Imperial Formosa

I’m afraid that I may have prepared this horribly wrong. My sample was the tiniest sample I’ve ever seen. I don’t have a scale, so try to picture the length and width of 4 toothpicks laying together. That is how much tea my sample contained. I’m really disappointed; this only made half a mug of tea, but I’m still afraid that this is going to be really diluted.

Ooh, I taste the orange blossoms. Most people here had a little difficulty tasting them, but for me, that’s the first thing that hits me right away. This is a nice, light woody and nutty oolong. The orange blossoms give it dimension and the perfect hint of sweetness. I’m still afraid that I’m not getting the full experience because of how tiny my sample was, but this doesn’t taste bad. I’m assuming that a more concentrated cup would only be better.

I must preface this tasting note by saying that I am forever spoiled by the Oriental Beauty I had at Radiance, and I hold all teas of this type up to that one.

That being said – this tastes good but very average to me. I’m getting woody/nutty but very little sweetness.

2nd steep: The beginning of some sweeter floral notes. I do prefer this steep compared to the first one.

3rd steep: a little weaker, but ok.

Certainly not a bad tea, but it lacks the amazing deliciousness and honeyed, flowery pizazz of the One True Oriental Beauty of Radiance Tea Room. This one does not rate a tin for me..

ALSO!!

This was my first tea made with my new Breville variable temperature kettle! I set it to French Press (200 degrees) and let it do it’s thing. It is able to hold water temperature so I didn’t have to go crazy reboiling ad nauseam. It was very easy to use (especially since my coworkers broke it in when I was at school yesterday (!!!). I love it!

This is the first time I can remember that the flavors described on a tea have represented almost perfectly the flavors that I get when I sip it. I know that the gap between what’s suggested and what I sense comes, probably most of the time, from my uneducated palate…and let’s face it, I love, love, love spicy food, and am pretty unwilling to give it up to create a palate that’s fine-tuned, the way food tasters do.

I haven’t had even a moment’s trouble with this one. Everything they describe is there. The hardest thing for me to locate was the orange blossom, but it IS there…and that much to my delight; having lived in Florida (and even spent some time in working groves, long story), that smell is among my favorites of all time. I had some guacamole earlier, and I suspect that the garlic and onion in the guac sort of battered my taste buds, and that the floral note would be easier to pick out than the nutty note (rather than vice versa) had I not been snacking a little while ago.

The more oolong I have, the more I love it. So many flavors. So full-bodied. This one is pretty tasty.

In my new quest to try a bunch of different kinds of oolongs and discover the joys of unflavored varieties, I ordered this Imperial Formosa to try. It may just be the first of its kind that I’ve tried; I don’t have a lot of background in these things. I have to say, the dry leaf smells pretty different from all the other oolongs I’ve tried so far, though I haven’t tried many dark ones yet. It’s very woodsy, and has an aroma that is familiar to me but that I can’t place right now. The directions say to steep for five minutes, which I’m a little worried about (I don’t steep anything but herbals and rooibos for five minutes), but I did it anyway.

Steeped, the aroma is much more familiar as an oolong, albeit definitely a dark one with a rich, almost black-tea type aroma and maybe a hint of a floral note. Honestly, based on the smell of the dry leaf I didn’t expect to like this tea very much, but I am enjoying it. It doesn’t blow me away, but a nice cup. It’s a bit roasty, a bit nutty, the slightest bit vegetal, with a tiny floral note at the end. I feel like that slightly sweet note that oolongs often have is lurking in there, but hasn’t been let out. Tasty, but I prefer oolongs with a bit more florals.

Here we go with my first dark oolong!

First Infusion

Well, I was badly burned by my last oolong and my temperature problems. I have a little bit more of the Orchid Temple that I scortched, but I wanted to try something different. So I pulled out Imperial Formosa, the darker oolong of the two in the Golden Moon sampler.

I opened the little packet, and inhaled. Hrm. Interesting! The smells are not unlike black tea, but it’s lighter. I’m getting somewhat roasted notes, but there’s a sweetness underlying it.

I was more careful with temperature this time around, so I shot for 190 but ended up somewhere closer to 185. Can I talk for a second about how pretty oolongs are? Of course I can. This is my review. The leaves are a gorgeous chestnut brown, twisted and accented with silvery bits. Very, very pretty.

So I tossed a very heaping tsp into my pot, and steeped this one up. Oolongs are so pretty in the pot. This one slowly, slowly unfurled, and the water began to change color at a snail’s pace. Many of the leaves were sort of like in suspended animation; neither floating to the top of the pot, nor lingering at the bottom. Just hovering on invisible jet packs. Very pretty and cute.

When it came time for the pour, I was actually getting quite excited. The wet leaves here smell fruity-roasty now, and the light amber infusion… okay, it’s mouth-watering. There’s only the faintest hint of smoke, but beyond that, I’m getting buttery fruits. Something akin to apricots and peaches, with some date notes.

So I took the first sip and… oolong success! This one is complex and yummy and there’s something for each part of my mouth. The brunt of the flavor is fruity goodness. The stonefruit flavor really comes on strong and sweet, with a high nectar-like note. Surprisingly, there’s somewhat of a mouthfeel here, that evokes those little fruit cups filled with peaches that I used to eat when I was a kid. Sort of like drinking the liquid left behind (which was always the best part, to me).

The roasty notes are very light, and if I suck the infusion in at high speeds ala wine tasting, I get a hint of a cedar-like feeling from the roastiness. I can’t find the orange blossom in here, but I think I understand the chestnut tasting note listed by Golden Moon. It’s sort of the lingering sweetness left on my tongue, that’s savory-sweet similar to the feeling left by chestnuts. It’s not really the taste of chestnuts, but the tastes associated with chestnuts. If that makes any sense at all.

The only complaint I have is that there really is a lot of astringency here. It’s associated with sweet flavors, which is awesome, but after several sips in a row, my tongue sort of feels stuck to the roof of my mouth.

I’m really loving this one. If it can hold up to multiple steeps, we might just have a winner on our hands. I’ll probably rate this one high anyway, just because the first steep is really very delicious!

My mom tasted this, and she went, “Ooh, this is delicious! Fruity!” So there is approval on multiple levels here!

Yay for good oolong experiences!

Second Steep (5:00, 185)

The second steep came out a teeny bit darker than the first and the infusion didn’t smell as wonderful. Not that is smells bad, it just doesn’t really have as strong and delicious of a fragrance. There are some roasty notes mixed with the faintest wiff of fruit, but it’s not anything to get excited about.

The taste this time is definitely weaker than before, and definitely skewed towards a general sweet taste instead of a taste coming from any sort of fruit-related yummyness. The roasty taste is somewhat mesquite and interesting, but it’s not very strong. I’m not sure how much longer these leaves are going to last on me. I think I’ll try one more infusion and see how it goes.

Third Infusion (5:00, 185)

I’m finally tasting that cigar-like sweetness that Auggy mentioned in her review, and it’s sort of a deterrent from continuing. The flavors are also getting really weak and muted, and the sugary taste is too much in the forefront to be enjoyable. At least there’s no astringency! But there’s also nothing interesting, either. The body is thinner overall. I’m going to stop here.

So lackluster subsequent steeps, but the first was absolutely delicious. I’m not sure how to rate this, since oolongs are supposed to sustain over multiple steeps, but I really liked that first infusion.

This is the NYT crossword puzzle of teas. What I mean by that is that everything is there, right in front of me, but I just don’t get it. =)

They make it sound so grand, don’t they? Let’s see how my experience compares to the expectations created by the description:

“Mesmerizing, silver-tipped leaves…” – Absolutely. I never (okay, almost never) notice the quality/attributes of the leaves I’m steeping. I’m generally as oblivious of them as I am of a film’s score and soundtrack while I’m watching it: that is to say, completely. But these actually warranted a second look. They seem delicate, a bit like very fine yarn.

“…with a nectary amber liquor.” – I would say honey more than amber, but okay.

“A supple bouquet of orange blossoms…” – Um…what? [looks under a leaf] Where’s that hiding, then?
“…and chestnuts…” – Eh? You’re having a laugh, surely.
“…gentle hints of dates…” – Well, maybe. I did occasionally detect an underlying sweetness that could, if one were feeling quite generous, be attributed to dates. Maybe.
“…musky cedar…” – Finally! Finally something I can sort of detect. A sort of smoky, roasty kind of thing. Woodsy kind of thing. Not in a rooibos way, but like in a forest kind of way. In a go-chop-some-wood-for-the-fireplace kind of way. It’s not overpowering, but it’s definitely there.

So, did I dislike it? No, no, not at all. The flavour isn’t bad, but after my BLAMINYOFACE introduction to lapsang souchong, I’m learning that that smoky roasty thing in a tea doesn’t really do it for me, especially if it’s the star of the show. Golden Moon’s description of this makes it sound like it’s not really meant to be the star of the show, but that’s how it worked out for me. What worries me is how many folks said that this description is spot-on. That means that my tea palate is even less developed than I’d hoped it’d be by now. In any case, I like this well enough to drink the rest of it, but not well enough get more of it, or even re-steep this sample.

Tea amount: 1 sample packet
Water amount: 16oz./~475mL
Additives: After a few unadulterated sips, ~1 level tbsp Demerara sugar.
Caffeine: Seems to me to be pretty high. I’ve not drunk much of the tea from my mug, but am already exhibiting some of the symptoms of too much caffeine (my tolerance for it is extremely low).
Dry mouth factor: 6/10. It’s not very bad, but it’s a little bit more than middle of the road.

Strangely I’ve had this sample for a while and forgot to log it or finish the rest of it.

I am a fan of dark oolongs although I was a bit undewhelmed by some of the things I tried from Golden Moon. I thought this was very nice. It’s smooth and nutty and seems very clean with a lingering sweetness. I don’t know if I am getting orange blossoms but there is something slighty floral. The color and flavor are reminiscent of sugary toast. :) This is pretty tasty and I would definitely consider purchasing more if I was going to place a new order with GM.

From It’s all About the Leaf – http://www.itsallabouttheleaf.com/1429/tea-review-golden-moon-tea-imperial-formosa-oolong/

I know I tend to repeat myself on this point, but I really adore that first whiff of a new tea. The myriad of preparation techniques and additives means that each new tea is an olfactory adventure. Or, more succinctly – dang, they can smell great! And this one – wow. Aromas of dark sweet fruit, like raisins or dates combined with malty, yeasty overtones. It reminded me of whole wheat raisin bread in the first few sniffs.

So I eagerly dumped the packet into the gravity teapot I use at work so I could try this tea. This is where I ran into my first problem. The sample size was pretty small. So I scaled back the size of cup I was planning to make and added my 190 degree-ish water and commenced steeping.

The resulting brew was a beautiful deep brown. But the flavor was a little light. Tones of nuttiness, raisins and a light floral overtone which may have been orange blossom, but nothing outstanding. It was a pleasant cup, but not an outstanding one. I did play around with the steeping parameters to try and improve it, and wasn’t able to get it to sing. I would like to get a larger sample someday and try playing with this tea again.

Golden Moon sample No. 29 of 31. The end is so near, and I’m making a push to finish my samples in a fit of completion compulsion.

I’ve been looking forward to this. I haven’t had a non-green, non-flavored oolong in a while. I’m excited to revisit one.

The dry leaves are multicolored: dark brown, lighter brown, some green and some silver. They have a rich, dark, roasty nose that reminds me of the Formosa oolongs from the Upton sampler. Very nice. Toasty/nutty. Steeps to a deep, golden yellow.

The aroma is as I expected from my earlier experiences with different Formosa oolongs. Fruity. Nutty.

It’s very tasty, though I’m not sure I’m getting everything described, at least not in the first steep. I’m not getting chestnuts so much as something that is almost like a Brazil nut; I’m not getting dates so much as something that is almost like apricot. Floral? Some, but I can’t be sure it’s orange blossom. I am not sure I could identify the scent of an orange blossom. If it is citrusy, I’m not getting citrus. Cedar? Well, the roastiness does have something in common with wood, but… hmm.

Second steep: 3 mins. Deeper gold liquor, closer to amber. A very obvious floral note to the aroma, which must be the orange blossom. It’s even slightly orangy smelling, but only very slightly. Flavor is deeper and more complex. I taste citrus! And a nutty/fruity/woody flavor, like you get from sucking on a peach pit, but without bitterness.

Third steep: 4 mins. Still an amber liquor, but in other respects, starting to fade. The citrus/floral note to the aroma is more obvious this time around but against a background that seems a little flat. There is more wood in the flavor this time, and less suggestion of fruit and nut.

I feel like I should try a fourth steep, but I’m afraid to. This seems already to be on the descrescendo.

I like it. I’m not sure I like it more than the Formosa Oolongs I have from Upton though admittedly I haven’t tasted those in a while. I’m going to get another sample instead of a full tin at this point and taste some other oxidized oolongs in the meantime to see how this one rates against them before I commit to a full tin.

Golden Moon Sampler Tea #30
Almost at the end of my Golden Moon sampler! Basically took the entire month to go through it. Which is a pretty good pace, I think.

My mom called right after I set this to steep so it was probably steeping for waaaaay too long, but I don’t think, wonder of wonders, that it did any harm! I have so far been pretty unimpressed with the Golden Moon Oolongs although that may be more of a problem with me than with the teas, but this, THIS is what I think of when I think Oolong. Although very light in color, it has a bold, nutty flavor and a light hint of smokiness and an overall impression of toasted rice. Delicious!

I don’t get much in the way of dates. On the other hand, I don’t eat a hell of a lot of dates, so that is not too surprising. There IS a fruitiness about it though, especially in the aftertaste. There’s a slight acridity which I think comes from the oversteeping, but all in all this is DAMN tasty.

I’m gonna be making a trip to the land of iced oolong in June, so I’m not sure that I want to order more of this since Japan has historically left me feeling a bit oolonged out, but if I WERE going to get Oolong, this would be it.

Edit: Oh wow, I didn’t notice but apparently I hit 100 tasting notes 2 notes ago! Am I spending too much time on tea? (No.)

Golden Moon Tea Sampler #17 or thereabouts selected at random

I think that this is a fundamentally excellent tea. I did indeed get the orange/date aroma. It drinks up as a bit woodsy and fruity.

It’s something to consider for a full purchase but right now I’m a bit ambivalent. I only used a 1/4 cup of water—two ounces—because I had such a small sample. I’ll report back if a second infusion provides any great insight.

SECOND infusion: Not much joy here. As Randy Jackson says, “It’s a’ight”.

AGH! I totally wrote up a whole review on this tea, and of course my internet poops out, sending me into no go territory. I refresh the page, and poof. My post is gone. WAH! >_< Anyhow, I don’t want to go on about this. I’ll try to remember what I wrote. But I do remember how it tastes. This tea is good.

Liquor – deep honey brown
Scent – strong nutty and light florals
Taste – nutty and floral with a hint of sweetness. There is some hint of astringency but it isn’t so bad for me. I assume you can add some sugar to this, but I didn’t try. It didn’t need it.

Overall, a good, forgiving tea. Withstood around 3 steeps. I accidentally left the second steep for 8 min, and the tea was still good. A good way to celebrate passing BLS and all.

This one is really making me question my understanding of Oolongs. The dry leaf smells innocuous enough, and the liquor is an unassuming clear medium-brown. Surprises await though, first in the scent. I’m getting a mix of, strangely enough, popcorn and mulch in this one; could that be right? The first sip confirms it. I’ve never had anything quite like it, and can’t figure out if it’s just an acquired taste that I haven’t yet acquired, or if there’s something amiss with this particular batch. After a few sips, the aftertaste is particularly unpleasant, so I don’t think I’ll be finishing this one off. Too bad! I’m going to leave off rating this one, as I really think it could be an off batch.

Golden Moon Sample #?/31

This was another generous sample, around 3.5g, so I used a generous 1.9 in my 4oz pot. The leaves are large and, yes, silvery; they look lovely steeping. Formosa oolongs aren’t usually my favorite, but this one is impressing me. A little bit astringent, but very flavorful. G pronounces it starchy, savory, and nutty. Not getting any orange blossom yet, but maybe on the 2nd steep.

2nd steep (5 minutes) was probably the best, though 3rd at 7 was also good. Both were smoother than the 1st.

I love oolong tea, but for some reason I don’t ever buy any for my cupboard. I am particularly glad that there are several oolong options in the Golden Moon Tea sampler, and am hoping to come across one that blows me away so I’ll have one in mind to order. (That being said, anyone have any favorite oolongs out there??)

So, today’s Golden Moon Tea sample was Imperial Formosa Oolong. Yum. It’s pretty much exactly what the description says. It’s sweeter than I expected, had a distinct citrus smell and taste, and it’s woodsy as well. Ricky made a comparison to Houjicha, which I completely agree with.

It’s good, but not one that I’m craving, and won’t be the oolong that I order more of. Still glad to start the day with it, though! Pictures here: http://bit.ly/bsU65w

Overall I’m not a huge fan of dark oolongs since they always remind me of cigar smoke but it’s in my sample basket so I’ll give it a shot!

This one so far is pretty typical of my experience with them. There is a sweet and somewhat smoky smell that makes think of cigar smoke. Not bad cigar smoke really. But cigar smoke. The taste is where this is different, though. It doesn’t taste like cigar smoke. Instead, it’s more of a fruity sweet. I can’t figure out what type of fruit but maybe peach? It’s not any of the things they list in the company’s tea notes – in fact I can’t pick up any of those. Yeah, even trying to pick those things out, I can’t find them. But it’s still good. Smooth, sweet and a little roast-y.

I wasn’t anticipating liking this very much but this is enjoyable. Probably a high 3/5 stars… not quite a 4 but it’s pretty close and might be bumped with subsequent steeps. We shall see.

ETA: The second steep turned out to be more cigar sweet even in taste so this one stays at a 3star. Minor adjustment to the rating made.

I am still new to the world of oolongs, but they are fast becomming my new fave! This is a very woodsy/musky tasting tea (but in a good way!) and I can taste the cedar notes, which I just love. The date flavor hits the very back of my tongue to make itself known and then if I really concentrate I can pick up an ever so slight floral finish. This will be put on my “must buy list”, I wish I had more than just the sample that came in Golden Moons sampler pack since I now want to make a whole pot!

Appearance: Deep orange amber liquor. The leaves are long, dark and whole, when they’ve unfurled. A few are still attached to their twigs!

Scent: Nuts and brown maple leaves. Roasted chestnuts? A slight sprinkling of sugar.

Taste: Yum!! Definitely like roasted chestnuts! Simultaneously woodsy, leafy and sweet—like steamed sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves. A scattering of golden raisins?

Last Thoughts: I love it! I really enjoy the roasted, toasted quality intermingling with the sweet leafy-ness. I’m intrigued by the oolongs I’ve tried so far. I want to try more!
I just realized that I’m picking up nearly the same tastes as the Sugar Caramel Oolong! But this seems more “brown” than “green”—more cooked than fresh. They are both different yet similar. It’s an oolong thing, I guess. :)

The leaves are long and definitely silver tipped, very pretty presentation. The fragrance of the leaves is really very simple: oolong tea. I brewed this hot, with no sugar for only three minutes (the package said five, but I felt it might be too much). The flavor is very clean: oolong tea, with a hint of orange and chestnut and date, then a slight cedar aftertaste. I wish that the cedar and date flavors were a little stronger, but I might achieve that with a longer brew. I drank most of the tea hot, but forgot about the end of my cup and wound up enjoying it, very much so I might add, cold.

Very good, will try steeping for longer or maybe adding some sugar to try and boost the flavors a little.

Delightful oolong with a nice honeyed flavor and notes of apricot.