory with delicate vegetal and floral notes. No astringency nor bitterness. The first time I tried this it had bitter notes, but I basically fried it at 212˚F lol. This time I did it at 194˚F. It has a slightly sour finish that was pleasant, that lasted for a brief moment (no pucker up pull on the cheeks feeling), with slightly offsetting sweet notes, so their ‘gentle’ description is perfect.

5g, 110ml, 194˚F, 7 steeps: rinse, 25s, 35s, 45s, 55s, 65s, 75s, 85s

This is a very nice medium to full bodied tea that combines nicely the fruity sweetness and roasted notes. Its smell is thick and sweet with notes like cherry, dark wood and molasses. The liquor is bubbly, soft, mouth-watering and gets decently thick throughout the session and also as it cools down. It has a cooling finish.

Taste is quite complex and balanced. Among the notes I found are those of toasted rice, nuts, resin, coconut skin and cedar. I also like the fruity aftertaste that lingers for a while.

I will try to get this one in my next What-Cha order.

Expected to hate this because I dislike white tea so much and yellow yea seems close to white, conceptually. But I neither like nor dislike it.

It certainly tastes healthy. Very vegetative. Lots of corn in there. No real depth with fruit or spice complexity for me. But definitely good if you want something very, very light.

Good morning. ^^

If there is one thing that guarantees me an asthma attack, it’s someone sitting by me at a restaurant or standing next to me in line with a gang-load of cheap rose perfume. lol So when I got my package, I wondered why I ordered the “Rose” tea since I have an aversion to strong rose smell and it’s one of the few aromas I can detect due to that.

I kept passing it over, it was the last What-Cha tea of my package that I haven’t tried… Just looking at the unopened package throughout the week, moving it aside each time. lol Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised. It’s creamy, seemed even creamier than the base Jin Xuan. It’s ever so subtle, delicate, comforting.

Looking at the dry leaf, they are a pretty pink and green, rolled up balls. The dry leaf aroma was sweet, vegetal, and fresh rose petals and nothing like the people at the restaurants lol. The wet leaf aroma is the Jin Xuan vegetal aroma, maybe cranberries, cream, rose petals. The liquor looks like champagne with its pink hues. I tasted butter, cream, honey, rose, vanilla, vegetal and the balance was nice, nothing perfumy about it. Now I just can say… I hate cheap rose perfume on people :P but a nice rose tea such as this one, I can fully enjoy.

5g, 110ml, 200°F, 9 steeps, 25s, 35s, 45s, 55s, 1m5s, 1m15s, 1m25s, 1m35s, 1m45s

Nothing new to add but…
Each time I have this, I keep bumping up the rating. lol It’s good stuff.

Happy Thanksgiving all. :D

Been drinking this throughout the week, and I am really enjoying it. I thought the sticky rice was my favorite out of this package but then I really like this one too. I feel fickle when I drink tea. My taste buds and my stomach can be fickle… Sometimes certain tea is comforting and other times, I need to get a bite to eat to continue to ease my tummy.

There are already great reviews on this but here I go.^^ The dry leaf consists of dark little nuggets and has a nice aroma of roast, bittersweet chocolate, vegetal. The wet leaves smell like roasted nuts, chocolate, tamarind fruit. The liquor which is medium-amber smelled like malt, cocoa, roast. It’s complex, and today, the notes I tasted consisted of creamy dark cocoa, like bittersweet chocolate chips, malt, honey, sweet tamarind, roasted nuts, butter, raisins, raspberries, tart cherries.

Note: I always have salted tamarind candy and raw tamarind (not the sweet type but the sour tamarind) as an available snack at home, and there were times some of my infusions reminded me of my tamarind candy. (I just emailed steepster to suggest the tamarind fruit flavor)

Yixing gaiwan, 5g, 110ml, 200°F, 9 steeps, 25s, 35s, 45s, 55s, 1m5s, 1m15s, 1m25s, 1m35s, 1m45s

There is no way I can possibly add any details to the already great reviews on this tea. I am enjoying it, and next time I’ll use a little fewer leaves because it was a very strong and potent jasmine tea. When I smelled the dry leaves, it was like standing in a garden, a wonderful fresh jasmine flower aroma.

6g, 100ml, 195°F, 9 steeps, 25s, 30s, 35s,40s, 45s, 50s, 55s, 1m, 1m5s

Another sample from derk and I am quite excited about this one, knowing the quality of production coming from Jun Chiyabari.

The dry leaf scent is exactly as derk described – a sweet dark cocoa powder. The wet leaves have even sweeter scent that reminds me of christmas with notes like clove, hot apple, cranberries and others that I couldn’t quite put in words. It is quite feminine and sweet but pungent aroma.

The taste is also sweet, but less so, which I appreciate. It has a cocoa bitterness, cherry tartness and very spicy (as in fragrant) finish and aftertaste. I also get a little sickly feeling in the throat after drinking it. The liquor has medium body and a soft, drying mouthfeel.

I don’t think this will be my favourite tea by Jun Chiyabari, but it’s still very good.

As mentioned in my previous review, I actually had two of these Zhangping Shui Xian oolong mini cakes, one from 2016 and the other from 2017. My last review dealt with the 2016 tea, and this one will deal with the 2017 tea. Of the two, this was a considerably less likable tea.

As with the earlier tea, I brewed the entire mini cake in a 160 ml celadon gaiwan. After a brief rinse in 203 F water, I steeped the cake for 10 seconds. This infusion was chased by 15 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea cake emitted aromas of cream, butter, custard, and gardenia. After the rinse, I noted aromas of grass, wood, and apple. The first infusion brought out aromas of vanilla and cattail shoots. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered notes of cream, butter, custard, wood, and grass that were underscored by hints of apple. The subsequent infusions brought out aromas of steamed milk, cinnamon, blueberry, sour cherry, and baked bread. Cattail shoot and vanilla impressions came out in the mouth along with very subtle hints of gardenia and new mineral, cinnamon, steamed milk, pear, sour cherry, and orange notes. I could also occasionally detect subtle hints of blueberry, but they were generally fleeting. The final few infusions mostly offered mineral, cream, butter, orange, and custard notes that were backed by hints of grass, apple, and cattail shoots.

I was not huge on the 2016 version of this tea, and I liked this more recent offering considerably less. It was very bland overall. The flavors were often subtle and did not have much staying power. Also, I had the same complaint with the earlier version of this tea, but I again noted that the tea’s more vegetal characteristics lingered in the mouth after each swallow in a way that struck me as being distinctly unpleasant. That being said, I must also give credit where it is due and remark that I enjoyed this tea’s texture considerably more than the 2016 version. In the end, this struck me as being a stunning example of a truly mediocre tea. If I were to assign a numerical score to it, I would give it a 50 and not think twice about it, but since I cannot grade this version separately, I have decided to average the scores of the two different versions of this tea that I have tried.

As mentioned in a previous review, I discovered several What-Cha Zhangping Shui Xian mini cakes while doing some organizing and realized I needed to get them out of the way. There were five total, and I have now worked my way through three of them. I had two of these mini cakes, one from 2016 and the other from 2017. This review will deal exclusively with the 2016 offering. It wasn’t bad, but please keep in mind that Zhangping Shui Xian is not one of my things.

To brew this little beast, I simply dumped the entire cake in one of the largest gaiwans I have, an approximately 160 ml blue celadon gaiwan I bought from Yunnan Sourcing. It’s pretty cool. It took me a little while to adapt to using it since I rarely break it out, but it was fun to use. I rinsed the cake in 203 F water for about 10 seconds and then steeped it for 10 seconds to get the session started. This infusion was then followed by 16 additional infusions. Steep times for them were as follows: 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, and 15 minutes. Note that I used the same water temperature (203 F) for the entirety of this session.

Prior to the rinse, the dry mini cake emitted aromas of cream, butter, custard, and gardenia. After the rinse, I noted new aromas of apple, grass, and vanilla. The first infusion introduced a stronger and more defined apple scent as well as new blueberry and raspberry aromas. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of apple, blueberry, and raspberry chased by more delicate impressions of wood, cream, custard, and vanilla. Hints of cinnamon and grass were detectable in the aftertaste. The subsequent infusions introduced baked bread, wood, pear, and subtle cinnamon aromas. Butter came out in the mouth as did very subtle gardenia impressions. New notes of sour cherry, baked bread, pomegranate, rock sugar, cattail shoots, watercress, almond, pear, and banana leaf also showed themselves. The final few infusions offered mineral, cream, apple, butter, and vanilla notes that were underscored by hints of almond, grass, cattail shoots, cinnamon, and sour cherry. Interestingly, there was also a belatedly emerging, though very, very subtle, hint of honey in the mix too.

In terms of flavor, I enjoyed this Zhangping Shui Xian mini cake more than the last one I tried, but in terms of body and texture, I found it somewhat less appealing. I also did not like the way the vegetal notes lingered on the tongue after each swallow in the middle infusions. Overall, this offering was very hit or miss, possessing some clear strengths (complexity, unique mix of aromas and flavors, and longevity) and some equally obvious weaknesses (lack of body and texture, uneven expression of some flavor components over the course of the session). To be fair, however, there was more good than bad, and even though I did not find it to be a great tea, I would not caution anyone to avoid it either. This one gets a cautious recommendation from me.

People, I have been so lazy lately. My backlog has once again grown due to me not posting anything for nearly a week, and it has not been like I have not had time to get anything done. Truthfully, I have not been feeling well and got to a point where I found myself forcing my way through tea reviews due to lack of energy, motivation, and inspiration. Writing them had turned into something I did not enjoy, much more like a chore than anything else. It was tedious for me. I realized I was forcing myself to stick to such a fixed reviewing schedule more out of a sense of obligation than anything else. So, what did I do? I resolved to take a short break. Now I’m back, and we’ll see how this goes. If I feel good about things after today, I’ll get back to posting things on here a little more regularly, but if I don’t, I will probably end up taking another break. Anyway, this was one of the last teas I finished before my brief rest period. I found it to be a solid oolong that was reminiscent of both some Dancong oolongs and some baked Taiwanese rolled oolongs.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a brief rinse, I steeped 6 grams of rolled tea leaves in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 6 seconds. This infusion was followed by 17 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 9 minutes, and 12 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of raisin, plum, wood, and black cherry. After the rinse, I found new aromas of honey, peach, rose, and violet. The first infusion introduced candied orange and baked bread scents as well as a subtle aroma of malt. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of raisin, plum, baked bread, malt, cream, and honey before moving on to reveal candied orange, black cherry, rose, and violet impressions on the finish. I also caught some interesting and unexpected roasted almond and pomegranate hints in the aftertaste. The subsequent infusions brought out aromas of cream, vanilla, and pomegranate to balance the amplified floral impressions. There were also some fleeting roasted almond scents in the background. Stronger and more prominent black cherry, roasted almond, and pomegranate notes came out in the mouth along with belatedly emerging wood and peach notes. New impressions of minerals, butter, vanilla, and grass showed up too. There were even some hints of coriander and nutmeg that were most noticeable on the finish and in the aftertaste. The final few infusions offered lingering mineral, wood, malt, grass, and cream notes that were backed by fleeting, ghostly rose, candied orange, violet, baked bread, black cherry, and coriander impressions.

A very nice oolong with an appealing texture present in its tea liquor, I think this was mostly a successful experiment overall. I loved the way the floral aromas and flavors popped, and there was appealing depth and complexity to the tea’s fruity characteristics. This being said, my rating may seem a bit low to some of you, but know that I am grading this tea in comparison to some of the other Nepalese oolongs offered by What-Cha. Though very good, this one did not quite equal such offerings as the Nepal Silver Oolong Tea, Nepal Pearl Oolong Tea, or the Nepal Jun Chiyabari ‘Himalayan Bouquet’ Oolong Tea, and for that, I had to assign it a somewhat lower numerical score.