Zhu Shan Jin Xuan

So a little while ago I was going through old discussion threads about milk oolongs and I saw the Tea from Taiwan Jin Xuan (milk oolong) sample pack discussed. As I have found out most milk oolongs are “flavored” by subjecting the growing plants to various things, but because this is done on the growing end of things almost all places that sell milk oolongs don’t mention it, if they know. Personally I don’t really think of that as “flavoring” in a normal sense since it’s all done while the plant is growing, nor do I have a problem with flavoring tea anyway. I was curious about the difference, though, and this pack has samples that you can actually compare. It has three milk oolongs: two that are all-natural, no flavoring added at any point, and one that is flavored. This is the flavored one.

The dry leaf does smell nicely creamy, slightly fruity, with a hint of greenish florals… in short, not unexpected. The steeped tea builds on those, with more florals and a definite buttery note. If I breathe in really deep I get a distinct vegetal note. At no point does this tea smell like acutal milk or sweetened condensed milk, which some people say is a tip-off that it’s been flavored. This is clearly a very lightly flavored one, so I’m interested to see how the unflavored ones compare. I can tell it’s a milk oolong from the aroma, but you could have fooled me by the taste. I probably steamrolled over the nuances in flavor by brewing it western style, but that’s how I brew all my oolongs. It’s fresh, green, vegetal and a bit buttery. I don’t really get a creaminess from this… actually almost the opposite as it’s a hint astringent. There is certainly none of the light sweetness you find in some oolongs (whether they’re natural or not!). I was honestly expecting a bit more from this one, and certainly expecting something a bit different. Oh well, it’s still pretty tasty.

Smells very milky, taste very creamy and smooth with First steep is very milky with slight buttery notes and has a nice creamy mouthfeel and aftertaste. Second steep is almost the same only with an added slightly sweet vegetal note. The creamy mouthfeel is great this is another tea that just feels good in the mouth :)
Even the Third steep is very good still creamy and milky but slightly roasty and nutty almost , very interesting, lingering flavors.
Fourth steep is pretty much same as the last and by the sixth steep I needed warmer water, steep six was nice more roasty, nutty notes same creamy milkyness, this tea is not going to give up soon I had to stop at six steeps :)
Superb Tea!

Lately I’ve learned that almost all milk oolongs are flavor enchanced which diminishes my appreciation of them a bit but this is still very fun to drink.

This one is light, brothy, flavors like popcorn. Has a very interesting thicker aftertaste that lingers for a while, reminded me of peaches a bit. Certainly it is delicious but I’m not sure I’m a huge fan of the milk oolong. What is it flavored with?

The dry leaf smells tangy, creamy, fruity and rich. The flavor is darker and deeper with really only a hint of milk oolong. In fact, I probably wouldn’t have guessed that this was a milk oolong based on the taste. The smell, sure, but not the taste.

The taste is dark and heavy on my tongue and reminds me a bit of Samovar’s Four Season oolong (which I never really had all that much luck with). The way this differs from FS is that this one does have a lighter top note to give it better depth. The top note isn’t floral or even really sweet but somehow manages to make me think of fruit. Actually, I take that back, it makes me think of the tangy fruit notes in Valrhona’s Manjari chocolate ( http://www.valrhona-chocolate.com/Grand-Cru-Manjari-Bar-246oz_p_48.html ).

And I would say more but my cup is gone. * Poof * So yeah. I suppose it’s pretty tasty.

Yum! This really is milky! I’m impressed that the sample packet came with a little oxygen absorber to keep my tea fresh. Then I was worried that it was going to absorb all the oxygen in the world and we’d all die. How do these little things work?

First of all, this is supposed to be a flavored milk oolong, which is fine with me. I was really in the mood for something creamy but I don’t have any milk like products right now. Brewing this gong fu style. I rinsed the leaves, as I generally do for oolongs, but then I remembered that this was flavored. Did I wash the flavor away? As it turns out, no, I did not. The first steep is smooth and green and creamy. It evens clings to the tongue the way milk does. It’s slightly roasty and slightly mineraly. It tastes like I poured some cream on top of some quality green oolong.
In the second steep, the clinging to the tongue quality is gone, but still tastes milky and sweet. The oolong flavor is coming stronger now. How I love Taiwan green oolongs.
Steep three. I used a higher temperature. This resulted in a stronger cup. The milky flavor is faint now. It tastes more vegetal. Like cooked watercress. It’s funny…I think I was just dreaming about eating cooked watercress last night. The leaves have also expanded tremendously. Wow.

More steeps coming later. :) I can’t wait to try my other samples. I’m gonna miss this one though…

my first ever milk oolong! Really great tea. i found the milky notes so interesting and they meshed very well with the light oxidation of the tea. Awesome find! Now i see what all the fuss was about :)

I didn’t get that much milkyness out of my sample. It seemed like a fairly light green oolong. A nice, light green oolong, but I’ve gotten more milkiness or creamy flavors out of others. I did brew it fairly cool. Maybe if I tried hotter, I’d have gotten more out of it. Hrm.

I was very excited to try this flavored milk oolong. I love milky flavors.

This has a very milky, green, sugary aroma. Like condensed milk over steamed plantain leaves—tropical and humid. Slighty roasty.

The taste is like green and toasty leaves ladeled with diluted cream. There is a definite buttery component—but it doesn’t overpower or seem too unnatural to me. It just seems like a slight enhancement. The creamy, buttery scent is delicious and adds to the experience.

All in all, I really like this tea. From the few oolongs I’ve tried, this seems like a quality oolong too—just a bit butterier. :)

My little Tea From Taiwan sampler arrived today and I was so excited to try this one first. I haven’t tried a flavored milk oolong before and to be honest, the idea of leaves being drenched with milk or flavoring sounds delicious to me. Yes, I still love natural milk oolongs, but this sounded like a real treat!
Once I poured the hot water over the leaves, I immediately smelled a rich buttery scent. It didn’t differ from previous buttery smelling oolongs, but made my mouth water. Interestingly, the first steep isn’t as strong as I thought it would be. It does have a buttery taste with a bit of the oolong in the background. What I love about this tea, though, is that it is so smooth. With each sip I’m expecting a drying, astringent effect, but I’m not finding it in this first steep. It’s not really thick in the mouth, more smooth and a light kind of silky without being creamy. I’ve read that many flavored milk oolongs do not last past the first or second steep. I can’t say I’m looking forward to the next steep because I’m enjoying the buttery, sweet tea I’m getting in this cup. That being said, I will steep this again and report back with how it goes.
EDITED: 2nd Steep and it isn’t anything like the first cup at all. There really isn’t any buttery flavor left.. just a bit lingering in the scent. It’s also a bit more astringent. I wouldn’t say that it’s terrible.. just significantly different than the first glorious cup. I still might buy this because the first cup was just lovely.

This sample has been quite educational, as when I opened the packet it smelled exactly like the DAVIDsTEA milk oolong. And, comparing this flavoured one with the unflavoured ones I can see the difference.

This tastes a bit greener than the DT one, though. It’s really nice. It’s not incredibly milky, more buttery. Very smooth and fresh. Yum!

Creamy and soothing.