Taiwan Oriental Beauty (Bai Hao) Oolong Tea

Sipdown, 122. It’s been a loooong time since I’ve had an oriental beauty, so I am interested in seeing how this one plays on my newly dark-oolong-sympathetic palate.

The scent has a kind of fruity floral that I sometimes find in black teas, perhaps darjeelings, surprisingly enough. It’s not a fruity floral that I’m super fond of, but we’ll see how it plays out here. Fortunately for me, the scent doesn’t quite translate into the taste. This has a super smooth and creamy texture that is really awesome. It’s not really roasty or toasted, and it’s not particularly vegetal either. Honey for sure, and a breadiness like a yeasty, crusty loaf straight out of the oven. A hint of fruit as well, although it’s subtle for sure. Definitely enjoying this one, and glad to try it out again!

On no! I forgot to log this one when I had it! I remember it being a dark oolong and the first steep was like drinking smooth honey. Then the next steeps were just yummy. I’ll have to drink it again and actually remember to log the whole thing this time! It was really good though.

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.

2 tsp in 8 oz

This is obviously the style of oolong that I’ve been looking for. Quite oxidized, but no “roasted” flavor. It is a finer version of the basic “Formosa Oolong” teas I used to drink. This is what I love to drink in the afternoon!

It is slightly more astringent than I like, but in every other way, I love this tea… A great, comforting flavor.

I will have to experiment with brewing and also try some more steeps. I went with 2 tsp for 8 oz this time (that was exactly half of my 7g sample, so 3.5g) and the longer brewing time. Next time, I will try the same amount but at just 2 minutes.

This lightly roasted oolong is partially earthy, floral, and fruity. Is absolutely delicious. Another amazing teavivre tea. Oh, and it steeped 10 or so times.

Sample sipdown. Considering I just bought a bunch of oolong samples from Teavivre, this sipdown is somewhat of a relief. While I like the sweet honey and earthy tastes from this oolong, I think there other oolongs out there that fit my tastes better. Anyway, I will definitely be resteeping this throughout the day until it runs out of flavor, but probably not reordering in the future.

I’m enjoying the variety in my teavivre samplers. This is a slightly dark, woodsy oolong tea. The smell of the liquor is earthy greenbeans and mushrooms. It seems like a lot of teas lately remind me of beans. The taste is much like the smell with the addition of some very faint honey and citrus tones that work really well to add some brightness and complexity to the earthy tones. The aftertaste doesn’t last very long, but it holds onto the fruity tones and settles into a creamy flavor.

Edit:
Second Steep: Much more woody, less sweet and fruity. Minerally?

Man oh man, I recieved this sample from Teavivre quite a while ago. I brewed it a few times and wasn’t impressed. As it turns out, I think I was just brewing it wrong. This is a wonderful tea!

Dry leaves: The dry leaves are “every color” ranging from warm brown to black, to military green, to gorgeous white tips. The leaves are fairly small for an oolong, and have a nice apricot aroma.

Brewing: When I made this tea before, I was not using enough leaf, and the result was a weak, bland brew. It needs more leaf than I would think, it seems to be lighter/fluffier than it looks. This time I filled my gaiwan up about 1/3 of the way with leaves. The spent leaves open up to short and plump in chocolate brown color with a twinge of green. Brews up a gorgeous red-gold liquer!

1st steep: The first steep yields a rich, spicy flavor of apricot, nutmeg, moist butter cake, and pineapple with a slight roasty/woody quality like dry fall leaves.

3rd steep: Around the third steep the tea begins to smooth out with a very slight grassiness and a fresh, cooling mint note that contrasts the overall warm flavor. The tea is mildly sweet and has a creaminess as if milk were added. It flows over the tongue like a rive of warm silk.

7th steep: Around the seventh steep, the fruityness starts to wane, revealing clover leaf, champagne, and citrus tones as well as a pastry-like quality. Very tasty oolong, and pretty resteapable as well.

Thank you Angel and Teavivre for this sample!
I used the whole sample packet in my 12 oz cup, hoping it won’t be too strong!
Wow! It’s not too strong at all! A nice complex cup that’s not too bold. A sniff of those wet leaves is divine- fruity and bakey. This first steep doesn’t have fruity notes that i can pick out, but it has a nice sweetness, especially when it’s cooled off a bit.
Holy carp second steep!! My first sip was intensely sweet, like I had added a spoonful of honey; and yet bready and a little astringent. And incredibly enough it’s continuing through the whole cup! It amazes me how LEAVES can taste like bread and honey! There’s a nuttiness that hits the back of my tongue as well that’s not unpleasant. Later in the cup I’m finally tasting some fruitiness, not sure which fruit specifically.
Third steep isn’t as sweet or fruity; more nutty and roasty. The honey is still there, just not as strong.
I really enjoyed this.

What a lovely cuppa.

When I first brewed this, I thought it smelled nice…sort of warm and earthy, and I tried hard to see what flavours I could pick up. I chose this tea from the Teavivre site for a future tasting based on the picture, and a description somewhere of a honey aroma. I tried to pick up the honey note, but really, I suck at that. Unfortunately, I’m the first to review this tea, and I am not great at picking out the flavours in teas.

It brewed a nice medium golden red shade, and almost seemed like a very mild black tea, like maybe a yunnan or possibly a darjeeling? I guess that’s part of this oolong being more oxidized than some…this tea is definitely on the darker spectrum than the lighter spectrum.

I only had time for 2 steeps of this today: my first was this morning (with my cheese tea biscuits), initially unadulterated, but I added sugar partway in. When I did this, it brought out what honey notes I could perceive (or think I perceived) more…but it could just be that is was sweeter overall. The second time was later this afternoon, after my physio appointment and stroll through downtown while the sun was out and it was kinda warm. Warmish, though I was still bundled in my wool coat and scarf, and had my boots on. I popped into a few tea shops I hadn’t been to in quite a long while (Special Teas and Murchies…our Special Teas here in Victoria, BC is not the same as the one in the states that went under and has been bought by Teavana). Anyhow, back at home I made my second steeping, didn’t use as much sugar, but added a splash of milk. It was nice and comforting.

I think, on my next steeping, I’m going to try honey instead of sugar, and hold the milk.

It was a very enjoyable cuppa, as I said initially. I’m very grateful for teavivre sending this one to me. I know I will enjoy the remaining samples on this one. I look forward to more steepings and tastings.