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Winner of the 2009 Austin Oolong Taste Competition
One of our Artisan Reserve organic oolong teas, a line of small-batch handmade teas from a craft handed down over generations. Hand selected for having all the hallmark qualities of the highest grades with noteable personality accents. This tea has a long round clover honey sweetness, surrounded by wildflower notes and a nice tilled soil kind of depth. What makes this honey oolong stand out from the others we cupped when selecting this type of tea is the intense aromatics, overall body of the liquor, and complexity of flavor. It has a fullness and depth of character that continues even at room tempurature or even cold. Multiple steepings reveal rich nutty earthiness and a more refined sweetness. Gui Fei Oolong was created by a group of young tea farmers from Luku township in 2000. After the big earthquake 9/21/2009, the tea farmers in Luku township were engaged in rebuilding their hometown and neglected to manage their tea gardens which led to the tea leaves being chomped by the “tea leafhopper”. After these tea leaves were picked and produced according to traditional Dong Ding Oolong tea method with a long fermentation, it turned out the tea liquor was crystal clear orange color and full of honey or litchi aroma. The green leaves were surrounded by red edges and looked very elegant and poised just like an ancient Gui Fei (The highest-ranking imperial concubine). Its flavor and aroma are different from traditional Dong Ding Oolong tea, which is why it is named Dong Ding Gui Fei tea or Gui Fei Oolong tea. We call it Royal Courtesan to honor its exemplary characteristics. Good for several incredible steepings. Source: China. TOPA Organic Certified. AKA Gui Fei Oolong, Gui Fei Mei Ren, Noble Concubine, Honey Oolong
Oh wow! This is SO GOOD. This is honestly one of the very best Oolongs I’ve ever tasted. Better than Milk Oolong, maybe better than Ali Shan! And I LOVE Ali Shan!
I really love this one. The flavor is rich with buttery notes and honeysuckle! Honey tones! Beautiful!
LOVE it!
I gave the small dry tea nuggets a quick hot water rinse, then sniffed at the pot — floral bliss! Dr Oolong, co-owner of Zhi Tea, describes aroma of wildflowers, but that fails to capture the richness of my olfactory experience. For me, the light gold oolong broth wafted forth orchid and lilac, with light honey notes. The sweet scent clung so strongly to the empty cup that I couldn’t take my nose out of it. That’s how I want to die — with my nose in a honeyed cup! (any innuendo found in that exclamation, ahem, surely originates in the mind of the reader) Yes, I’m an old bird whose sensuality often, these days, finds itself swimming in a cup of tea. My family, I think, considers my tea obsession a blessing, a diversion which keeps me too busy to venture far onto the wild side. My old bones second that emotion. “Teadrunk nights are quite enough,” they agree. So my hat’s off to those tiny bugs which chewed these leaves and made this tea so special! I got four good infusions, too.
I will start off by saying what this is not: not vegetative, not floral, not milky, not roasted or not toasty. Call me strange- but this tastes like clover, yes a clover- the flower associated w/3-leaf clover. This is a nice relaxing oolong.
Steep Information:
Amount: 3 tsp
Water: 750ml at 175°F
Tool: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL
Steep Time: 3 minutes
Served: Hot
Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: Strong toasty scent
Steeped Tea Smell: sweet (floral), toasty
Flavor: sweet, silky, toasty
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: toasted, gritty
Liquor: translucent medium orange brown
Not the best oolong I’ve had, but a very nice one.
Resteep:
750ml at 175°F for 3 minutes and 30 seconds
Resteep:
750ml at 175°F for 4 minutes
It could have steeped more but I was headed home.
Rating: 3/4 leaves
Blog: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2013/03/zhi-tea-loose-leaf-oolong-tea-royal.html
This may be the best tea I’ve had ever. I first tasted it at Zhi during Eat Local week. A nice, extremely knowledgeable guy was steeping various teas. On the first steeping the aroma was sweet and floral. Tasting this tea after the first smell was a little surprising, it was more substantial and earthier than I thought it would be. Multiple steepings didn’t disappoint. I took home two ounces that day and this continues to be my “go-to” tea when I’m looking for “the cup that cheers” – that phrase was invented for this tea.
Went to Zhi today and had my first Oolong, still trying to decide how I feel about it, but I think I love it. Went home with a different flavor because of the price of this one, but really enjoyed the pot of tea.
I like how they call this “royal courtesan” instead of concubine =P Hehe
This is my first Chinese oolong after having so many samples from Tea from Taiwan. I quite like this – it’s smoother and toasty and just very pleasant.
Maybe I like roasted oolongs instead of green oolongs! We shall see, I have more tea to try from Zhi!
I would say the best steepings were the 2nd and 3rd!
