Milk Oolong | Jin Xuan

So much new tea! The order I placed with Teavivre two months ago finally arrived, along with my official second order from Butiki. To think if I had withheld myself for another week or two I could’ve tried that delicious caramel tea Stacy just put up. Next time. Only when I’m down to 50 teas.

Anyways, that puts me back to just over one hundred teas again, despite my best efforts to swap away large quantities this week. It’s like starting all over again. at least I have tiny samples that I can drink up and check off to make me feel better tonight.

This one is from OMGsrsly and it smells amazing in that sour, milky, sweet way that rich floral green oolongs have. If someone told me I was drinking Quangzhou Milk Oolong from David’s Tea right now I would just nod my head in agreement. I can’t discern much of a difference, although this one tastes and smells almost fruity. The finish and the aftertaste are sweet! I thought I was crazy for picking up fruit but Tea Sipper mentions pineapple notes so I’m not alone!

I opened my sample bag and I have never smelled a tea so sweet…like candy!! I was surprised to read on the bag that they do not do anything to flavor this, but grow it in a specific way to make this so sweet.

First steep // 4 min // I set the leaves free in my new infuser! The leaves are pretty big and a nice jade green color. The first sip, I was surprised at a pineapple flavor! Not as much of a milky taste as I would have expected from such scented leaves, but still sweet and buttery. The color is a pale yellow

Second steep // 3 min // This was still juicy sweet pineapple and not so much milk. But it is so good!

Third steep // 3 min // This one is more of a floral and a bit of pineapple. It’s nice to see these leaves actually are LEAVES. Sadly, I think when I took the leaves out of the dipper infuser before, they were still mostly little bundles. These almost filled the entire infuser.

Overall, a very nice oolong, especially for the pineapple flavor. I wouldn’t mind getting two ounces of this one.

The scent of the tea itself is a classic oolong, with a strong, creamy, melted-buttery goodness. I like to brew it hot and strong, and only drink it once the leaves have all unfurled. The “milk oolong” flavor is not overpowering, it is delicate and perfectly balanced. This is a great tea.

Finally, Canada Post delivered my order!

This tea is really neat. The other oolong I have smells like seaweed, but this one smells like sweetened condensed milk. I did a 10 second rinse, and a 1 minute steep, and lost about 1/4 of my mug of water to the leaves! Steeped, it smells a little green and grassy, and strongly of sweetened condensed milk. The taste is a little astringent, and a little bitter (perhaps 1 minute was too long) (EDIT: Neither astringent nor bitter, once it’s cooled to a better temperature. It’s amazingly smooth.), but does NOT taste strongly of seaweed like that other oolong does. There is a sweet milky caramel-y flavour (or more dulce de leche?) that is really lovely.

So far, so good. Hopefully this one doesn’t upset my stomach like the other, because I’m really enjoying sipping this!

Oh man. I’m so excited to try all these new teas. I kind of want to stay home and drink cup after cup, but I do need to go to work once I’ve finished lunch.

OMG. Cup two is even better. More milkiness, with none of that mouth coating that actual milk gives. OM NOM NOM. Ok. Now I’m going to head to work!