Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Oolong

All Reviews for Oolong

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If one doesn’t have the proper word to describe something, inventing one is always an option. Therefore and herewith, I christen this tea nuggety. Dry, the rolled oolong leaves are nearly as big as granola bits; the almond slivers fully as big as your fingernail. The scent is all almond–the vanilla is just along for the ride. Nice apricot-colored calendula…

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As I learn more and more about tea, I find so many types and varieties I would have never dreamed existed, and I love trying as many of them as possible. So, tea from Portugal, how could I pass this opportunity up? And I’m so glad I got to try this. Wow.

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did a bit of background research on this tea, revealing that it was indeed grown in New Zealand and that this is one of three different varieties being produced there at the moment (the others are Zealong Dark and Zealong Aromatic). Unlike the other two, this Zealong Pure features “sweet, fresh-tasting leaves”…

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Another day, another interesting oolong to try. This Taiwanese oolong is purported to be incredibly flavoured, with evolutions of flavour at every steeping. I start off by rinsing, then steeping this tea first for two minutes in boiled, but not boiling water. This first infusion smells sweet, slightly tart, and…

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My old friend Zealong, I’ve missed you.  Thrilled to receive some Zealong Pure from Tula Teas, it is one of my all time favourites.  The dark, tightly curled leaves make my heart sing.  Wild thing (sorry, had to say it, apologizing in advance if that song gets stuck in your head).  I think I love you…

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Three badly written haiku in honor of Tao Tea Leaf’s Phoenix Dan Cong tea…

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Here at Its All About The Leaf, we were recently contacted by Adagio – asking if we were interested in reviewing their new line of gourmet tea bags. Now, I have been following Charles Cain of Adagio on twitter, and on the tearetailer.com website, and on several…

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When you start reviewing a large number of teas, it may feel like you are reviewing many that are just mediocre and coming across a real gem may seem hard to come by…

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Category: Oolong Tea Company: Tea Forte (website) Ingredients: Oolong Tea Vendor Suggested Preparation: Steep for 2-4 minutes, 195 deg F Once again utilising my Tea Forte Cafe Cup, Tea Forte Tea Tray, and Tea Forte Tea Timer iPhone application , I start out steeping this tea for a recommended average of 3 minutes. It may [...]

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This being the first Tea Forte tea that I have tried in quite some time, I decided to go all out. I am using my Tea Forte Cafe Cup, Tea Forte Tea Tray, and the Tea Forte Tea Timer app for iPhone. The instructions, acquired from the application itself recommend 2-4…

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The chief thing Blue Q’s line of tea has going for it is the cute and clever packaging: in this case “ooo-long” is punctuated by a retro Daschund and a pink box that reminds me of a 1960′s Dippity-Doo ad. Then again, Blue Q is not exactly a tea specialist—their…

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I hate the word mouthfeel. Hate it. Because it feels so pretentious to me. Per the Random House dictionary, it was developed in the 1980′s, which tells me it was likely developed by a Yuppie. Possibly in response to an overpriced wine. As I was child in the 80′s, I have a yuppie…

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This truly is a momentous day. Not for the fact that I slept in until 3PM. Not for the fact that one of my favorite restaurants brought back their three-dollar burger for happy hour. Nay. Today I finally notched off the last oolong offering from Middle-Earth.  (I mean, New Zealand.)…

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Canton Tea’s Alishan Oolong is absolutely fantastic! I haven’t tasted an oolong so flavourful in a long time. Alishan Oolong is one of Taiwan’s finest high-grown oolong teas. According to the Canton website, their Alishan won 2010′s Great Taste award and I can see…

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Nutty flavor. Slightly sweet after taste on my tongue. Reminds me of a black tea…

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The dry leaves are two inches in length, black in color and appear to be tightly rolled. The smell of the dry leaves is sweet. A two minute infusion reveals a champagne colored tea, the smell is nutty. It reminds me of a Genmaicha. Three minute infusion deepens the color…

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The first thing I noticed when I went to drink this tea were the directions on the side of the sample package I had. They said to empty the contents of the package into eight ounces of water and steep for three to four minutes. I have to raise issue with this as there is enough…

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Since all teas come from the Camellia Sinensis plant, it is the way in which the leaves are processed that determine what the tea looks like, tastes and smells like – that is – what type of tea it ultimately becomes in the end…

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Spider webs conjure up ethereal visions of delicate pale films of almost nothing. Wisps of white that disappear in the sunlight. Shanti’s Spiderweb oolong initially seems strangely misnamed. The leaves are short, black and twisted, but very tangible and more like spiders…

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When I saw Tea Forte’s Silk Oolong as one of the teas to be reviewed, I was excited. I have seen Tea Forte’s teas in the Indigo bookstore on my lunch breaks all the time but never got around to trying them. This time I made sure the cute and attractively packaged pyramid…

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love oolong, and I love finery, especially in the tea world. So when the chance to try this tea came up…an oolong, mind you, that is supposed to be one of the finest available, and available only in limited quantities, I jumped at the opportunity…

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Category: Oolong Tea Company: Mark T. Wendall Tea Company (website) Ingredients: Oolong Tea Vendor Suggested Preparation: 90deg C, steep for 4 minutes The shape of these rolled oolong leaves was reminiscent of an Alishan oolong I once had – small, compacted clumps of leaf. They carry quite a vegetal smell, almost more like a green [...]

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There are toys you can get – the “amazing expanding dinosaur” or “mermaid that really grows” – compressed sponges that once soaked in water grow something like 400%. This tea is just like these toys. Put in two teaspoons of tea, get an entire cup of giant…

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I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing a number of the Canton Tea Company’s teas, and have been very pleased with their products. Their teas have been very flavorful and enjoyable to drink. Therefore, I’m finding the current cup of tea I’m trying a disappointment…

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Category: Oolong Tea Company: Canton Tea Co. (website) Ingredients: Oolong Tea Vendor Suggested Preparation: Use about 2 tsp per cup (200ml) and brew around 85°C (185°F), allow to steep for 2-3 minutes and infuse at least 3 times Dry leaf reminds me of fresh cut greens. Brewed this sample in my IngeniTea and made it [...]

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I know I tend to repeat myself on this point, but I really adore that first whiff of a new tea. The myriad of preparation techniques and additives means that each new tea is an olfactory adventure. Or, more succinctly – dang, they can smell great! And this one…

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Such was the case with my first experience with Royal Garland by Samovar. Many of my on-line tea friends experience heighten states of being when they have Samovar teas. So I was really looking forward to the experience of this tea. And then I got it, and read the package where it called for 2 tablespoons of leaf being steeped in 5 ounces of water…

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have had this tea for a few weeks but wanted to wait for the perfect occasion to try it.  Mark T. Wendell has a reputation for exquisite teas and seems to import only the very best.  In business for over a hundred years, it wins customer loyalty by superb…

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When I read the name of this tea I was intrigued. “Erase Your Past Tea”? How can a tea erase my past? I checked out the website. It was on blueq.com. The tea flavour was Orange Peel Oolong. Nope, still no idea how that ties in with erasing my past. I scanned all…

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The name of this tea is somewhat misleading—it represents the accurately, but doesn’t convey its character well at all. With sugar and caramel as the leading adjectives, I expected a heavy, sweet tea with the flavor of Sugar Daddies…

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Opened the little pyramid box and it smells amazing, looks pretty but I’m still not sure about how the leaves will be able to move in a pyramid infuser that’s tall and thin…

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I have had this tea for a few weeks but wanted to wait for the perfect occasion to try it.  Mark T. Wendell has a reputation for exquisite teas and seems to import only the very best.  In business for over a hundred years, it wins customer loyalty…

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The taste is distinctly that of a dark oolong – bakey with a slightly woodsey note to it. Unfortunately I found that it tasted more than a little on the harsh side in the way you’d expect a lower-quality oolong to taste. The peach flavouring was nice – it wasn’t too artificial…

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The name of this tea is somewhat misleading—it represents the accurately, but doesn’t convey its character well at all. With sugar and caramel as the leading adjectives, I expected a heavy, sweet tea…

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I have to say that I feel a little spoiled with the size of the samples Mike’s been giving me, there’s a good 30-40g of tea in this pouch, for instance!  Dry it has a sweet, vegetal scent, and the leaves are rolled like most green oolongs – although fairly loosely in this case – and the leaves look to be a bit paler than what I normally see. The steeped tea reveals…

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When I opened the package on this tea, I noticed that the smell was wonderful. It was light and sweet in harmony with a flowery oolong smell…

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First impressions of this tea upon opening the package: It smells old, and it smells like lemon. Not a bad old, but just…aged. There was also a bit of honey in the smell. When I poured the water over the leaves, there was a really strong smell of flowers, but not an overwhelming smell…

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My husband accused me of huffing this tea. I don’t know I’d go that far, but oh my goodness, the olfactory treat when I opened the package! This tea smells amazing. Hints of apricots smothered in cream in a sea of oolong-y goodness. I couldn’t wait to get it steeping…

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This oolong from Canton Tea, hailing from the Wu Dong Mountain, Chao Zhou / Guan Dong, China. Yu Lan is associated with magnolias, and Dan Cong indicates a tea picked from a single bush. (There is some controversy in the Tea world about “single bush” vs another interpretation of the word as ‘single trunk’, a sub varietal in which tea trees uncommonly…

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To brew this tea, I used about a tablespoon of leaves and four cups of boiling water. Steeped in a glass teapot, it was easy to see the leaves as they released a burnt orange liquor. Upon initially steeping this tea, the first thing I noticed was the incredibly light mouthfeel…

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Recently I was introduced to Imperial Tea Garden Teas. I LOVE trying teas from companies I have never tried from before. One of the teas I tried this week was their Orange Blossom Oolong..

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I love this tea. Enough said? Not even close. Honeybee Oolong from The Simple Leaf is, simply put, affordable heaven in a cup! Harvested in the mountains of Nepal, this traditionally made Oolong tea is produced only in tiny quantities, according to the Simple Leaf website…

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Oolongs come from primarily 3 regions Fujian & Guandong provinces PRC, and Tiawan. The mainland oolongs tend to have a savoriness to them – some describe this as a buttery feel. The Taiwan produced Oolongs, tend to be more delicate, and have a sweetness to them…

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I love Tea Forte. Every single tea that I have tried to date has been flavourful, without being overwhelming. I also quite enjoy Oolong Tea. To date, I have mostly focused on the darker, more oxidized Formosa Oolongs, and enjoy the robust flavours that they produce. With that in mind, I reached for the Tea Forte Silk Oolong this morning to give it a try…

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I love the look of this tea with it’s definite bits of floral, lilac and orange peel. The pale greens and yellows accented by hints of mauve and black. This is a tea I consider a standard in my tea cupboard and one I reach for often when a standard black just isn’t what I am looking for. Steeped for 3 minutes at 180, this has a mild, subtle fragrance, with definite citrus tone, orange and lemons…

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