Taiwan Oriental Beauty (Bai Hao) Oolong Tea

1 1/2 tsp in 8 oz

Had to raise my rating on this. When I tried it side by side with Adagio’s Bai Hao, I thought I preferred the Adagio. But, yesterday I had some of the Adagio, and today the Teavivre, and now I think I prefer the Teavivre or at least it is very close. This one is lacking the honey-like aftertaste that I notice in the Adagio, but it is a very subtle difference.

Anyway, I really enjoyed this today. It is smooth and flavorful with a natural sweetness. I tell you, I just love this style of oolong… pretty highly oxidized and not heavily roasted. It’s fantastic.

1tsp in 4oz

Comparison of 3 Bai Hao (Oriental Beauty) oolongs — Adagio’s Formosa Bai Hao, Harney’s Fanciest Formosa Oolong, and Teavivre’s Taiwan Oriental Beauty

Adagio:
My favorite (surprisingly)! Darkest liquor, most flavor, sweetest, least astringency. Really nice honey flavor in the finish.

Harney:
Least flavor, lightest body, lightest liquor

Teavivre:
In between in terms of flavor and body, but the most astringent.

So, I guess I’m buying more of the Adagio. Really surprised at this result. Was hoping Teavivre’s would be my fave since it is the least expensive, but I’ll have to go with the one I like best. Luckily it’s not the most expensive. Harney’s is almost double the price of the Adagio.

I made a pot of this to share with my fiancee earlier and I decided to make one more pot of this before bed to have all to myself!

This is just amazing. The first steeps are sweet and mellow. Smooth as silk. Then as you progress further down the steeps the taste changes in a way that is complex and hard to explain.

Imagine being alone on a winter’s night all curled up in a warm blanket when-out of nowhere-a lady in a slinky black dress walks into the room. You can start to smell her perfume and then it changes into cuddling with your lover. Then that changes into being by yourself in a library with smooth jazz playing in the background.

Smooth, sweet, and mellow but very complex. I am going to have to have some alone time with this tea so I can try to explain the taste better, but I know that I will have to have this oolong as a staple in my tea cupboard.

My old roommate from college came over and we totally had tea time several different times! This was the first tea we had. (mostly because I don’t remember which tea we had for dinner that night). She loved this one and said that she never thought that oolongs could taste as good as it did. I think I might have converted someone to the oolong side of tea!

Dry Leaf: I get more of a rich woody aroma.
Wet Leaf: I get a sweet malty or even a raisin aroma and just a slight touch of wood.
Liquor:I get a dark reddish color.
Taste: I get a malty or even a raisin flavor with a slight sweetness and I also get a slight astringency.I also get a faint wood flavor too.
Overall Option: I give this tea a 89. I think this is a mid-grade tea that taste nice and is very affordable for daily drinking. I also think Dan Cong drinkers would like this type of tea just my humble opinion.
Vessel: SAMA DOYO Gongfu/ Kungfu Teapot. 5 grams of leafs for 220ml or 7oz. of water in the inner cup of pot.