Guangzhou Milk Oolong

This tea has some sentimental value for me. It was one of the first straight teas that I tried, and for sure the first straight oolong…I have been hooked ever since! I remember saying to my tea friend (that has since moved away) “who would want to drink a tea that tastes like flowers, butter, and spinach?” Oh man, I was naive! Lol. That was probably about 6 years ago, before I joined Steepster and began my tea obsession!

There are much higher quality milk oolongs (I’m looking at you Mandala Tea), but I enjoy this one as well. It doesn’t deserve my previous 97 rating though, because it isn’t THAT good.

Resteep 7 minutes.

It’s my birthday today… what’s better than birthday cake?

This tea. Oh, and smoked gouda cheese. But mostly this tea.

To reiterate my other reviews…
First steep @ 94°C for 2 min: creamy, buttery notes first, which subtly z give way to something reminiscent of leafy greens, with the slightest hint of sweetness.

Second steep @ 95°C for 4 min: Like the first, but much more delicious!

Third steep @ 96°C for 5 min: Almost identical in taste to the first, less flavourful than the second.

Fourth steep @ 98°C for 7 min: Still delicious. Might even get a 5th!

The dry tea smells green and spinach-y with hints of something sweet and flowery. The taste – oh the flavour! This is what a milk oolong is supposed to taste like! It’s almost like drinking smooth, sweet cream rather than tea. I can also taste some very faint floral notes – the tea description says orchid, but the flavour suggests something more like honeysuckle to me.

This tea comes dangerously close to being as good as the milk oolong I had from The O Dor – which officially ranks as The Best Tea Ever in my books. That tea had a thickness and butteriness that this tea doesn’t seem to have, but other than that I think this one matches up.

Sipdown!

I tried this one today purely because when I opened the can, it smelled very similar to oolong creme from sloane that I love. So I figured that maybe this would be similar and then I’d be able to declare with a resounding YES! It’s milky oolongs that I love. But sadly, that’s not to be. Now, to be fair, this is a uch more pleasant cup that most oolongs, and I am enjoying it. But I’d rather drink sloane’s version…in a heartbeat, mostly because I don’t love oolongs, so I have zero desire to spend my time on oolongs that are not as yummy :)

This for sure has that milky creaminess that I love…but there’s a slightly more floral taste to this one on the tail end of the sip. It’s not that “oolong taste” that I don’t like but it is a bit sweetly floral. So, while I don’t hate this one, ill drink another instead.

Sprung for the tin this time! Now we never have to be apart again…

This sample comes from Alysha. I was in the mood for a Milk Oolong today, as I always seem to when I’m sick, so I figured it was a good time to try this one out. It smells delicious!

Brewed it smells nice and milky, creamy, and buttery with sweet notes and roasted notes. Yum.

Taste-wise, this is one of the more awesome Milk Oolongs I’ve tried. Very creamy mouthfeel and taste – nice and milky, too. There are also slight buttery notes in here, especially at the end of the sip. I’m also getting hints of roasted oolong flavor – not sure why, but it’s tastey and pairs nicely with the creamy flavors. This is one smooth cuppa. Glad I decided to try this one today. Seems it was just what I needed.

Thanks again, Alysha! Very happy to have tried this one – might just find its way into my permanent stash!

I finally get to try the illustrious Quangzhou Milk Oolong. I’ve been saving it until I had time to really enjoy it, and give it a good three steeps.

The scent of the dry leaf isn’t a surprise. That classic oolong semi-floralness mixed in with milkiness. Like a true cup of milk mixed in with the tea leaves. Weird side note, though. While I was waiting for the water to boil and had my tea ready to go in my Tea Stick, I caught a whiff of cheese. Like creamy havarti. Took me a while to realize it was coming from the tea!

I didn’t write down how long each steep was for, but if I remember correctly, I steeped this the first time for around four minutes at approximately 90°C. The steeped tea smelled similar to the dry leaf, although I found the milky aspect to blossom and take over the other notes. Now for the taste. Initially, I got a touch of floral, but the more I drank it, the more that went away. This has a wonderful, classic, underlying oolong, but the milkiness is domineering. It tastes like milk, but in a “dairy” way. I can’t really describe what I mean by that. It’s a more savoury milky note than sweet.

The second steep was even milkier. That slightly floral taste I was getting before was at this point gone entirely. And the milkiness got even creamier. A tad sweeter, as well. Second round definitely won. There was the perfect balance amongst all the flavours. It was more buttery, sweeter, and creamier.

The third steep was already getting rather weak. With the hint of floral long gone and the sweetness of the second steep gone as well, this started to almost taste like that havarti I was smelling earlier. That milkiness was going a little sour too. Not in an atrociously disgusting way, but it was noticeable.

Anyway, blah blah blah, that was my Quanqzhou Milk Oolong adventure. I bought about 16g or so, so I’ll gladly finish it off, but I’m not sure if I would buy it again? This made me realize that I prefer my oolongs on the more floral side. It’s still a marvellous tea.

Thank you Amanda for including this in your tea sample sale! I’ve wanted to try a milk oolong for a while now!

The first steep was for four minutes. The unsteeped leaves smell like a sugary sweet, creamy floral oolong. And that is basically what it tastes like — sweet & creamy! This type of oolong just naturally tastes like this without flavoring? It is strangely like drinking actual milk… but with a nice floral oolong with it. I really don’t drink a ton of milk, so this is way better in my opinion. I had second & third steeps at 4 & 7 minutes that were both equally delicious. I wish I had more to say about this one – it is very complex. I love creamy teas and nice oolongs, so this one is amazing!

HEY! This is my 100th!

This is the last of the samples I got with my order and I put off trying it because…because…because the name was boring! (I mean, come on. They sent me Love Tea #7 and Strawberry Shortcake and some kind of milky oolong?)

I was so wrong. I’m on my second steeping now and am going to pop for the 100 gram tin. Then I have to stop buying tea for awhile.

Buttery, creamy. Just like everybody said before. So interesting! How can tea do this? I started out on Steepster thinking I wanted to learn about black teas but the oolongs and some green teas are really fascinating.

Having this with coconut lemongrass chicken and I almost don’t want to eat because it might disrupt the tea flavors.

Oh, and why does the packet say to steep 4-7 minutes? So glad I didn’t pay attention to that.

1.5 tablespoons for 375 ml

Sweet creamy aroma.
Vanilla pudding-like sweetness. Creamy flavour. Slight sweet-sticky tangy-ness. Faint floral note.

Second infusion at 5 minutes using 248 ml of water. Pudding sweetness still present. Creaminess and floral notes are fainter than from the first infusion. I’m detecting a note that reminds me of lupini beans leading into the immediate aftertaste.