Mandarin Silk

I did not pay attention to how I brewed this one… but it is absolutely DELICIOUS! Fabulous oolong base, light citrus, and delicious creaminess. Lingering oolong aftertaste. And I just got a rock sugar sweetness from my current sip, like I get from an amazing green. I see why everyone is raving about it! Thank you for sending me a sample, Azzrian , and if their website ever comes back up (I kid), I’ll definitely be making an order sooner rather than later. This one’s definitely a winner. YUM.

The only thing I’d change is brew it a touch stronger. I can’t really recall how much leaf I used though, nor how long I steeped it (3 min??) so will have to pay more attention next time.

ETA: Second infusion, less water (195F) is tasty too. A little lemony, creamy, and with lovely oolong flavour holding it all together. Yum.

ETA again: Third infusion weak, but still smooth and drinkable. Tasty.

This was recommended to me by Azzrian and I have to say I’m glad it was because I totally would have overlooked it otherwise.

I’m trying to figure out how to describe it. And now I’m even more paranoid about my descriptions after the “Overdoing it?” discussion currently taking place!

I would have to say “Fragrant” is very appropriate to describe this tea. It is a bit perfumey, but not in a bad way. I can taste a bit of vanilla and some sort of fruity/citrus coming through. It has a wonderful oolong base, too! Usually I get teas that are supposed to resemble something else (Guava, coconut, chocolate covered strawberries, caramel, etc.) that it’s nice to just be able to enjoy this cup without trying to figure out if it lives up to its noun-name :)

Overall, I like it.

Now, it’s my last day of summer vacation and there is a 5-part Chopped All-Stars marathon waiting for me in my DVR folder. You know where to find me.

I adore this tea! I have had this on my Wish List almost since I first began sipping loose leaf tea. It was one of my first samples ever received! No idea why I waited so long to order it.
Its creamy, slightly tart with the lemon flavor I am finding I love in many teas, the vanilla is NOT over done and you can still taste the pouchong coming through.
The smell is dreamy!
I also find that a slightly lower heat level and a bit longer steep do this tea well. Otherwise you may find it a bit on the weak or watery side.
One of my favorites.

Azzrian, you’ve officially earned the title of the person who sent me the tastiest samples. I haven’t been let down yet. Nice oolong flavor with a light citrus flavor and a truly silky vanilla cream flavor. Awesome.

Thanks to Azzrian for the sample.

I just got a new ingenuiTEA and I was excited to try this tea, since now the leaves have plenty of room to expand!

This is a very nice oolong. I’m getting a little bit of flavor, but it’s not as overpowering as I thought it would be. I can taste the hints on citrus and vanilla, and it’s a nice compliment to it. I don’t know if I’m blown away by it, but I’ll certainly give it a few more steeps and see what happens.

Second infusion: The flavor is still kicking. I’m impressed at how well it holds up in the second infusion. Not bad.

This is really quite lovely. So smooth and delightful. Not overly done with any flavor, it allows the natural flavors of the pouchong to really sing and the pouchong seems to be perfectly matched with the flavors of lemon-y citrus and vanilla. Sweet, silky and really wonderful. Nice to sip after a long day.

Thanks to Azzrian for this sample! This has been on my list of teas to try for a loooong time, yet somehow I always forgot to order it. In fact, I placed an order at Persimmon right before I was sent this and somehow didn’t put a sample in my cart. Ah, my brain is a funny thing. Anyway, this one has such amazing reviews and I love oolongs so there’s no way I could pass it up!

I think I did something wrong here, so I am going to hold off rating it for now. I cold brewed it for the usual 12 hours, and the vanilla was totally overpowering! There was a nice citrus note in the background and the oolong base was lovely and bright and floral, but I found my palette overwhelmed by vanilla. It was… frosting-y, which is quite weird since pretty much everyone else says there’s just a hint of it. I have enough for a few more tries though!

This has been a very depressing day. I started this tea cold brewing when I left the house today. I didn’t realize it was an oolong. For some reason I thought this was a green. Well the leaves expanded way more than expected for that reason and my cup is pretty strong on flavor. Dilute it was cold water and it tastes just about perfect. It’s a very soothing cup of chilled tea for a tough day. The vanilla is comfortingly creamy and sweet and the lemon keeps it fresh.

This reminds me quite s bit of David’s Tea’s Vanilla Oolong. I’d be curious to try them side by side to compare.

Thank you, Azzrian for sharing this delicious blend with me.

Another that I had yesterday.

Before this, I had tried only one other oolong. It was overly perfume-y and not something I was very fond off. When I found out this was oolong, I was disappointed at first. I’m so glad that I bothered to try it though! This teas smells absolutely wonderful. It has a creamy, oolongy smell and tastes just the same. The vanilla flavor blends really well with the oolong taste. I will definitely be stocking up on this one!

My first Persimmon Tree tea taste and I’m in total nirvana! This is like liquid gold, or if dreams were fluid…

Sense I not make. This is because of the tea! ;)

I love the flavor palette – vanilla, and lemon myrtle, which you may not think can roll together. But these get along well. So utterly delicious and smooth…

Smells divine as well… This will be a Keen Tea Thyme cupboard staple!

1.5 tablespoons for 375 ml of water

Milky floral oolong aroma in the brewed tea scent. Hints of soft vanilla sweetness and orange-y citrus; reminding me of orange creamsicle.

Creamy vanilla pudding flavour. Very mild citrus. Grapefruit astringency close to the end of the sip mixed with floral hints. Mouth-feel is a little thin for the flavour

Second infusion at 4 minutes. Muted creaminess. Citrus-y flavour comes through more. The grapefruit note is toned down but still present near the end of the sip into the aftertaste. Vanilla-like sweetness present but not as strong as in the first infusion.

Many thanks to Sil for sharing this with me!

yum yum yum. So I guess Oolongs are my new love lately. Every one that I’ve tried have been great recently. Maybe I’ve just had really awesome swaps! haha. Thanks Azzrian for this gem.

This tea is everything described. It has a natural sweetness, light citrus smell and taste, with an overall smooth / creamy Oolong base. It has a thick and rich liquor. I’m resteeping to make some iced tea for later. Excited to try it cold as well.

NOTE: from visiting their website, looks like they may have renamed this “Mandarin Cream”.

Sil!! thanks for the sample! I likey.
Not what I was expecting but still very good. The first infusion was alright, very smooth with only a slight citrus punch. The oolong was light, airy even. Not bad.
The second steep however… wow, tart mandarin orange?! YUM!! So good. And more of the same in my third.
My rls is acting up badly tonight, so I’m gonna make this note a hasty one. I still have one more to post… must get through them all!!
Rating: 84

Such a lovely honey color liquor and the leaves unfurl to such a huge size! I steeped 3 times and combined all 3 steeps in one pot.

A nice, mellow vanilla flavor that lets the oolong peek through. The lemon is much fainter. More a smell than a taste to me. Still very nice.

This reminds me very much of Silk Dragon Oolong from The Tea Merchant. I think I prefer The Tea Merchant’s blend, but this is very, very nice and I will enjoy it while I have it! Thanks so much to JosieJade for the sample!

Hooked On You by Silk – The Remix
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk8elIn3uGI

Okay…so…seriously…who ever came up with this one is PURE GENIUS!!!!
An Awesome Pouchong – Marvy Myrtle – Smooth Vanilla – Citrus Finish – Incredible Aroma – Silky Smooth…mouth watering MASTER PIECE….nomnomnom…

I assume this is now called Mandarin Creme as the ingredients are the same.

Except my tin states “pouchong”, and both descriptions under the two names of this tea say it’s oolong. I don’t know what pouchong is but rest assured I’m going to google it once I’m done this review!

Soooo my Persimmon Tree order arrived today. I had posted a comment on their Facebook wall complaining (politely of course) that their crappy shipping options for Canada meant that for 1 oz of tea (added to my cart to determine shipping fees) it would be $28 at the CHEAPEST to ship to me.

Anyway they responded immediately, apologized, gave me a free shipping code and added a new shipping option for $15 to Canada which is totally reasonable as their teas come in tins!

Yay! So I ordered three teas and a sample of a fourth. I had to share the story because good customer service should not go unacknowledged. And I am pleased to report that the teas I ordered are awesome! Thank you, Persimmon!

This was so good. It’s creamy and flavorful yet light, and the tea base is also noticeable, delicate and delicious! I ordered the smallest tin of this and am thinking perhaps I should have got the larger size! Soooo good. It’s flavoured but not overwhelmingly so, and there’s no unnatural taste whatsoever. That is all. Yum.

180 degrees for 2-3 min, as I wasn’t sure what pouchong was, haha.

-Dry leaves feature large dense twisted leaves with yellow petals and broken pieces of lemon myrtle. Wet leaves float to the top during steeping and reveal large full leaves.
-Dry blend smells creamy and sweet with a faint hint of citrus. Tea liquor’s aroma is of vanilla and citrus.
-Tea liquor is a bright medium yellow.
-Grassy undertone with a slight lemony finish. Creamy and smooth mouthfeel.
-Best with sweetener.
-Very good tea. Nicely fragrant with a smooth, velvety flavor.

Mmmm my first tea from the Persimmon Tree! I don’t usually enjoy vanilla flavoured teas but the vanilla taste in this tea is very well balanced. I think now that i’ve had a chance to delight in a number of teas I’m going to have to go back and re-rank them all heh.

As you know, I get very excited over tea.. especially over blends that I’ve been dying to try. Mandarin Silk Oolong is just one of those teas that has been on my shopping list forever. The scent is gorgeous, just as I imagined it would be. It’s smooth, a little bit creamy and sweet. I have noticed that I sometimes get the silky mouthfeel with this tea, but not with every cup. The mandarin flavor comes out as an almost undetected tartness towards the end of the sip. I very much like this tea, but realized that it took me a few cups to reach this conclusion. My first few cups left me unimpressed, but changing the water temperature (from around 190-185 to about 175) helps the creamy and sweet notes come out. I am not sure how this compares to Art of Tea’s Mandarin Silk. I would be interested in trying and comparing both!

My 6th Persimmon Tree sample to try. This one I would of passed on as it didn’t seem exotic enough that I’d try it – but I saw some good things on Steepster about it, so why not try it? The samples are cheap!

When my Persimmon Tree package arrived I smelled all the samples and found this one the least appealing as it wasn’t as strong or interesting scented than the rest of them.

DRY: Not strong of a smell, but what I can make out would be a sweet lemony scent. 2t used.

STEEPED: Bright light yellow colour.. white tea looking. Oolong scent with hints of lemon.

TASTE: Creamy vanilla up front with a clean and delicious oolong taste and non-tart mild citrus. Subtly sweet. No bitterness.

WHO’D LIKE THIS TEA: It’s mild, creamy, citrusy, what’s not to like? Oolong lovers would go to town on this!

COMMENTS: Another well executed tea by Persimmon Tree, how do they keep doing it?

I love the vanilla flavor in this, probably the best vanilla usage with it being the perfect amount and creamy. Not artificial tasting. The citrus is used nicely and is amazingly not tart. Almost like a lemon drop tea.

For me? I could see the huge appeal in this tea and it is very delicious, it surprised me on how good and well blended it is, however not in my particular tastes. I’d still recommend this tea to others as being pretty good.