Zhu Shan Jin Xuan

Finishing off the last of this sample this morning – see previous notes for more info.

I have a LOT of oolong I need to finish up in the next few months, perhaps the warmer weather will help, I love cold brewing these green oolongs!

Has anyone else ever had dried bok choi? It’s a chinese ingredient rarely seen outside a traditional Chinese kitchen. Even my mom doesn’t cook it much since she believes that fresh vegetables have more nutritional value.
Well, if you’ve had dried bok choi, you’ll know what the fourth steep of this tea tastes like.

Fifth steep is a little less vegetable with some creaminess making a come back. The flavor is still strong.

I just pulled out a stem with three leaves and a bud attached. It’s about 2 1/2 inches long. How did that get rolled into a tiny little ball? Magic.

Steep six was over-steeped. I walked away to do something else and totally forgot about it for a good 15 mins. Tastes very strong and a tad bitter, but that’s entirely my fault. There’s a strong coconut flavor now. Nice! What will this taste like next?

So a little while ago I was going through old discussion threads about milk oolongs and I saw the Tea from Taiwan Jin Xuan (milk oolong) sample pack discussed. As I have found out most milk oolongs are “flavored” by subjecting the growing plants to various things, but because this is done on the growing end of things almost all places that sell milk oolongs don’t mention it, if they know. Personally I don’t really think of that as “flavoring” in a normal sense since it’s all done while the plant is growing, nor do I have a problem with flavoring tea anyway. I was curious about the difference, though, and this pack has samples that you can actually compare. It has three milk oolongs: two that are all-natural, no flavoring added at any point, and one that is flavored. This is the flavored one.

The dry leaf does smell nicely creamy, slightly fruity, with a hint of greenish florals… in short, not unexpected. The steeped tea builds on those, with more florals and a definite buttery note. If I breathe in really deep I get a distinct vegetal note. At no point does this tea smell like acutal milk or sweetened condensed milk, which some people say is a tip-off that it’s been flavored. This is clearly a very lightly flavored one, so I’m interested to see how the unflavored ones compare. I can tell it’s a milk oolong from the aroma, but you could have fooled me by the taste. I probably steamrolled over the nuances in flavor by brewing it western style, but that’s how I brew all my oolongs. It’s fresh, green, vegetal and a bit buttery. I don’t really get a creaminess from this… actually almost the opposite as it’s a hint astringent. There is certainly none of the light sweetness you find in some oolongs (whether they’re natural or not!). I was honestly expecting a bit more from this one, and certainly expecting something a bit different. Oh well, it’s still pretty tasty.

Smells very milky, taste very creamy and smooth with First steep is very milky with slight buttery notes and has a nice creamy mouthfeel and aftertaste. Second steep is almost the same only with an added slightly sweet vegetal note. The creamy mouthfeel is great this is another tea that just feels good in the mouth :)
Even the Third steep is very good still creamy and milky but slightly roasty and nutty almost , very interesting, lingering flavors.
Fourth steep is pretty much same as the last and by the sixth steep I needed warmer water, steep six was nice more roasty, nutty notes same creamy milkyness, this tea is not going to give up soon I had to stop at six steeps :)
Superb Tea!

The dry leaf smells tangy, creamy, fruity and rich. The flavor is darker and deeper with really only a hint of milk oolong. In fact, I probably wouldn’t have guessed that this was a milk oolong based on the taste. The smell, sure, but not the taste.

The taste is dark and heavy on my tongue and reminds me a bit of Samovar’s Four Season oolong (which I never really had all that much luck with). The way this differs from FS is that this one does have a lighter top note to give it better depth. The top note isn’t floral or even really sweet but somehow manages to make me think of fruit. Actually, I take that back, it makes me think of the tangy fruit notes in Valrhona’s Manjari chocolate ( http://www.valrhona-chocolate.com/Grand-Cru-Manjari-Bar-246oz_p_48.html ).

And I would say more but my cup is gone. * Poof * So yeah. I suppose it’s pretty tasty.

my first ever milk oolong! Really great tea. i found the milky notes so interesting and they meshed very well with the light oxidation of the tea. Awesome find! Now i see what all the fuss was about :)

I didn’t get that much milkyness out of my sample. It seemed like a fairly light green oolong. A nice, light green oolong, but I’ve gotten more milkiness or creamy flavors out of others. I did brew it fairly cool. Maybe if I tried hotter, I’d have gotten more out of it. Hrm.

I was very excited to try this flavored milk oolong. I love milky flavors.

This has a very milky, green, sugary aroma. Like condensed milk over steamed plantain leaves—tropical and humid. Slighty roasty.

The taste is like green and toasty leaves ladeled with diluted cream. There is a definite buttery component—but it doesn’t overpower or seem too unnatural to me. It just seems like a slight enhancement. The creamy, buttery scent is delicious and adds to the experience.

All in all, I really like this tea. From the few oolongs I’ve tried, this seems like a quality oolong too—just a bit butterier. :)

I LOVE jin xuan! The milky creaminess, sweet buttery notes, and crisp finish make it feel like I’m drinking creamy yogurt.

After spending a few months bed-ridden after a really serious ankle injury and not being able to make tea to ease my deep depression, as soon as I was able to start making tea again I took full advantage! Tonight is the first time I’ve been able to sit down and do a gungfu session, and I reached for the sample I got from Tea from Taiwan of jin xuan to celebrate.

The sample was packaged in a single serve vacuum sealed package, enough for two gungfu sessions (I tend to use less leaf when doing oolongs this way because of the shape of my little glass gungfu pot. Too much leaf, while giving a more authentic steeping session, unfurls to block the sieve in the spout, and I can’t actually get any tea out! haha) or for one mug. the leaf is tightly curled and bright green with a lovely sweet cream scent as soon as I tore the packaging. the vacuum sealing was a smart move on the company’s part, and protected the leaf well during transit. There was minimal leaf “dust” at the bottom of the envelope.

I typically do 5 steeps in the following order:

30sec
30sec
1min
1min30sec
45sec

The liquor retained the thick creamy sweetness right through to the 5th steep, and I’m actually going to lay the leaves out to dry so I can use them some more in the morning. I’m really impressed, other milky oolongs I’ve tried have “dulled down” by the 3rd steep, but this one has some staying power. By steep 3 there was a bit of vegetal notes coming through, like sweet peas with fresh churned butter. Simply lovely!

I’m definitely enamored with this tea, and I’m glad I have enough left for a few more steepings. It’s definitely one to restock!

My little Tea From Taiwan sampler arrived today and I was so excited to try this one first. I haven’t tried a flavored milk oolong before and to be honest, the idea of leaves being drenched with milk or flavoring sounds delicious to me. Yes, I still love natural milk oolongs, but this sounded like a real treat!
Once I poured the hot water over the leaves, I immediately smelled a rich buttery scent. It didn’t differ from previous buttery smelling oolongs, but made my mouth water. Interestingly, the first steep isn’t as strong as I thought it would be. It does have a buttery taste with a bit of the oolong in the background. What I love about this tea, though, is that it is so smooth. With each sip I’m expecting a drying, astringent effect, but I’m not finding it in this first steep. It’s not really thick in the mouth, more smooth and a light kind of silky without being creamy. I’ve read that many flavored milk oolongs do not last past the first or second steep. I can’t say I’m looking forward to the next steep because I’m enjoying the buttery, sweet tea I’m getting in this cup. That being said, I will steep this again and report back with how it goes.
EDITED: 2nd Steep and it isn’t anything like the first cup at all. There really isn’t any buttery flavor left.. just a bit lingering in the scent. It’s also a bit more astringent. I wouldn’t say that it’s terrible.. just significantly different than the first glorious cup. I still might buy this because the first cup was just lovely.