Royal Phoenix Oolong

Tea type
Oolong Tea
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Honeysuckle, Peach, Toasty, Vegetal, Almond, Apricot, Astringent, Butter, Chestnut, Citrus, Earth, Floral, Fruity, Grapefruit, Grass, Lemon Zest, Mineral, Osmanthus, Plum, Roasted Nuts, Vanilla, Wood
Sold in
Not available
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by jbeaudin1
Average preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 2 min, 30 sec 8 g 10 oz / 296 ml

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From Our Community

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7 Want it Want it

11 Own it Own it

27 Tasting Notes View all

  • “I am trying to not let myself get sucked in to the world of expensive, gourmet tea. Seeking out cheaper alternatives is a must have. I am very impressed with this. I’m not gonna lie to you and tell...” Read full tasting note
    92
  • “Very tasty tea that seems to be happier at a higher water temp – it has a clearer taste. It’s very bright and grape-y and tartly sweet. It reminds me a lot of a Darjeeling but without any...” Read full tasting note
    79
  • “I still don’t remember who sent me this in a swap but I still love it! It is one of the first “dark” oolongs I’ve really enjoyed. It is so floral and fruity! I only have one cup of it left which...” Read full tasting note
    94
  • “With the recent purchase of amazing apricot and plum jams this oolong will get a lot of love this week. Today it was showered with seven cups worth and the eighth is steeping along now. I tried it...” Read full tasting note
    89

From The Tao of Tea

For daily drinking, a smaller amount of leaf with a longer steeping time gives a rewarding cup with little effort. This tea’s darker leaf requires fairly hot water (180 to 200 F) to bring out its full its full taste and unique aroma.

About The Tao of Tea View company

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27 Tasting Notes

92
2816 tasting notes

I am trying to not let myself get sucked in to the world of expensive, gourmet tea. Seeking out cheaper alternatives is a must have. I am very impressed with this. I’m not gonna lie to you and tell you I heard angels singing or the earth moved but this is an excellent value for the price ($4.00/oz as of today’s writing).

I steeped it for 2 minutes and used near boiling water with about 2 tsb of leaf and 10 oz of water. The website said to use fairly hot water in order to bring out the flavors. Very pleasant nectarine and peach flavors are coming through here. Not a trace of bitterness at all which can sometimes be a problem with these darker oolongs. Perfect for daily drinking…

Preparation
2 min, 0 sec
Charles Thomas Draper

Lately I have heard angels. LOL

TeaBrat

I’m trying to save my angels for special occasions… :)

Charles Thomas Draper

Every second is a special occasion

Plunkybug

The great thing with oolongs, is that even if they cost a bit more, you can get multiple steeps, and the flavour can change the more you steep it, so it does balance out a little, cost-wise.

Jim Marks

Toasty oolongs are a great variety for finding reasonably priced stand bys for day to day cups that won’t break the bank.

Charles Thomas Draper Jim, Amy turned me on to this very informative video about the Wuyi growing region. I am sure it will answer your question concerning the Big Red Robe. As far as i know, most are clones off of the original trees….
ScottTeaMan

Ahhh…….Da Hong Pao, avery enjoyable tea.

Jim Marks

As I understand it they aren’t “clones” but are grown from clippings, the same way grape varietals for wine are taken. This is where the idea of “generations” comes in. A tree made from a clipping from the originals is first generation. A tree made from a clipping from those trees is second generation, etc. Supposedly, generational distance impacts quality, mostly because it usually means that where the new tree is planted is probably (probably, not necessarily) less and less like the original location in terms of soil, sun, elevation etc.

Mostly I’m just curious if the truly early generation stuff is so rare and expensive that it is still the sort of thing given to presidents as gifts or kept by the PRC for governmental use or whether we could actually get our hands on such things. I have no idea how many first generation trees exist to know whether that’s a rare thing or a not so rare thing.

TeaBrat

@ Jim – according to the show Charles was referring to there are something like 5 of the original Da Hong Pao trees and the tea made from those trees is kept in a vault. It is very rare and expensive & the DHP tea we get now is all from the 2nd generation

Jim Marks

Well, there are second gen, third gen, fourth gen… DHP has become extremely popular, and to keep up with demand, more and more generations of bushes are being produced — to the point that anything fourth generation or later is referred to as Xiao Hong Pao (small red robe) or simply Hong Pao.

So I guess the most pointed way to ask the question (which I actually asked on a different tasting note) is whether Verdant’s leaves are 2nd gen or 3rd. Supposedly it makes a big difference.

Charles Thomas Draper

Jim, That’s a question for David Duckler….

Jim Marks

We’ve already made way more out of it than I intended. :-)

iTea

Hot debate going down….

TeaBrat

ahh. why is this coming up here, it isn’t even one of Verdant’s teas? And yes, I agree just ask David if you need to know.

Jim Marks

I don’t know, either. Like I said, it was a passing question, I think there was a misunderstanding about the information I wanted, it’s gotten completely over blown at this point, and I’m moving on.

iTea – no one’s debating anything.

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79
911 tasting notes

Very tasty tea that seems to be happier at a higher water temp – it has a clearer taste. It’s very bright and grape-y and tartly sweet. It reminds me a lot of a Darjeeling but without any astringency. And makes me want grapes.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 45 sec

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94
1113 tasting notes

I still don’t remember who sent me this in a swap but I still love it! It is one of the first “dark” oolongs I’ve really enjoyed. It is so floral and fruity! I only have one cup of it left which makes me sad…HOWEVER, I got an email from Angel at Teavivre this morning that I won the Oolong Sampler Assortment giveaway! YAY!!!! :D

BrewTEAlly Sweet

Congrats how exciting!

JustJames

oooo! an oolong sampler! can’t wait to read the reviews!!

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89
177 tasting notes

With the recent purchase of amazing apricot and plum jams this oolong will get a lot of love this week. Today it was showered with seven cups worth and the eighth is steeping along now. I tried it at 200 F today for the first few and it came out very much like a toasty TGY with a dollop of peach preserves. I dropped the temperature to 190 and it swung back to light nectarine with plum in the background. It’s so easy to pair this oolong with a certain fruit or be careless and let it run wild while multitasking.
Ah! There’s the timer.

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98
158 tasting notes

So. Good.

I really like this flavor profile.

It reminds me very much of Royal Garland, the ‘white oolong’ (okay, my term for it, but it’s actually fairly accurate, as it turns out) from Samovar that I adore. The leaves look very different, of course, as they’re not white buds processed as oolong; I assume they’re leaves…they lack the fuzzy yarn look of the Royal Garland.

It has that sweet, fruity, tropically awesome taste though, and the aroma is so juicy and inviting. Roasted pineapple and plantains, nectarines, a bit of darjeeling-esque muscatel that doesn’t seem as sharp or bitter, no astringency. I loved this assembly of flavors in the Garland, and I loved it (even faint as it was) in the Tankha I bought, and it’s no surprise that I love it here.

The description suggests very little leaf and longer steeping times, but based on Ricky’s tasting notes for Phoenix Oolong and his experiences with finicky leaves, I decided to err on the side of caution and use more leaf at a very short steep time. Thirty seconds seems like hardly enough time to steep tea leaves to me — I’m so used to black teas — but the resulting cup doesn’t lack for flavor in the least.

I’m very much looking forward to playing with this one.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 45 sec

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84
6768 tasting notes

Special thanks to Mercuryhime for this one!

This is very much like…AUTUMN…it has a roasty type taste too it…reminiscent of fall leaves. I can also pick up something that resembles peach – a natural note not an actual FLAVOR. This is pretty good! Especially if you are into the charcoal-esque oolongs! Thumbs up!

Mercuryhime

Funny how we described it so similarly but you enjoyed it and I didn’t. :) I’m glad it went to a good home.

TeaBrat

I quite liked it too….
especially for the price

Auggy

Oooh, I like it when there are fruity flavors in tea that aren’t added – very cool!

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73
615 tasting notes

While not a favorite, this is a nice dark oolong. Definitely some fruity flavors coming through, primarily nectarine and plantain. It’s not as sweet as peaches, and is definitely on the greener side of the fruits I tasted. Definitely a roasty element, that doesn’t taste like smoke, but more like crunchy fall leaves. It’s a very flavorful and warming cup.

Thanks Shelley_Lorraine.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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15
523 tasting notes

After reading the positive reviews for this tea, I just had to try it. GiggleGoddess was kind enough to share a sample with me. But oh gee, is it NOT the tea for me. I don’t know what dimension everyone else tastebuds are lingering in, but this tastes like noxious weeds and I dunno, sugar snap peas maybe? Whatever it is, it made me feel sick after two sips and I had to dump it. Fortunately, it had no bad aftertaste so I was able to overcome the queasy feeling quickly. Not every tea can be a winner. :)

TeaBrat

I liked this! ha ha

Shelley_Lorraine

yes, your review being one of the many that prompted me to try this tea! lol. Something in it just didn’t agree with me.

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48
525 tasting notes

The leaves are dark and straight. They’re like little 1" twigs.

The brewed leaves smell like…wet fallen leaves…? I’m not sure what it is, but it smells like something natural and woodsy.

First steep was pretty mild and dark tasting. It was pleasant and tasted of stone fruits. 2nd steep was very apricot-y. I had to take a few sips to figure out the other flavors. Mint, anise and campfire. As much as I love the smell of a campfire, I don’t think I like the taste of one. I have never before tasted these things in an oolong. It’s very earthy and well oxidized. These flavors continue into the 4th steep except the minty character. That’s gone now. I’m really not digging the anise and earthy aspect. Normally, earthy is ok, but this is intensely earthy. It’s also very fruity, but the other flavors stand out more to me. I’m sure there are many steeps left in these leaves, but I’m done with it. I kept steeping out of curiosity, but I’m really not enjoying this tea.
Am I brewing this wrong? Everyone else seems to like it.

I’m smelling the bottom of my cup now and it really smells like autumn in the woods with a campfire in the distance. It smells fabulous because I love autumn, woods and campfires, but those are not three things I’d like to eat. hmm…

I’m learning a lot about oolong these days. I’ve always liked oolong, but I never had more than a few different kinds. Thank you Batrachoid, for expanding my education with your generous sample.

E Alexander Gerster

One of the problems with rating smoked/fired oolongs is that people generally either love or hate the flavor of smoke (as opposed to the aroma). Just like Lapsang Souchong, the smokiness can either draw you in or repel you, and the strength of the individual batches can vary widely. Water temperature and length of brewing also have to be played with to find the “sweet spot” and I have found it to be a bit frustrating at times. But when you find that magical combination of the right tea, the right temperature, and the right brewing time, the journey an Oolong like this can take you on can be quite magical… :-)

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88
1137 tasting notes

Personally I like this better than Jing Tea Shop’s Mi Lan Dan Cong. Maybe they’re not exactly the same kind of tea though. This one had a lot more flavor!

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