Taiwan Jin Xuan Milk Oolong Tea (Flavored)

Finally getting this sample! Thanks Teavivre!

First impression of the dry leaf is that it smells a lot like DT’s milk oolong. Make you wonder if theirs is flavored. It’s like condensed milk. Yummy!

First steep is more like cream cheese frosting than milk. There is a lot of vegetal flavor coming through. Smooth and sweet.

Second steep is less milky and more vegetal. Maybe like creamed veggies. :)

The leaves expand like crazy, of course. Good old dependable green oolong. :) I think I might like the unflavored version more but this is something I’ll enjoy to the last drop anyways.

Second tea of the morning….. (SRP #40)

We finally have weather cool enough that I am craving oolong. I still don’t know how all of that works for me, but I seem to be craving green and oolong tea less with the warmer weather. I guess it is that I crave iced tea, and for me that is usually a black tea. I blame my midwestern upbringing on that one. At least I have moved beyond Lipton Instant…or Lipton sun tea. Maybe there is still hope in that I can move beyond the black teas for iced….. After all, this is a journey, and my tastes have all ready changed a little.

My sample was purchased. The leaves are tight bright green pellets. The scent of the dry tea is of cream and butter. I am pretty sure I am going to like this one better than the unflavored. The liquor is a golden yellow, and really a little deeper than I expected. The leaves brew up absolutely huge. The scent of the brewed tea is of cream and butter, again, with a hint of something very lightly floral. I definitely like this better than the unflavored version. If I am ever in the market for a milk oolong again, this will be the one I purchase. It is still not quite as good as the Milk Oolong from American Tearoom, but then I am not willing to get a second mortgage on my house to buy tea (meaning it is way too expensive a tea that is not in my absolute favorite type.) This one is very good and a great value at around $11 for 100g. For comparison, the other is $60 for the same weight and it has a Tie Kwan Yin base.

Usual mug method for 2 minutes, no additions. I followed the brewing parameters on the label.

I’m surprised nobody has logged this one yet. I should probably start with the one without flavoring, but I was more curious to know if all the other milk oolongs I’ve had are definitely flavored. This is the first that has actually been upfront about it.

When I took the steeper basket out, all I could smell was the milky scent. I can definitely say that I’ve never had that happen before.

So then I was worried it was going to be SUPER strongly flavored but it’s not. It does though taste like a couple milk oolongs I’ve had, namely the first one I ever bought from a local shop.

Not really a problem, because I bought 100g of this tea. I like to have the milk flavor last for a couple infusions, as I’m sure it will given the smell of the leaves. First one was very creamy and buttery, with a floral aftertaste.

Second one coming up after I finally call my mom to wish her a happy birthday. Although I may not return because the person who has just moved in above me is extremely obnoxious after two days. So, if I kill him, bail me out with tea.

Oddly this empty threat made him and his buddies go inside. I was getting really mad last night because he dropped something RIGHT above where I was sitting while working on my paper and I nearly had heart failure since I was really into the paper at that point.

Anyway. Second steep. I was distracted on the phone while drinking it, but it really tasted very similar to the first steep. A bit more floral, for sure, but still good on the creamy taste. I can’t help but go with one more for the night now…

Still creamy on the third steep! I think all my other oolongs have probably been flavored just a tiny bit judging by this and what others have said about the unflavored version of this tea.

Though I must say, I love that Teavivre even puts the name of the flavoring company on the product page for the tea. Cool to know!

I was craving a bit of milk oolong this afternoon, and remembered that I hadn’t tried this one generously sent to me by Teavivre yet!

The aroma of both the dry and steeped tea is kind of a caramelly, milky aroma. Very appetizing.

The flavour is pretty delicious as well. I can taste a vegetal oolong beneath the milky, caramelly flavouring, which blend fairly well together (although I don’t recall such a sharp, vegetal flavour with other milk oolongs I’ve tried, but it’s ok). The milky taste and oolong aftertaste linger in your mouth for a while after, which is enjoyable.

Unlike Teavivre’s unflavoured milk oolong, which I enjoyed but didn’t find particularly milky, this one clearly tastes deliciously milky, but I feel a bit like it’s not quite what I want from a milk oolong. I really can’t quite put my finger on it; it may be that it’s flavoured and there’s something not quite meshing, or for all I know, I messed up the brewing parameters. Either way, it is certainly enjoyable!

I think DavidsTea’s Quangzhou Milk Oolong is going to be awfully difficult for other teas to beat… (although the Silky Green from Bird Pick Tea & Herb was very, very close, if not better).

My friend Michelle and I tried this flavored version again compliments of Michelle on here, after a few steeps of the unimpresive non-flavored version. This tea smells like peaches! And tastes like peaches & cream! It’s kinda intense and unfortunately a wee bit cloying but still tasty. I have more of this to play around with so we’ll see. But neither were as good as Fong Mong’s Milk Oolong, even though I do think highly of Teavivre.

It is a cold and rainy day today, so I decided to break out my flavored milk oolong that Teavivre generously sent me to try. Now, I do have to confess that I have had it at least one time before and I just forgot to log it. I also figured that it would be good to review this after I drank the regular milk oolong.

I tossed about 4 teaspoons into my french press this time. I normally brew about 3 teaspoons at a time, but I had a little extra fall when I was shaking out the packet. So I will actually try to steep this tea to death this time because of the slight extra I used. I don’t want to waste any.

So far, the first steep at 2 minutes is very smooth. It has a slight milky scent and is creamy on the tongue. Because it is flavored, the milky quality is upped to the point where I can almost smell warm milk. There is no mineral taste at all yet. It is all satin on the tongue.

Second Steep at about 2 and a half minutes. I noticed that the liquor was a bright golden and it smelled ready, so I stopped it there instead of going onto three minutes. The smell is divine! It smells even better than the first steep. The leaves were opening up more and I can see that the leaves are going to be huge. They still aren’t fully open yet. The taste is still creamy smooth. There is a hint of floral riding with the taste now and a slight caramel hint. It is present enough to make my tastebuds register it as a sweet taste. Not overly sweet, but sweet enough. So second steep, nice and sweet.

Third Steep is even more golden in color than the second steep! Wow. And it has only been for brewing for three minutes now. It is starting to smell wonderfully buttery and I am restraining burying my nose deep into my cup. It now tastes sweet. The sweetness was creeping up in the second steep, but this steep is starting to taste like I put a little agave syrup in it. Not sugar sweet, but agave sweet. It is two distinct sweet tastes. The milky taste is starting to turn and starting to taste creamy instead of milky. There is still no mineral taste like there is in the regular milk oolong. There is a slight taste of green in there because of the oolong base, but no minerals.

It is time for the Fourth Steep! I swear, this tea is like honey dripping out of my french press. Warm and creamy scent to the nose still. I steeped it about 3.5 minutes. The silky smooth taste has drifted from milky to creamy. It is not as sweet as the third steep, but you can tell that it is much sweeter than the first and second steeps. I feel almost like I am drinking a dessert tea. The flavor is not waning at all yet. I am starting to get a hint of butter on the right tip of my tongue. Just a hint. Other than that it is all golden smooth cream. I am still not tired of the flavor yet.

I’m going to pause for a moment before the fifth steep and think about how I have taken one thing of tea from breakfast until dinner and probably one more drink after dinner if the flavor is still strong enough on this steep. Brewed this one for a whole four minutes. It is still as golden as it ever was. It is beautiful. It smells like butter to me now. No more milk, no more cream. Just butter. Wow, just wow. It tastes like cream. Thick and sweet cream. Five steeps in and it still tastes like this. I’m blown away.

I took a shower and decided that I at least needed to go onto the sixth steep. So now I smell like lavender and the tea still smells like butter. This one sat for four and a half minutes. It is starting to develop a very light mineral smell. I think the green oolong might finally be showing its head through the flavor. The flavor is definitely a little lighter on this steep. There is a lot less of a creamy mouthfeel in this steep than was present in the last steep. The flavor is still present but has developed into butter that you can taste best on the back and sides of your tongue. It is still sweet though.

I am stopping at the sixth steep even though I think the flavor could carry you through at least one more steep. The flavor profile is weakening and I think the next steeps will be weaker and weaker. That being said, every steep I made was like steeping enough for two cups so I got at least 12 cups of tea out of this. That is a lot of tea!

I now know why people really like milk oolongs. They are light and sweet. I think I may have found a new favorite type of tea besides Earl Grey. I am delighted that Teavivre let me try and enjoy this tea.

Thanks for being patient with my tea review for today. Next time I do a big one like this, I’m putting it in a notebook first. I didn’t expect to go through six steepings of this wonderful tea!

Dry smell: This tea has a really strong, creamy smell. Its almost like someone mixed the tea with a vanilla coffee creamer. It smells very sweet and smooth on top of the typical oolong smell.

Wet smell: The wet smell also has a creamy, vanilla smell but it is not nearly as strong. It has a nice grassy smell along with a hint of a roasted scent.

Taste: The first steeping is very sweet and creamy. There is no floral flavor as of yet and the creaminess adds a smoothness to the oolong flavor. The second steep still has some of the creamy flavor but the floral, vegetative notes are starting to come out. The third steeping is amazing. There is still a creaminess there but it isn’t overpowering. The floral notes are coming out underneath the vegetative taste but not strong. There is a wonderful balance in flavor with a very smooth swallow and aftertaste.

This is an amazing tea and I’m just about to go order more. ENJOY

This is (or was) my last unopened sample from this round of Teavivre teas. I think I may have a new favorite. I love this! The dry leaf smells of Honey Nut Cheerios. The cup tastes of warm buttery milk, and cereal. Sweet and grainy with a touch of vanilla. Also, there is a bit of salt, smoke, and hay. It has a light non-offensive bitterness. Like the other Taiwan oolongs I have had lately, I am getting a neat cooling sensation on my breath. I could enjoy this cup without additives. You all know that rarely (never!) happens. I added Splenda to see if it improved the taste. It accentuated the flavor and diminished the light bitterness. I Love this! And you didn’t think I could write a one paragraph review of a new tea ;)

I recently received another round of free samples from Teavivre… Angel Chen and the folks at Teavivre are really too generous! And with such great tea. Anyway I’ve had their unflavored Jin Xuan before and loved it, but I was wondering how this one would taste. It’s not often a tea company specifies about milk oolong flavoring, and I am excited to try this one.

In the pouch the dry leaf smells incredibly milky, buttery, a bit fruity, as expected. Even milk oolongs that brew up pretty un-milky start out smelling milky, but this one is more amped up than usual. The steeped tea smells more floral, almost magnolia-ish, with a nice sweet creamy background note. If I smell really deeply I get a cooked-greens note in the lingering about as well. It doesn’t have a really rich baked-buttery aroma to it, it’s a bit fresher scented.

Early sips of this yield a nicely sweet-cream, slightly peachy flavor. You know, for all the flavoring it’s pretty light, and it tastes much like some of the other milk oolongs I’ve tried in the past. It’s pretty tasty, but I’m also pretty sure I prefer their unflavored variety. I will have to try that one again now (I still have some sample packs left from my sample of it) to compare because I am curious. I can’t say exactly why except this one seems less creamy which is surprising because it’s the flavored one! But it just kind of seems like the creaminess is on the surface, not melding with the flavor of the tea itself. I’m unsure because it’s been a while since I’ve had the unflavored.

Thanks so much for the opporunity to try this one, Angel and Teavivre!

Thanks to Teavivre for this sample!

My first experience with milk oolong was bad, to say the least. I tried the Quangzhou Milk Oolong from David’s, as it came in a sampler pack, and I took two sips and threw it out. All I could taste was rice pudding, and that’s not what I want when I’m drinking tea.

I tried this with a bit of trepidation, fully expecting to hate it. But I like it!

It’s really creamy and floral, and while the milkiness isn’t my favorite, it’s certainly not as rice-y as I remember the one from David’s to be.

I don’t think it’s a tea I’d buy, but it’s a good cup for today.

This is a sample provided by Teavivre. Thank you, Angel and Teavivre! This is my first milk oolong ever!

As soon as I opened the package, a buttery scent rushed out. I love this aroma in tea! I want to sit outside to drink it, so I decided to go with western style steeping. I made one pot with boiling water and steeped for two minutes. I sampled a tiny bit of that steep and immediately poured the water over for a second steep at just over two and a half minutes. I also sampled the second steep separately before pouring both steeps together in a tetsubin to sit on the warmer.

The first steep was light and buttery. The liquor was a light yellow color. It reminds me of a much milder version of Premium Silky Green by Bird Pick.

The second steep went a little longer and I used less water because my kettle didn’t have enough to fill the pot completely. This second steep was stronger, more assertive. The oolong flavor came through a bit more. I like that! I think next time I make this western style I will go with the longer steep time. This second steep is milliner, also.

I am now drinking the combined steeps with hubby. Now I have the milky flavor and a creaminess is coating my mouth. I noticed when I went in to refill my cup that a sweetness rose up from my throat and lingered. Love teas that do that!

This is very good, and I am eager to try someday the unflavored milk oolong as well!

Thank you, again, Teavivre!

This is a pretty standard milk oolong with flavoring. It goes from creamy to vegetal. The leaves are beautiful when they are done steeping, they are very full and not really broken. This is my first tea by Teavivre, Thanks Angel for these samples!

Overall I would recommend this as an affordable and delicious milk oolong. It is not necessarily extraordinary tea but it does have quality leaves and strong flavor. When you place a Teavivre order, its worth adding to the shopping cart!

Another one of my lost samples! I have tried the unflavored version of this and loved it, but sometimes you want a really milky flavor so I thought I’d give this one a spin. Sniffing the dry leaves, I was wondering if this would maybe taste like Nature’s Leaf Tea’s Milk Black, which is like POW milk flavor. The leaves are very fragrant! And pretty, I love tightly wound oolongs that unfurl like magic while steeping. A small spoonful becomes a forest in my little french press!

Flavor-wise, I’m surprised at how not artificial the milk flavoring is. It’s definitely more creamy than the unflavored version (obviously) but not in a fake or strange way. Just an extra boost! There’s the soft floral orchid notes, buttery and smooth and vegetal. Mmm, I love green oolongs!

I think I like the unflavored version a bit better, since it’s easier to pick out the complex notes of the base oolong, but the extra creamy version is great for a more dessert-like cup. It’s a real indulgent treat, and without any calories—and also lighter than actual dessert blends, so there’s nothing heavy or dense. Smooth, sweet oolong with an extra bit of sweetness!

When I first opened the sample of this tea, all I could smell were Peach notes. The leaves are green, curled with hints of yellow. I brewed this tea western style instead of via gaiwan. As the leaves steeped, they opened and produced a peachy, creamy aroma. The liquid is a beautiful golden yellow colour. Now, as some may know, green oolongs are not my favourite. However, I continue to try various teas to expand my tea palate and experience new things, so that was part of the reason of the reason for picking up this tea.

As I continue to sip on this tea, and as i go through the re-steeps, the flavour moves from a creamy, peachy type flavour to a more vegetal floral taste. There is no perfumey harshness to this tea, but it is still too floral for my liking, particularly as you move through the re-steeps.

Overall not something that I enjoy but a reasonable enough tea for me to have tried. I’m sure others will enjoy it much more than me.

This smells so buttery – really like buttered popcorn.
First steep:
This has a nice balance of floral orchid notes to the butteriness. I got to this when it was cold so I might have missed out on some of the flavors.
Second steep:
I think I steeped this for closer to three minutes rather than two. It had a strong vegetal taste verging on bitter. Still not bad. Not my favorite oolong, but not bad either. I think I like this one better than Teavivre’s plain milk oolong.

This is my first Milk Oolong type tea. Thanks to Teavivre for allowing me to sample this tea. I already love Oolongs for their nutty and buttery characteristic. So I was excited to try this one. I have a pouch of Verde au Lait that I acquired in a trade and it fell short of the goal. I made it at work and shared with my co-worker who I am making a tea lover as well. A pale yellow liquor typical with most green oolongs. I’ve been going nuts a bit with getting a week ahead on music logs since the baby will be here any day, and I’ve been re-inventing our broadcast clocks…tea is much needed. This is great! Milky? I am not really getting a milky flavor from this tea. Buttery? Absolutely! I feel like I’m in the theater enjoying a huge bucket of popcorn with double butter. For dinner last night I made garlic lime shrimp in a butter sauce. I think this would make a great butter substitute in cooking. Four tasty pots were made with the leaves.

Today is probably not the best day to write about tea, but given that I find comfort in both writing and tea, here goes. I got this Milk Oolong on a recent order from Teavivre. I’d like to just reiterate how much I love Teavivre. Fast, relatively low shipping threshold, and I’m not sure if they sell a bad tea (everything I’ve tried has been delicious). My only other experience with a milk oolong was from David’s Tea. I loved every single thing about that tea. The milk flavor was strong enough that even I could taste the creamy, delicious goodness. So I had a high bar set that I was hoping Teavivre could surpass.
My first pot of tea I made according to Teavivre’s directions—2 t per 8 oz of water steeped at boiling for two minutes. What I got was overwhelmingly oolong and short on milk. Green oolongs aren’t my favorite in the first place, so that was a bit of a disappointment. I valiantly brewed a couple more resteeped pots. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what I was hoping for—a milk miracle, I suppose. It was a miracle that never occurred.

I decided to give it another try this morning, in the hopes that different brew parameters would help. Also, I ordered a lot of this tea. So I have quite a bit to work my way through. I brewed 1 t per 8 oz at 90 C, and low and behold. Milk! I was so happy! The smaller amount of leaves and lower temperature seems to have allowed the milk flavor to come through. I’m definitely a happier camper (tea-wise) this morning.

And if you don’t want to read about my crappy news, please stop reading now. I totally get it, since it isn’t exactly about tea. But it is weighing heavily on my mind. I found out from my vet yesterday that my dog has a very aggressive pancreatic cancer. Animals with this condition seem to only live a couple of weeks after diagnosis. She is my baby, gotten from a rescue. She was terrified of everything when we got her, and she’s come so far. She’s only seven—young for cancer. She is my tail. She follows me everywhere, and prefers me to all other company. The thought of losing my Bella is tearing me up.

Yay! Another generous sample from Teavivre.

I was anxious to try this as I have discovered a bit of a love for milk oolongs, and I wasn’t sure if I preferred flavored over not.

Next time I will try a comparison with this, the unflavored one, and Davidstea’s version (which I am not sure on whether it is flavored or not)

I enjoyed this as much as the unflavored Teavivre offering, but again if I had them side by side I would probably notice the creaminess more in this one.

Limiting my caffeine now so steep 2 will take place tomorrow, hopefully the leaves will be ok overnight at work.

ETA I should add that though my palate is still new and untrained, I have really been enjoying these milk oolongs. Imagine, no additives or fake flavors and they’re still so fresh and buttery and creamy. That’s good stuff.

also….

Steep 2 was a success. Still creamy and buttery and vegetal but not in a way that turns me off (spinach tea is not for me!!)

Steep 3 to follow :)

1.5 tablespoons for 375 ml

Strong oolong note. I detect very little milky flavour. Faint grapefruit note near the end of the sip in background.

Thanks to Sil for letting me try this!

Dry Smell: Somewhat buttery and vegetative.

Wet: Mostly vegetables or leaves.

There doesn’t seem to be much of a milky taste up front as it tastes like TKJ. Now the aftertaste is where we start getting into the milky area of things. The feeling it leaves in the mouth is very similar to that of having just drank a tall glass of milk.