1271 Tasting Notes
Mmm pu’er blend. This one is a moderate spiced, mostly sweet ginger cinnamon. The ripe pu’er is good – not fermenty and has a mushroom earth base with a creamy body.
Overall, pretty good. I’d upgrade all my chais to this, though I would like a more spicy chai.
Full review on my blog The Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/simple-loose-leaf-selection-club-october/
This tea is super delicious! Probably now one of my favorite black teas, though a little biased as I prefer gold tipped chinese blacks.
Imperial Gold Needle has a gorgeous dry leaf – long threads of gold with slivers of black. The steeped tea comes out bronze, then reddish amber, then gold. The flavor is great – no bitterness, hint of dry later steepings. There are flavor notes of malt, chocolate, stone fruit, honey, caramel, toasted nut with a thick creamy body.
Highly recommended!
Full review – and lots of pictures of this gorgeous black tea – on my blog The Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/imperial-gold-needle-yunnan-black-tea/
Preparation
This tea is a really good pu’er blend. Lots of wine flavor with grape, cedar, blackberry and fig notes. Bit of tart and dryness. The pu’er isn’t heavy, fermenty or weird – but quite woody and creamy. This blend is pretty good iced too!
Full review on my blog, The Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/pu-erh-bordeaux-rishi-tea-tea-review/
Swap from Shadowfall!
Hmm, this is a rich indian tea flavor without the dryness. It’s like it’s pulsing to want to be dry and brisk, but never gets there. The texture is thick with a silky sip, a bit bread crusty, malty with slight stone fruit sweetness. The finish is more bread crust flavor. Not bad, glad to of tried it!
Preparation
THIS IS THE GOD OF NIGHT SWEATS TEA. A crazy badly translated find on Aliexpress! The highlights of the description of this tea is "God of Night Sweats, prolonged Bear Soaks, Resistant to Impact tea, Shelf life of “jumps over Chen yue sweet”, good back to gan, “fat and moisture”.
Lots of floral! So much floral! With a bit of honey and forest floor notes with a bit of a sour aftertaste. The appearance of this tea is very beautiful – lots of flower petals and buds that expand. Only unattractive thing about this cake was prying off pieces, it was like dealing with a chewy oatmeal bar.
Full review on my blog The Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/camellia-flower-cake-god-of-night-sweats/
Preparation
I didn’t get this exact one, but I agree with your assessment that these cakes are like a “chewy oatmeal bar”. That about sums it up!!!
Hilarious review!
Mmm, prolonged Bear Soaks :D
Gorgeous photos!
I got one of these but the “fat and moisture” just didn’t hit me like I thought.
Praise to the God of Night Sweats!
I’m fully expecting a report at some point re: whether night sweats were effectively induced (or avoided? I’m not clear on whether this tea is pro- or anti-sweat).
Oooh, a wild arbor oolong! Oriental beauty one too!
This oriental beauty is pretty delicate and complex – earthy, lightly roasty, citrus, cherry wood and peachy. The peachy flavor is like grilled peaches with a burnt caramel glaze.
Full review on my blog, The Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/wild-arbor-oriental-beauty-oolong/
Preparation
From the unflavored TTB
Mmm, this is good! I had a hard time reading the handwriting on Single Origin Tea packages, so I thought this was an milgiri oolong, then whatever coonoon is.. a raccoon? Turns out Coonoor is the tea estate!
Anyways, pretty tasty tea! Sweet, little light for a black, bready, fruity grapey, dry, and a little caramelly. I’m not a fan of the dryness, but the flavor is pretty good.
Preparation
Mmmm, a delicious ripe pu’er! This one is very smooth, rich, melty dark chocolate flavor with spice notes. With later infusions the chocolate goes from dark to milk with a wild honey like sweet flavor. Very easy to drink and desserty. No bitterness, dryness or fermentation funk. I got 17 infusions from 6 grams of tea, prepared gong fu style.
2012 Bulang Gushu also has a gorgeous reddish color that is bright and clear – a pretty pretty tea! Totally for someone who loves a rich chocolate note tea!
Full review on my blog, The Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/2012-bulang-gushu-ripe-puerh/
Preparation
From the unflavored TTB.
I was using this oolong to test out my new gaiwans and wasn’t sure what to expect. The floral is light – jasmine/honeysuckle – but a bit of almost savory and spice element to it with a sweet vibe in the background. I’m more partial to a more floral or heavier oxidized oolong, but I found colored species to be a fun sip.
BTW, the leaves are intact and HUGE. Just like Mandala’s milk oolong. My gaiwan was quickly an explosion of giant leaves.
Preparation
The best steeping of Laoshan Roasted oolong was the last steepings – it was like drinking a s’more – so sweet, vanilla flavored and roasty!
Before that with the first 12 infusions (out of 14), the tea had roasty, nutty, bark woodsy, chocolate malt, yam, and marshmallow with a light to moderate dryness.
I can’t compare to Laoshan black – i’ve had that tea in blends and once on it’s own, but I do like this oolong. Only if I can have infusion 13 and 14 over and over again.
Full review on my blog, The Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/laoshan-roasted-oolong-verdant-tea/
