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Dinosara

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Dinosara drank Quangzhou Milk Oolong by DAVIDsTEA

I got another sample of this tea not too long ago from brandy3392, so I’m happy to be able to try it again. I think this was possibly the second-ever milk oolong I had had, the first being ATR’s, and so my experience was so limited that I’m not sure if I could really judge this one properly. After trying a bunch of milk oolongs I’ve never had one that has come close to ATR’s, probably because that one is actually an insane Tieguanyin, not a Jin Xuan or similar. I’m not sure if “Quangzhou” refers to the varietal or just the location of origin, because all I can find out about it is that it comes from the Wuyi Mountains. It’s a name of milk oolong that shows up at a lot, though.

Anyway, I steeped this one according to package directions this time, which was about 1-2 minutes longer than I normally would steep an oolong. The steeped tea smells floral, but also distinctly like buttery vegetables. And there’s definitely a milky creaminess there. I’m not sure I’m digging the four-minute steep and I would probably drop it back down… I tend to prefer my oolongs a little lighter steeped which doesn’t bring out the vegetal flavors as much. This tea is also fairly drying/astringent… I’m having a serious case of dry mouth right now! As the tea cools more and more of the buttery creamy flavors come out. I can see why people like this one but it’s not really for me, at least not in giant-cup-of-tea form… I will save the rest for my gaiwan and see how it fares in there.

2012-03-02 15:42:55 -0500

200 °F / 93 °C

4 min 0 sec

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SimpliciTEA 2012-03-02 22:58:10 -0500

Those teas that suggest steeping times and temps dramatically different than what I have found to work with a particular class of tea do tend to throw me, as I think, “Well, they sell the tea, so they must know what they’re talking about.” Yet, I often find my tried-and-true parameters to work better than their suggestions. I think this is because we all expect something different from a tea. So, while what the tea retailer wants to get from that tea may be the same as what I want, it may also differ. No?

Dinosara 2012-03-03 10:14:06 -0500

The first time I had this tea I steeped it at pretty much usual parameters, so I have done it that way. But I find that especially with green oolongs, steeping parameters that companies provide vary wildly, so I like to try their parameters out.

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I am tea obsessed, with the stash to match. I tend to really enjoy green oolongs, Chinese blacks, and flavored teas with high quality bases, especially florals, bergamot-based teas, and chocolate teas.

I’m a grad student and in my free time I am a birder, baker, and music/movie/tv addict.

I have an Adagio Teas UtiliTEA kettle and a Tea Forté Kati cup for brewing. I also have a Chinese Ru Kiln tea set for gongfu brewing.

Here are my rating categories, FYI:
100-90: These teas are mind-blowingly good to me.
89-80: I really really like these teas and will keep most of them in the permanent collection, but they’re not quite as spectacular as the top category
79-70: Tasty teas that I enjoy, but definitely won’t rebuy when I run out.
69-65: Teas that I would probably drink again, but wouldn’t seek out. They don’t quite do it for me in one aspect or another; often just not quite my style
64-60: Teas that I don’t really enjoy all that much and wouldn’t drink another cup of.
59-50: Bleh. I usually choose not to finish the cup because life’s too short to drink tea I dislike.
49 and below: Mega yuck. This tea is just disgusting to me.