Taiwan Sourcing

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Recent Tasting Notes

93

I enjoyed this fresh baozhong in a gaiwan and used 6 grams. I like to experiment a little with temperatures and brewed this one at 180°. The potent complex floral vegetal wet leaf aroma stood out to me. I brewed it 5 rounds and tasted a medley of floral and grassy notes that played well together. All in all an interesting baozhong. I did another brew in zhuni clay with 7 grams and a little hotter water…I really loved it a lot.

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86

Even though it is technically the lightest of our GABA lineup it is still rich and flavorful. All around the tea is very interesting because it seems like an oolong but the taste is more mixed with green tea qualities.

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89

Really bright and clear GABA tea. Definitely strong in its consistent sweet and rich black tea taste. The relaxing GABA sensation is apparent as well.

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92

I tend to enjoy hong shui oolongs in the afternoon after meals. To me it is almost a dessert tea type. I savored this lovely hong shui gaiwan style and used 6 grams with near boiling water. The first round is nice and inviting and then it gets scrumptious. There is definitely sweetness and crisp honey-like flavor but it is also comforting and smooth.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 30 sec 6 g

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90

Well made GABA tea always makes me happy. Lots of full flavor here. To me it has a raw cacao quality that I love. It gets fruity and holds up for many rounds. I have also enjoyed long steeps of 1-3 hours over a small flame.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec 6 g

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93

This tea was quite good. It had a sweet note from the start. The note reminded me of the white nectarines I got from the store last week, but without the intense sweetness to it. This is one good tea. This one was not cheap, I forget what I paid. I think this was the most expensive tea I bought from Taiwan Sourcing this time around. I would definitely buy it again next harvest. I bought 75g so I am not likely to run out before they produce another harvest of the stuff.

I steeped this tea ten times in a 150ml gaiwan with 7g leaf and 190 degree water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, and 1 min. The tea was not finished but I have had a lot of tea this morning so I stopped.

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 7 g 5 OZ / 150 ML
Zennenn

I recently received many order of this tea and have not tried it yet. Glad to hear it’s a good one. Did it strike you as high in caffeine?

AllanK

Can’t say I noticed the caffeine either way. I stop caffeine early in the day due to insomnia. I had this one fairly early in the day.

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84

I liked this tea. But I really failed to pin down the flavor notes in it. It was malty, somewhat bitter, and somewhat astringent. It also had some complex notes. I really didn’t pick them out. Today I have been going through some of the teas I bought from Taiwan Sourcing a couple of months ago now. This one was a good tea.

I steeped this tea eight times in a 150ml gaiwan with 7.7g leaf and boiling water. I steeped it for 10 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, and 30 sec. I could have kept going but I feel like drinking something else. The tea was not done at eight steeps.

Preparation
Boiling 7 g 150 OZ / 4436 ML

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78

Cold brewed this tea. I let it sit too long so it’s overbrewed. Still I think I like this one better cold. The notes are a little muted. Not sure what to call them. It is relatively good even though I let the leaves sit too long.

Cold brewed this one in the fridge for around 24 hours with 4 tsp leaf and in a 32oz Lupica Handy Cooler.

Preparation
Iced 4 tsp 32 OZ / 946 ML

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78

I have a mixed reaction to this tea. It had its good points and its bad points. It had a note that I would describe as roasted chestnuts. It also had a note that was just plain a little flat with no other way I can think to describe it. For the price of it I’m not too disappointed. I think it was just over $20 for 150g. I will try cold brewing this one tomorrow and see what I get. I do think the flat note was not as strong in latter steeps.

I steeped this eight times in a 120ml gaiwan with 7.1g leaf and 190 degree water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, and 30 sec. Unless this turns out to be really good iced I probably wouldn’t buy this one again.

Flavors: Chestnut

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 7 g 4 OZ / 120 ML

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I don’t know whether I got a bad batch of this, but this tea fell totally flat for me. It had none of the typical Taiwan oolong aroma, or flavor for that matter. The leaves looked fine, but it tasted extremely bland.

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I did not care for this tea all that much. The roast was strong, but without subtlety, it was mostly char flavored. It was short on the dark roast flavors I really like, the whiskey barrel/vanilla overtones. The tea also was acidic and gave me a stomach ache, so it didn’t feel good either. I will put it away for future tasting to see if it improves, though I don’t have high hopes.

Wocket

Sorry to hear it, but appreciate the honest review!

Darren Adams

I actually really liked this one. I brewed Gong Fu style but will give it a go competition style too and compare.

Rich

Oh, that’s good to hear. I’ll give mine a try again in a while.

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88

Beautiful Taiwanese high-mountain oolong in exactly the refreshing, buttery style my boyfriend likes. (Note to self: buy some of this for him.) Following his advice, I’m brewing greener oolongs at around 190˚F instead of my usual 195˚F and it worked superbly for this tea.

I’m getting notes of Butter, Crisp mountain water, Fresh spring vegetation, very slight seaweed and umami undertones but it is overall a sweet and not a savoury tea.

Flavors: Butter, Seaweed

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 0 min, 30 sec 3 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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76

Trying this again two years after my first tasting, I get a strong, spicy aroma of ginger on the first infusion (194˚F). Tastes good but not as potent as it smells.

Second infusion at 197˚F unfortunately seemed to burn the leaves, pushing it over the edge into bitterness and astringency.

Third infusion was when the seaweed, umami, savoury flavours really came out.

Downgrading my rating to 76.

Flavors: Ginger, Seaweed, Spices, Umami

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76

This is a very green oolong from Taiwan Sourcing. I’m reviewing the Spring 2016 harvest. Dry leaves are loose, long twists.

1st infusion has a very familiar aroma like Bi Luo Chun or GABA tea, the savoury seaweed springtime vegetable smell, but with the added complexity of buttery and floral notes like a high-quality Tie Guan Yin (without any of 铁观音’s minerally or metallic tones). There was even a sticky scent of caramelized sugar in there too.

Thick mouthfeel and a wonderfully complex tea, but not my favourite to drink every day. It would probably taste pretty good cold-brewed so I’ll try that sometime.

Recommendation: Brew at 193˚F for 1:00. Tastes better lower than 195 / 200˚F.

Rating: 79

Flavors: Brown Sugar, Butter, Floral, Seaweed, Vegetable Broth

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 0 min, 15 sec

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91

This is a very tasty oolong tea. I am usually a bit skeptical about GABA teas because usually I don’t feel an effect. This time I felt the effect about steep four and it lasted a little while. It was a nice effect, both calming and euphoric but mild. The tea tastes good too. There was a predominant note to this tea. It was a sweet note that is hard to describe. The closest I have gotten to a description of the note is licorice, but I’m not convinced that that is accurate. In any case it was tasty. It had good staying power for an oolong. twelve steeps. It was a little watery in the twelfth steep. It was pretty much finished. I bought this a while ago and am just now getting around to trying it. LAtely I’ve been drinking a lot of raw puerh and this is a nice change.

I steeped this twelve times in a 120ml gaiwan with 7g leaf and 190 degree water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, 1.5 min, and 2 min. This tea had almost no bitterness to it. It was nice and sweet with a hard to describe dominant note. I think you could also say it had a creamy note to it. It was delicious.

Flavors: Creamy, Licorice, Sweet

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 7 g 4 OZ / 120 ML

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Spearmint! This is an interesting black tea in that it naturally is pumping out some seriously minty aroma. I had the Spring 2015 Ruby 18 black tea from Taiwan Sourcing previously, and this is quite a bit different. The Spring batch was more complex with notes of licorice, cinnamon, and much more subtle mint. This Winter batch throws all of that to the wayside and pushes the mint fully forward. It reminds me a bit of drinking a wild arbor Yunnan assamica black tea, but with the fruity character replaced with mint. Pretty interesting but not a repeat buy for me.

Flavors: Malt, Mint, Spearmint

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90

Can’t believe I over leafed it. Sour, astringent, and spinach-y. And it was the last of my sample. Such a shame. Flash steeps rescue some of the Qing Xin peachiness with the expense of bitter-sweetness. Such a lovely tea. Gotta-get-more-OO-OO-LONG! Gotta get more- OO-OO-LONG!

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90

“Tastes like sour, old grass.” Interesting. I thought she would have liked it.

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90

I was surprised how fast I got my Taiwan Sourcing Order. I got this with a lovely note and everything fell into perfect alignment. I’ve been wanting to try some of the higher elevation jade oolongs from Taiwan Sourcing, yet hesitate because of price. Even 25 grams can be a little bit much for a sample for me.

But Taiwan Sourcing, or Scott (I think), granted me this generous gem. I wonder if he’s been watching me on Steepster because this pick is definitely the kind I prefer. So far, Qing Xin’s have been the tea varietal that I can drink without any complaint. They always remind me of tropical fruit or crisper fruits like apples, pineapples, peaches, or pears. Shan Lin Xi’s are what LP hooked me too when I began my tea journey. Now here’s some more from a much higher elevation with a name of mythological proportions: Long Feng Xia, or “The Valley of Phoenix and Dragon.”

The first smell dry leaf is what I’m used to: fruity and green. The first steep is fruity and floral. The first 15 second brew yielded more florals with fruit. There was a bit of a fresh woodsiness that I guess is the bamboo. I’m so used to the dry bamboo taste of Dan Congs that I forgot how floral that sensation could be.

The second steep at about 18 seconds was fruity and floral, as in creamy fruit and light creamy florals with a honey nectar sweetness. Then a huge wave of euphoria came over me. I couldn’t help but smile. It’s like all my knots from lifting weights dissappated, and every breath launched a mist of endorphins. I awkardly stumbled putting my right foot in front of my left. Then I go to look at the description on the website, and every description suggested strong qi and tea drunkenness. I was officially tea drunk.

It’s been a while since I got tea drunk from a green oolong. It’s continuing from steep three at 23 seconds and four at 32. In terms of taste, it’s more fruity, but with the recognizable florals in the back ground. Still creamy, pungent, and nectary.

I’m not quite sure how to describe the fruitiness this has other than nectar. It’s juicy, but also very light. It distinctly reminds me of a stronger version of the BTTC Misty Mountain but in a Gong Fu form.

45 seconds. Green Fruity, light nectar with a hint more tea drunkenness.

One minute, light fruit, green, and grassy.

2 min, floral, green grassy.

3 min, floral and grassy.

I’m more than thankful that I sampled this tea. It was one of the higher end oolongs, or higher end at least for me, and I am gladly savoring it.

Flavors: Creamy, Fruit Tree Flowers, Fruity, Honey, Nectar

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 0 min, 15 sec 2 tsp 6 OZ / 177 ML
Evol Ving Ness

Both the tea and the review sound divine. A lovely experience all round.

ccrtea

Agreed, great write up and sounds like a great tea. I got a “Cui Luan” winter ‘14 with my order recently. Haven’t tried it yet but the dry aroma is wonderful. Gotta agree about the Qing Xin cultivar, its just beautiful.

Daylon R Thomas

I’ve always wanted to try the Cui Luan! That’s ironic. I’m getting some from that area soon, but darn! I’ll have to ask for a sample of it next time I order Taiwan Sourcing.

Daylon R Thomas

Evol Ving Ness, here’s the link on the website. The three reviews on bottom of the description are normally accurate. http://taiwanoolongs.com/products/long-feng-xia-high-mountain-jade-oolong-tea-winter-2014

Like I said, it was a generous sample.

Daylon R Thomas

I can’t wait to see what you get ccr. The descriptions of Cui Luan/Ruan are always interesting. There’s two words that I’ve seen describe them, but I won’t right them until later.

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Insanely fragrant with tons of fruity and floral aromas. The notes of fruit are particularly prominent, reminiscent of cherries, plums, black grapes, or maybe pears. But the fruit tone is intermingled with the floral top notes as well, making this one very complex black tea. The body is substantial and the flavor carries the tiniest bit of smooth malt character, making it clear that this is in fact a black tea, and not some hyperfragrant oolong. The flavor also is slightly acidic (citric? malic?) also making it clear this is a Taiwanese black tea. Damn, this is really impressive.

Flavors: Floral, Fruity, Malt, Pear, Stonefruit

Rasseru

Thats sounds lovely!

Daylon R Thomas

I wanted to try the Green Oolong version of the Winter Rhythm. Too bad it was out of stock when I got some Jasmine.

ccrtea

It is lovely indeed. The more the flavor and aroma resonated. I didn’t realize they had had an oolong version. That would have been interesting to compare!

ccrtea

Whoops. Edit*The more the flavor and aroma resonated* after drinking the tea, the more I enjoyed it.

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90

I find the aroma of this tea intoxicating. Both in the prepped yixing pot (dry), and wet leaf (hot). It is such a unique tea in taste and history and I love steeping it gongfu style.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 30 sec

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89

I simply loved this jasmine tea…Deep and rich beautiful aromas that are not too strong. It is satisfying and soft with a rather happy effect.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 45 sec 5 g

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91

Well made GABA tea always makes me happy. Lots of full flavor here. To me it has a raw cacao quality that I love. It gets fruity and holds up for many rounds. I have also enjoyed long steeps of 1-3 hours over a small flame.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 30 sec 6 g

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