TGFOP Tea Reviews (c) Silverneedles est.2005

Puerhshop.com (review)(product link) . $4.99/50g/1.7oz = ~46$/lb.

this is a “preliminary review” ‘cos i liked this tea & i dont have much time to take pictures & edit now, so i’ll update as soon as i get a chance.

Its nice and hot today, 93F inside,
…and here i am drinking hot tea… addiction sure does it to yah

Leaf: dark. smells like a dark oolong.

Method: rushed infusion: 200F + 2min?

Taste: first i smelled a nice “nutty-buttery” oolong then tasted it as well, (..cashew?… maybe) + some roasted sensations on the palate/tongue. Almost no astringency detectable in this infusion, tho its somewhat watery with low aftertaste (not enough leaf or short infusion). There is no tobacco leaf/heavy roasted-charcoal (shui-xian)/no green feel/other flavors yet so… i seem to like it !!! The first dark oolong i like… aside from that Qilan i keep obsessing in my mind…I’ll play with it at 180F and so, maybe there’s something else to extract from it?

Overall: preliminarily like it alot ! We’ll see how it goes down in  couple days

found at Sunrise Mart (NY) forgot price, approx $1.7
formatted compactflash then recovery software ofcourse didnt find the exact directory i needed, so i go grab picture from the interwebs.

I like the bottle. Import JP so only a little english label that says Golden Oolong or some such. ItoEn JP product page (goog translation.)

Oolong superb, Katsura golden (do you ruled O)

i RULED O !!!!!!!

…onto flavors and somesuch: Tasty like a sorta roasted(dark) oolong TGY? , but that oolong flavor is kinda low 1/3 of total, rest is sortof astringent/tannin …some goes in the aftertaste on tongue mouth & posterior pharynx.

Overall: not bad, i’d buy but would prefer the Suntori which is better and has more oolong flavor. Goes it on the list, yes.

Adagio Teas 2$/ea or 24$/case of 15 + s&h
anteadote Black, Oolong, Green, White… i dont know what anteadote means, obviously a play on the Tea word, but to me it just sounds related to a medical drug or something. antidote is a substance used to neutralize a toxic substance.

Package:

Product of China.
not going to spank the monkey on the whole organic thing again, am tired of typing about it. whatever.

label is crooked rotated on an edge and stretched…

Liquor: golden-yellow meaning i hope tea is oxidated & most likely not much preservatives.

Smell: faint flowery!

Taste: Hot DAMN! flowery oolong tastes !!! good job Adagio havent tasted any bottled tea like it yet. Flowery oolong ! nice ! (its no way like drinking fresh brewed oolong, i’m comparing to other bottled teas.) Not much astringency/doesnt bother/overwhelm.

Faint aftertaste, but doesn’t feel completely watery, some remnants on tongue and back of throat but again, faint.

Overall: taste is medium but good flavor, i like it. if found in market i’d buy it.

Zhong Guo Cha O-2-8-3 Fairies Tears (TM) (Shui Xian Cha) (Wu Yi Shan Cha) * sample
50g /$7 = 3.97/oz = 63.5/lb

leaf looks like a wuyi, maybe smaller than the shui xian from WHF, but lighter/varied-green+brown in color.

steeped smells of some roasted wuyi, taste: roasted like the xiao hong pao, but not completely charcoaled like this other Shui Xian(from WHF) i had, today maybe my mouth was not clean but there might have been some sour? there was also a tendency toward some sort of smooth-silkyness -small and not the predominant sensation… it still reminded me of qi lan yes i am obsessed… i luv qilan….*there i said it*

again, as i like to repeat myself like a broken record or a drunken monkey: roasted oolong tasting toasted not on my tongue to be tasted. like that? sounds like one of those tongue twisters ….its the 3:25am side of the brain.

*intl tongue twisters*
bian³ dan⁴ chang², ban³ deng⁴ kuan¹, bian³ dan⁴ bi³ ban³ deng⁴ chang²,
ban³ deng⁴ bi³ bian³ dan⁴ kuan¹, bian³ dan⁴ bang³ zai⁴ le(light tone)
ban³ deng⁴ shang⁴, ban³ deng⁴ bu² rang⁴ bian³ dan⁴ bang³ zai⁴ ban³
deng⁴ shang⁴, bian³ dan⁴ fei¹ yao⁴ bang³ zai⁴ ban³ deng⁴ shang⁴.

i dare you to say that fast 3 times…. i double dare you…

Zhong Guo Cha O-2-3-2 Xiao Hong Pao Cha (Wu Yi Shan Cha) * sample
50g /$10 = 5.68/oz = 68.2/lb

leaf looks like a wuyi, maybe smaller than shui xian, but lighter in color

as soon as i put it in water a familiar smell came about: it was the roasted vapors as i remember from ShuiXian Wuyi.WHF

taste was a little better- the roastedness seemed to have some more complexity, didnot taste like charcoal, so its not as badly roasted as the shuixian. but i feel no sweetness or softness/silkyness as the qi lan

dont have much to use here, so i hope i infused it good…

concluzjn: roasted tasteing teas are not my flavor yet, … except the qilan man i got to get me some of that…

had this at whole foods market, as always didnt take pic of tea leaf, so heres some area pics instead of Columbus Circle’s Time Warner Center,

cup 12oz $1.6

it was called “organic” …pass on that, and “wuyi oolong” …nice and…generic name,
for which reason i almost didnt buy- due to my previous experience with a wuyi (shui xian) oolong,
but it turned out alot different…

Flavor:
a deep smooth/silky/satin feeling, with a flavor i cant describe, pretty long lasting silky aftertaste
the astringency (not much) had notes of chocolate,
there was some minor roasted flavor,
didnt taste any green feels.

the leaf was about 1 cm cuts, mostly dark green mixed with brown

very good i liked it alot.

got home and internet-vestigated
i think its from rishi tea because ipot (the other sold in WF) doesnt have wuyi oolongs

Rishi says this “organic wuyi oolong” is the Qi Lan WuYi Oolong
www.rishi-tea.com/store/product.php?productid=5028&cat=23&page=1

Babelcarp says: qilan = Wuyi oolong, literally Rare Orchid (奇兰 or 奇蘭)

online rishi doesnt sell too expensive 4$/oz, 22/.5LB
…cant find anyone else selling this except rishi … !!!

had this at the Whole Foods Market in Union Square, Manhattan. friend mended his cold with an over the counter cough syrup/glue/white “tea”…

no pics of the tea. heres a dry substitute:

$1.40 12oz hot drink. 1 minute prepared. take that $2.5+extra/12oz/5minutes at …t…tagalong…taveron…teavaonon… anywhay

i wasnt expecting anything good. but it is not bad

felt on a green side of roasted oolong, not really flowery, not really nutty… not much astringency, had a good aftertaste (again, on the side of green), not very long aftertaste, but ~1-2minute.
i was real thirsty so i just drowned myself with this, but i will buy it again to better sample the flavor.

Yunnan Sourcing LLC
$21/250g (8. = 2.36/oz = 37. /lb +s&h
this is a high mountain (gao shan) oolong
“nutty taste that comes through heavier roasting” — i dont know how roasted this is but doesnt taste roasted.

^ not the best pics, sorry.
opened package a nice flowery smell came out.

nuggets look good and fresh.
~~~

left liquor overnight, in the morning: liquor cold but somehow the taste seems to be intensified ! very flowery-perfumy!
i have another cup which was infusing overnight, lets see how that turns out!
~~~

in a plastic 10oz cup: filled the bottom with layer of nuggets (2inch diameter) thats probably about 2-3 of the ‘tbsp dispenser’ i have, water: ~1 oz of room temp + 8 oz 200F x ~3min, came out very nice, no astrincency.

flavor: buttery+flowery-pungent. i’ve had this type of flavor before from wing hop fung teas (here: High Mountain oolong .WHF), but this tea seems stronger, id say more like perfume. at one point i pulled an infusion the strength of flavor which i’d say is the highest pungency i’ve had so far. (it was not perfect, had some astringency present, but the main flavor was very strong).

it went like that for 3x = 27oz = 798ml,
#4 infusion is more faded taste, more greenish-metallic-apricot sensation, almost no astringency again. infusions are done for longer time each time, but i didnt keep track exactly.
id say aftertaste is long, not very much so.

many steeps later, i say: alot better quality than what ive had before.

wet leaf looks good, whole leaves, very minor signs of oxidation.

~~~

Yunnan Sourcing LLC
$17/250g = 30$/lb
This is the spring picking.
“Huang Jin Gui (Golden Turtle) is another varietal of Anxi Oolong tea. Lacking the slight sour-bitterness of Tie Guan Yin, it is characterized by a smooth sweet flavor with a rich slightly nutty after-taste. This is the earliest tea to be produced in the spring-time.”

Opened the package a uniform intensly green little oolong nugget bunch stared at me. So i stared back. And stared. Yes for some reason i stared.
The oolong nuggets are small ~.5cm, uniform size, look like tightly packed during processing; not much smell.

update:  tastes better when less than warm, can taste more types of flavors.

~~try 2~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1tbsp blk scoop …~ 50C (warm water) , 3-4min: try 1 sensation.

re-infusion of above with … ~ 75C? 5min : midline tongue green sensation and mild astringent on rest of mouth, the egg-foody sensation almost disappeared, somewhat mild flowery (when start breathing thru nose).
interresting. probaly too hot/long infusion due to astringency but i liked it.

continued reinfusion#3 ~50C, 3-4min: nice, maybe flowery, maybe less astringent, but what stood out is an awesome sweet aftertaste (when you swallow) (not like sugar in your mouth, less penetrating-weird feeling than a ginseng-oolong -which i dislike anyway).

#4 ~40C or less? 3 min –> wow, nicely flowery! at good strength, like another door opened and flowery flavor came out!

this is turning out into a very pleasing experience, a great tea.

did >6 (4oz ea) infusions, forget exact number but the tea lasted long time and color did too.

~~try 1~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1′tbsp’ blk scoop - 190F - 2-3min

Smell: i want to say ‘foody’…eggs.

Taste: medium intensity but its evasive. liquor dense. green flavor. maybe egg-like still feel like. nutty-towards buttery - i want to say sour but not the intense one - makes mouth pucker? is that the word?… that sour-like feel of real butter. that same feel remains as aftertaste., maybe some sweetness after last liquid goes down. mouth puckering…

interesting. not very nutty or flowery as i’d expect from an oolong, but i’ll play with it see what happens.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yunnan Sourcing LLC
their details:
“Tie Guan Yin * Taiwanese Grown Oolong Tea * Iron Goddess of Mercy * Fujian varietal * Spring 2007
hand picked…hand roasted just enough to dry…
low oxidization level (just 25%) preserves the flowery and fruity notes…”

a tgy, Didnt know what i was tasting since the package was not labeled in english , but i opened it and a familial smell struck me,
oy, i should know by now what i like, but this was another roasted oolong.

Really tiny oolong nuggets (some smaller than 4mm)! dark/shade of green…

liquor is obviously dark from too much stuff, but for easier infusions imagine a lighter shade of orange.

1 tbsp black scoop + 4oz 180F + 3min =

smell is flowery,
taste: roasted/little toasty & tobaccoish, astringency yes probably from the green side of things. didnt detect any floweryness,
pretty long aftertaste.

will have to retry- since i messed up the first time. — still the same impression.

wet leaf : very super nice …very :
most are entire leaf plus some little stem, but the leaf is greenish, silky soft, very tender & tears very easily when handled, i have no idea how they twisted the leaf in those little nuggets.

dark(roasted) oolongs are not my thing, i dont know why i keep buying them

Zhong Guo Cha
O-8-3-3 Phoenix Oolong (Dan Cong Yu Lan Xiang Cha) (Chao Zhou Oolong)
$6.25/50g = $3.55/oz = 56.8/lb
Winter plucked Oolong
“offers Guang Dong Oolong taste and pleasure” <– i have no idea what that means.

real nice looking leaf. (in the dancong family like the really good Mi Lan Xiang @ZGC)

Method: very good with: about 1/2 roomtemp water + 1/2 194F = 144F in cup = almost perfect balance,
not sure exact quantity i put in pot… but self-note on the temp config.must be careful with temps, as 190 seems to burn the leaf a bit too much, or pulls out more astringency.

Taste: flowery citrusy? + melon?fruity complex flavor in a nice mini-astringency package, very wonderful,
pretty similar to phoenix oolong. touch of sweetness feeling in taste.

Overall: ah so fabulous! definite re-stock as with the DC mi lan xiang.

Zhong Guo Cha O-7-11-2 A Ji Ren Shen Wu Long Cha (Tai Wan Cha)
6.25/50g = 3.55/oz = 56.8/lb

This is their ginseng(ren shen) added to a green oolong, its cheaper one of 2.

leaf looks like droppings, after brewin, there seems to be clumps of powder that basically molded around the tea leaf to make the little poo like nuggets. if that is ginseng powder, man that sure is alot of ginseng

1.5scoop thingy -> 4oz ~180F x 3min =
smell: minor,
flavor: i’d say dense warm liquid, …minor green oolong feel & some minor nutty?cashew?, but then, upon swallow a sweet sensation in the back of the throat, then as you open the mouth air coming in you sense a sweet sensation on the tongue, palate. pretty long lasting this sweet aftertaste.

and vividly reminds me of the experience with TenRen’s ginseng oolong “King’s Tea”. TenRen’s while it had more green oolong flavor, the ginseng flavor was not as pronounced as this tea here.
Others call ginseng wulong “Lan Gui Ren”

conclusion: strong sweet aftertaste, missing enough oolong flavor on my mouth’s tastebuds to stimulate money spending behavior.

Zhong Guo Cha O-9-3-1 Se Zhong Cha (Fu Jian China Tea)
$4.50/50g = $2.55/oz = 40.8/lb yes im a cheap bastard, lets see if its any good

now. i didnt know what i was brewing, how much it cost,
after i did it, i am just like so amazed, its like omg! i totally dig this tea!
anyway… on to the serious stuff.

opened the bag, leaf nuggets look good. ok

liquor pic: you can see the debris, last pic is on a letter size paper.

1scoop battles warm waters for long time:
#1 4oz ~180?F x 3 min : smell: floral/orchid. flavor: nice and strong orchid/floral soooo like this very much
#2 4oz ~190F x 3 min: mmmmm… same
#3 4oz ~200F x 3 min: mm… losing orchidness… could say ~ 1/2
#4 4oz room temp water x ~15min : still going,
#5 4oz room temp water x ~20min or more: still orchidy! oh so nice, still have flavor on the tongue after many minutes…

only bugger is little dust/bits/particles that settle in the cup. to avoid them just wait till theyre all down, and slowly tilt the gaiwan into the drinking hole.

please observe the *NO ASTRINGENCY* sign. yes.

hazy tea memory from 1 year ago…. had this flavor before, liked it… wonder if it was a winghopfung or a tenren…

think this had pretty good Qi also (feel kinda warm inside, a little agitated) (but maybe the liquid was still warm enough to spark the heat releasing mechanism in the skin), will need to retry on a another day, to make sure.

im sleepy.

i think i like this one.

Yes i bought it because of the box, silly me. and because i was hoping there is some good loose leaf inside.

it is loose leaf . its an oolong… looks like a …dark …oolong.

wet leaf looks un-appetizing. its rough, has a gray-ish hue. me no like. lots of little pieces.
liquor: brown-red.

flavor: eh. confusing concoction, reminds me of something i had before but cant remember which it was.
flavor: eh. WELL roasted, some bitterness, charcoal i think its charcoal taste. something like that anyway.

i dont like this tea. whatever. tea, …meet …trash. Hi !

ps. imageshack is starting to imagesuck being so imageslow in the last year.

$3.9 /bag = cheap & nasty. found it at Hong Kong supermarket, Flushing ny.

180F 6oz 3 min: hello? watery, tiny roasted flavor, astringency mild-med.

200F 4oz 3 min: awww shit : astringency teabag taste, nasty.

wtf was that???

something i wont buy again obviously. NO.
if see this type of bag i’ll stay far far away!

7$ /50 bags

got this with its little shitty brother Tung ting on a trip to Hong Kong supermarket (has pictures of box) in Flushing chinatown. participated in the Oolong tea bag taste-off.

its about the same experience as the tung ting bags, with a different flavor (greenish oolong-like flavor), but ofcourse, being tea bags it ruins the whole thing with a shitty nasty ass teabag astringency.

disappointed.NO. wont buy this again.

OOT teabag ‘extravaganza’

PARAMETRICS: 4min -> 7oz ^ 200F

TenRen topright: smell toasty taste: watery, already minor astringency

YMY topleft: watery, mild-med astringency, greenish

TR btmright: no smell, taste:watery oolong-ish, astringent cant tell anymore.

YMY btmleft: smell minor black?#?# …taste: watery black-ish!??? wtf… some spice thing going on?!?! wtf

…ish… weird stuff…

no caffeine effect on brain, still cloudy (not enough sleep)
feel the warmth of the hot liquid, now its making me sweat.

wtf … watery and astringency, the tea bag curse.
hmmm… ill try 1bag 4min 4oz 200F but… “I’m afraid of Astringency” (the David Bowie song)

after cooled down to room temp, the teas taste pretty bland with a cruddy background bagged green tea taste.
but standing out are the TenRen tung ting and the TR tgy (top R, botm L)

disappointed by the yamamotoyamas, was rooting for them, oh well.

7$ /50 bags

got this with its little shitty brother Ti Kuan Yin on a trip to Hong Kong supermarket (has pictures of box) in Flushing chinatown. participated in the Oolong tea bag taste-off.

tea bags box
very mild sniff of nuttyness?…
tastes like… tea…? oolong..???. tung ting?…who knows… roasted flavor, some nutty… , and then asstringency covers up and messes up everything, but not very strong…reminds that this is a tea bag…

if steeped for little time or in more water taste is watery-faded and less astringent.

if steeped for more time or less water taste is more defined as an oolong but the damned astringency spoils this product as in all tea bags.

disappointed, .No. i would not get this again.

Dobra Tea ~$2.5 /oz

208F yielded a better infusion, somehow less green astringency. (smoking crack again)

190F, 3 min: roasted, + mild specific phoenix oolong flavor of flowery-orangey(for lack of better comparison), followed by a green-like leaf astringency…. hmmm not roasted enough it seems.

01 min wash discarded.
15 sec nut -> roasted -> flowery orangey…
30 sec same + greenish astringency
30 sec same less flavor, more greenish astringency

note: pictures not at exact same exposure, color & brightness is not accurate.

If infused less leaf same water, flavor and astringency is lower…

Id give it a 4.7/7 due to not enough flavor power(-1), astringency(-1), doesnt hold well to >2 infusions(-.3)

dry leaf looks dark enough, no smell,
after infusion the wet leaf reveals its medium-oxidized self, with many green leaves.
leaf is folded along the y axis, not hard to unwrap, not as tight as the dan cong from zhong guo cha.

Kam Man Market /NY-Chinatown

$2.5 for 1/2 lb oolong… how can you beat that?????

will it prove its value in the boiled water ?

… please wait as we attempt to infuse this tea …

3tbsp dispenser x 190f ~2oz
x 30sec: ? why did i even try?
x 1min: ? green/plant astringency like those f*kin supermarket tea bags.

i spent enough time on this webpage, pictures.

Teascale: GARBAGE. definite .NO.!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1.5 “tablespoon” dispenser x 190F x 4?min

infusion #1:
weak.
flavor: 2/7 = green/vegetal + buttery/super-low nutty. (thats the new adjective here… super-)

infusion #2:
weak,
more green/vegetal, green astringency/tanninic showing up, low aftertaste (more due to tannins).

…

id like to say value for the money… or… cheap ass tea for the days without money. i like the latter. keep this to give to evil guests or else theres always lipton :).

will try more tea amount, maybe will get better.

Here we have your oolong tea brewed hot with your best parameters, then poured into bottle and stored in the fridge.

#1 was the high mountain king of oolong. <SO-SO>

next day, tea is cold indeed, seems that mild astringency is #1 sensation, floweryness seems lost (maybe coldness impairs the feel). as its getting towards room temp, floweryness seems to make a comeback but not as crisp and nice,
not much other flavors, taste is rather dull.

#2: cold high top oolong. < GOOD COLD>

good flavor, mild astringency replaced by the ‘roasted’ type of flavor, and extra flavors i cant describe.
reminds of one of the bottled oolongs i tried… might be the oi ocha from ito en… but mine is better for less astringency and more flavor.
this one tastes good cold.

pictures not at the same scale
nothing special here so far

i really dont remember what this tasted like… probably some greenish + flowery
didnt feel too special/but i been drinking alot of these green oolongs lately and there isnt much variety in the green, maybe its just what i got.

dry leaf mild smell

208F x 2min = nice pungent flowery/orchidy, minor astringent but not unpleasant, works for me
can do ~ 2x –> 0.5L (from the 3rd infusion taste looses floweryness, becomes somewhat vegetal greenish).

not enough infusion time/too much water, it feels watery, but has a honey aroma…

—
good param: 1.5x black dispenser ‘tablespoon’ sized. in 8oz 190F, 4min. 1xblack dispenser ‘tablespoon’ sized. –> wash ~170 1min, –> in 8oz 190F, 3min:
smell pleasant pungent flowery, flavor low!?! watery…

—
3x little dispensers 3/4 glass full 190F

its deep “pungent” flowery kinda flavor immediately taste reminded me of another oolong, seems that is Monkey Picked Oolong. darn cant remember taste particularities of the monkey picked but theyre very similar.

its good 4.5/7

2nd infusion still strong. same 3/4 full.

green oolong? doesnt look too oxidized to me.

pictures not at the same scale

Final: rebuy: …No. looking for something more exciting.

208F:
—————————
better smell compared to lower temperature infusions.

but taste is not that much different than at 190F.
mild taste, greenish astringency/feel + roasted/tobacco. // a sensation up the nose of ‘dryness’ ?!?!?! mildly annoying.

190F:
—————————
flavor mild, ok , aftertaste, minor astringency, roasted, bit tobaccoish,

either mixed with dark wulong or itself is oxidized. (the dry leaf seems un-evenly colored thats why i say maybe mixed.)

redo: use big scoop for this one.

didnt know what kinda tea i got: dark oolong or black tea, it wasnt labeled as either, just with the wuyi shui, after browsing online this looks like its a WuYi oolong.
T1156 $6.99/lb…took it cos of the nice looking long leaf… dang thing takes up alot of space.

uhm not much taste - like a really dark (baked/roasted) oolong 3/7 simple flavor… something roasted, somewhat tobacco-ish…some ‘chocolate’ but not much. not much aftertaste. Seems this is the experience with ‘double-roasted’ processing, there are posibilities to the shui xian to be less roasted and give another type of flavor (DominicT).

lasts a while, stays good over-steeped,

2nd day - 3rd infusion -same leaf from yesterday: smells better, it whiffed a little of flowers but minute, feels more watery now pretty much no aftertaste now. …i couldve left it longer.
left it longer, 20 min, 30min, same watery taste, faded, no astringency, no bitterness.

again: NO.
update: a better tasting, not burned shui xian i tried here: Fairies Tears (Shui Xian Cha) .Zhong Guo Cha

the ‘rare’ tea collection $3/pot (incl tax)

by the name it sounded ofcourse like a friggin less oxidized oolong, hoping for green here but what i got is again a black oolong, well oxidized,

flavor 4/7, 1st pot was strong (they use just boiling water for all teas ofcourse), quite present astringency not high but medium-low, tobacco leaf flavor was less than their TGY, also a bit chocolaty and malty, similar to an assamy + yunnan taste.

2nd pot - rebrewed the leaf (still with just boiling water, but this time less brewed- like 3min)
more pleasant taste, very low astringency, pleasant taste.

brown liquor, wet leaf is mostly full some torn, varied colors, green, brown, brown-purpleish, green with oxidated edges. most of the wet leaf has a rough feel (picked at an older age?).

pretty good, liked it better than their other oolong - the TGY

would do this one again yes.

take care to do a fast 1st brew for this tea. (1-2min, check taste, it goes astringent fast.)

Casbah Cafe, yeah the one on sunset in silverlake,

she got me the wrong oolong, so i dont know the long chinese name, but it was the $3 one

they used just boiling water on the oolong so its probably not the best situation to taste this tea…

flavor: 3.3/7, first 3min infusion had a indiscernible mouthfeel probably due to overbrewing from the hot water, with a strong sweet aftertaste in the pharynx,
subsequent brewings had a greenish feel, reminiscent of baozhong

sample from Jing Tea Shop

mmmmm leaf smells good
leaf: oh yeah me like large green leaves.

liquor slowly takes a clear green color. *** liquor remains green after multiple infusions even at higher temp water (unlike any other tea ive had which turn yellow). ***-> this may be due to having the leaf in the glass - reflections of green confusing the eye. i moved the liquor w/o leaf to another glass, it seemed to be yellowish.

Wet leaves slow to unfurl reveal their nice evenly oxidized orange borders.

flavor: 5.5/7 - complex taste - flowery yummy with green, i think there’s a melon flavor but unsure. Overall taste is very similar to the Phoenix oolong, but this one as even the leaf shows - its more green. mild astringency is present after longer steep but nice and greenish. flavor is slow to extract from the leaves.
very good, very pleasant.

take it home? maybe. - would choose a phoenix oolong 1st.

product discussion: may want to skip to taste or…
YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT?!?!

Lets give them a hand. you ever seen anything so cute???!!! gosh, and trying to put it in american stores, they got some ballz. I suppose they have an established base so theyre just trying to see how this fares.

was expecting a mouthfull o’ sugar but its not that bad {(16g/18oz vs snapple 26g/16oz) [its always nice how the US does not adopt the metric system, but marketers use it: what the hell theyre mixing grams with oz for ? obviously because Joe does not know how much 16g is...either use one or the other damnit (not just fuze, but everybody does it)]}.

bunch of bullshit on the label irrelevant to taste but relevant to ‘health nuts’.

taste:

flavor: 4/7 –> something almost sweet, astringency, fruit, apricot?peach?, astringency…tea? kinda, works for me.

not bad, yes., id pick this over snapple’s sugar or bullshit tea’s (oops i mean honest teas)

~ $1.80 RTD tea .product of japan. manufactured for Santory LTD.
Found at Mitsuwa market (LA), Sunrise Mart (NY)

…got another oolong. but it turns out its not just another oolong. this time its a bit better…

Taste: same RTD taste (the tannins which quickly give it a astringent? feeling in the mouth) that’s found in itoen products, but the astringency is lower, so this tea is much more pleasant to drink. The oolong flavor is much better and prominent than that found in ItoEn’s product. (IMHO that is).

like the package too, seems more ‘conservative’ than others..

Overall: Good, YES & i’d pick this over the Itoen products. Listed.

68$/lb don’t know if theyr* scale is off but it looks like a big bag to me…

opened their bag at home, strong flowery smell of the leaves percolated thru to the dendrites of CN1… me like the smell.

used more leaf, left for longer infusions did not create a bad taste, infact it was pretty good than my other tries… this tea grew on me

1st steep flavor 5/7: flowery & pungent, some nutty-buttery, minor green astringency.

after the 3-4th infusion flavor drops to low, astringency gets mild-high.

~~ a la improvised kungfu ~~

10sec ‘wash’ …hmmm: wash smells nice, tastes like nothing.
2min: flavor @ 2/7 = mild composed of: watery floweriness.
4min: flavor @ 4/7 = mild , ‘delicate’ little flowers no green no astringency.

at least there seems to be no caffeine or stimulating chemicals in this one.

~~ a la 1tbsp x 1 cup watar ~~
knowing the waterywash i got last time, this brew got a long infusion >6min.
flavor ~4.5/7 … eh, but much better, 1/3 feel nutty, 1/3 astringent greenish, 1/3 flowery.

*purposely m-isspelled.

this is a green oolong (i havent liked any black oolongs sofar)

weirdly their website says King’s Tea “a TenRen exclusive, is made of high quality oolong tea blended with a touch of ginseng”.
they didnt specify that when i got it… argh… i said “what’s King’s Tea” they said “an oolong”…

TEST TASTE:

1st steep: 3min: flavors: i’d say it fills my mouth … is that a ‘full body’? … pleasant ,delicate
flavor: smooth fatty/nutty/BUTTERY (less nuttier than the oolong $12 .tenren) with a noticeable sharp green pungency.

2nd steep: 5min: flavors: a touch of green peeks about with minute tannin.

3rd steep: 15min: still nutty & buttery, more tanninic but not hugely so- like 2/7. except it leaves a dry throat sensation afterwards.

used more leaf & longer steep (4-5min): more intense flavor, and astringency (greenish). but then about the 3rd infusion a surprise: sweet aftertaste - after swallow, wait 1 minute, then breathe thru your mouth you feel this sweet sensation on the tongue and roof of the mouth (palate). nice. (maybe this is from the ginseng? i dont know how ginseng tastes.)

after 4-5 infusions the nutty-buttery taste fades, and so remains a mild greenish taste, almost none of the sweet aftertaste.

wet leaf: theres quite long stems attached to the leaf… i dont like to pay for twigs… otherwise i’d got twig tea.

repurchase chance: maybe.

where? Mitsuwa market/Torrance
price? $1.90+tax

flavor: 3.5/7 same old friggin fried tea taste, some chocolaty sensations (i think like the pokka can of oolong). more astringency than the can of pokka green tea can i had today.

overall not as strong in flavor/astringency as the ito en oi ocha.

2.25$ incl tax for a cup.

suposedly a TGY

describble: “A “greener” oolong tea with an exotic flavor; floral, herbal and nutty, with an undercurrent of fruit.”

flavor: 3/7: to me its a “blacker” oolong. dark taste, minor tobacco-ish flavor + a hint of orange. its like the oolongs tasted from Chado tea.

again? no.

would rather drink their other oolong - golden dragon oolong (black)

heh, this one was the most disappointing of the day. / or it was a fake ! :\

flavor … 0.5/7 astringency 0 … geez… more like $1.20 for a can of water.

Found it at Sushi Boy, next to the Ito En green tea cans.
Made by Pokka . can says its made in Singapore under a Japanese license.

Flavor: 3/7. kinda like the bottle of the Ito En Oi Ocha. somewhat distant green taste, fried tea taste, this time a bit of chocolate sensation.

Like the Ito En green tea better.
keep? no.

update: after weeks of use: flavor is more complex than $12.

~~~~~~

TGY

pungent dense sweet smell

flavor: 3min @ 194F, mild, so i left it a couple more minutes. . . flavor 4/7 mild, flowery, green, low tannin, mild aftertaste.

compared to the $12, the leaf is large, tho there are fragmented leaves. but unlike the $12, the $48 leaf is very soft (picked young?)

*** i think it contains significant caffeine, i get jittery, disrupted from going to sleep! (at least the batch of tea i got this from).

.maybe

TGY

dry leaf has strong smell. dont they all…
this is like the $12 ???, but the flavor is more mild.?…me confused… score 4/7 on the tea-o-meter. uh, i dont know why im drinking this…

tea-keep-o-meter: NO.

TGY

dry leaf has strong smell.

it infused for 5 minutes @ 194F…this one is a bit of a mystery…

its kinda like the $12 but: mild green + very mildly nutty + mild floral. doesnt taste distinctive… flavor 4/7.

does very well reinfusions. leaves are very expanded after , like 1/2 cup after: 2 hot infusions, 2 room temp. subsequent cold water infusions extract a greenish, floral taste. still strong., tannins still low - i like that.

tea-keep-o-meter: maybe.

update: after weeks of use: the character of this one is simple compared to $48.

~~~~~~

TGY

leaf: green, smell: bit nutty + greenish, but smell had stamina, was not faded = good (imho)

(1tsp+194F) x 3min

liquor: yellow-ish,

smell: very nice, strong captivating ‘fatty’ nutty + somewhat sweet!

taste:
BAM! (a-la Emerill… but no dash of pepper here)
good flavor: 5/7 = mix of green + nutty (cashew?) , distinctive. mild aftertaste. low astringency 1/7.
does very well in rebrewing: did another 194F hot water, and about 2 more room temp water. taste: seems to get greener,
astringency still remains low.
price to value ratio is high, so says me.

tea-keep-o-meter: YES. oh yes give me more!

as with the other 2: darjeeling 2nd flush oolong, fujian oolong

there isnt much green flavor …kinda black, and liquor is dark orange/brown

taste as with the other: black-ish, and a hint of tobacco.

i hope i dont pick another tasting like these, imma go out of my mind. keep? NO.

peach oo-la-long ? ….is this for teenage girls??? oo-la la la?!
‘real tea, real taste, honest’ …not after you taste it.
‘organic oolong tea with peach’ …of course, slap *organic* on everything to sell more of it.
they just couldn’t abstain from pooping in with a little sugar. (1g sugar/30ml, vs coke 1g/8ml)

taste: first you taste something sweet, then a tad flavor of dilute peach, then some tea astringency, then a tiny bit of unidentifiable tea flavor. maybe its some of that shitty cheap ass oolong i had a couple times…
disappointing, and not honest at all.

NO. and boooooo !

Zhong Guo Cha O-8-1-1 Phoenix Oolong (Dan Cong Mi Lan Xiang)
$11.95/50g that comes to $6.79/oz ($108/lb)

2007:

oh yeah, this is sooo good, just as i remember it from 1 year ago. (also got this other very tasty Phoenix Oolong (Dan Cong) Yu Lan Xiang Cha .Zhong Guo Cha.

Comparing the present dancong to the dancong from Dobratea (3 times cheaper, but the taste is 3 times poorer):
mindless me - after the 1st infusion, forgot the zhonguocha dancong … 20 minutes in the yixing …! aye i thought i’d get astringent crap, but i’m pleased to say i still drank it with pleasure, it is strongly astringent but the astringency has the nice dancong flavor, and … its just good… the dobratea was overinfused 10 minutes and it came out with a bland cruddy astringency cheap tea bag like. — conclusion: sometimes price does matter (when you get a quality product in return that is)/ then again… at high prices i can’t stock on too much… eh…

2006:

i was starting to write this, and i smelled the infusion, oh boy…. YUM … i’m getting impatient waiting for it to cool.

Taste: the taste has the same complexity as the jade oolong .chado tea, but the flavor is different. it is kind of like when you scratch an orange peel and that mist of orange strikes your face, tho this tea is not exactly orange in flavor, it is fruity and flowery, very particular and exciting flavor 6/7. i think there’s a melon flavor but unsure. very low astringency. does pretty good in re-infusion with cold water. Others agree this tea is superb (DominicT).

As you see in the first pic leaf seems large and intact. after multiple infusions the leaf was still very tightly wrapped on the Y axis, it took me a couple minutes to delicately try to unwrap the darn thing (i also left it in water overnight and they were still wrapped). you see in the 2nd pic 2 tea leaves is what is in one of those ’sticks’.

Overall: tea-keep-o-meter: YES YES YES!!!

$6.75 /50g (website pricing is weird) = $6.75 /1.76oz = $3.84/oz (61.36/lb) fair price.

^ well, it looks like the Finest Jade oolong from Chado.

smell: yup similar, but mild-er.

3min @ 194F –> liquor is clear yellow-ish. taste: flavor is about 1/2 as intense as Chado’s jade formosa. plus: there is a strange taste …like some kind of dust (there is no dust in the leaves, its the flavor im talking about). (yes i have tasted dust, and all kinds of dirt).
it leaves a somewhat dry tasteless astringency… so lets say flavor ~ 3.5/7, but i’m not thrilled about it.

as you can see the second pic, the wet leaves are pretty shred up, it was very hard to find an intact leaf. (i dont know what that means, or if it changes quality or whatever, its just an observation). there were quite a bit of stems in there.

did 1 rebrewing of wet leaves with room temp water, the flowery taste still there but faded, the dry astringency is stronger.

keep? NO.

a fujian oolong?

“A much more subtle tea than the first flush oolong. Very aromatic, delicate and refreshing.”

looks black, smells black, brews black (dark) (it seems very well oxidated-fermented)
flavor: 4/7 … smells & tastes a bit like tobacco leaves, no green tea taste anywheres. maybe a little bit of orange in there. interesting.

tried some re-infusions but nothing i like.

keepr? no.

some hints of tobacco

uninspiring, bland,

poor aftertaste (watery in my book)… eh as long as i took the pictures i’ll put them up.

keep? NO.

$8/oz ($96/pound)

…flavor: 6/7 …YUM!!! what a tea! i love it!

their description is right (…my added comments):
“More delicate than any fine green tea”… uhh… ok
“lots of aroma” …YES!
“superb taste” …YES : 2/5green + intensly flowery, and i mean INTENSE-LY! (i dont know what flower to compare to, but its definitely FLOWERLY)
“relaxing”: … whatever
“very green appearence” …yup, indeed.
“and 12% fermentation” …its an ooolong…

^ this is the plant/flower which is very very close regarding flavor (this plant, though has a more powerful sweeet smell, whereas the tea is not)

excellent re-brewing capabilities . i did like 3 in room temp water and still got the wonderful taste, with a tiny amount of astringency.

keep? YES. mmmmmmmmm….

teabags

they do have somewhat correct oolong brewing ‘instructions’ on the box: ‘boil water, let stand for 2 min.’

i ’steept’ it for 3 min.

taste: well, i cant really describe it., dont have any words for it… i guess its some kind of cooked green… warm liquid… uhm… errr… thats about it… maybe a little oily?

>1cup water @ >10min @ 194F = more intense taste, tannin 3.5/7, bitter 2/7. leaves its specific (cant describe exact taste) tanninic aftertaste coating the buccal mucosa.

keep? NO. wtf is this.