Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Infusions’

Dry leaf appearance: dark green, flat leaves with pineapple, brown rice, cardamom, bamboo shoots, red pepper corn, papaya and coconut. The smell transports you to an island vacation. I suspect that the coconut is the reason my teapot had a “mini vacation” to a tropical paradise!

This brew is clear with a light taste. Pure enjoyment can be found with this tea. I find myself wanting it each day around 8:30 PM, which indicates to me that the caffeine level is low and the tea itself is relaxing.

Good for multiple infusions.

You can purchase the Bamboo Shoots directly from the TeaFrog website.

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 by superb service and quality.  I’ve long been a fan of their black teas but have yet to try one of the oolongs.  Today was a grey and gloomy day which called for a special tea to provide sunshine within.   Mark T. Wendell’s Extra Fancy Formosa Oolong  was a much more than satisfying compensation for a dank chilly afternoon.

The leaves are long, slightly twistes, and have a magnificent dark chestnut color  with some pearly silver tips.  They slowly unfurled and majestically filled the tea pot, creating a dark golden liquor.  Although the odor and aroma was not pronounced, the taste of the tea was simply lovely.  The best adjectives that sprang to mind were  regal and stately.   By that, I mean that the tea is clearly a “king” or “queen” of the oolong family.  The taste is both self-assured and a little bit playful in that it can smoothly segue from a woodsy taste to a floral one to a fruity one.   The different waves of flavor are typical of a leaf that has been exposed to sophisticated and careful growing methods.  

The multiple layers of taste and flavor assure that you will have a remarkable tea experience with Mark T. Wendell’s Extra Fancy Formosa Oolong.  I had several infusions.  Although the tea does not need sugar at all, I experimented with adding some on the third infusion and it did not spoil the tea at all–the Demerara sugar added a bit of a jam-on-toast affect to the tea which was delicious and it did not take away from the strong elements of the tea.  I than added some milk and the tea stands up very well to the milk.  For those who like a milky or creamy tea, this tea’s wealth of flavors are not diluted by the milk.

Mark T. Wendell’s Extra Fancy Formosa Oolong tea is a splendid investment if you want some impressive flavors to brighten your day.  If it were a liquor, I would call it a champagne.  If it were a painting, I would call it a classical Dutch master.  If it were music, I would call it Mozart.  

You can purchase the Extra Fancy Formosa Oolong directly from the Mark T. Wendall Tea Company website.

This tea is one of the most celebrated white teas and the drinking proves it.  The dry leaf is exceptionally long, tippy, and silvery (just like a silver needle).  Clearly a lovely tea, the dry leaves glow with the promise of an exceptional brew.   The promise is more than fulfilled.  The flavor is phenomenally delicate and sweet.   The pale but lovely brew unfolds in waves of apricot, pear and melon with a simple, yet elegant, base of what can only be described as a naturally delicate freshness.  The tea’s aroma and taste evokes a fruit orchard in early spring, when the flavors and odors are young, delicate, and intoxicatingly seductive.  The bright fruitiness is the keynote here and if there is a slight green or hay-like taste, it is a back-up player to the delicacy of newly ripened fruit.

This tea is best consumed with careful consideration of its innate beauty and delicacy.  I would not drink it with anything but the lightest of foods:  you would not want it overwhelmed.  I think that the natural grace of this tea might be overwhelmed by milk.  The natural flavors could probably sustain and even be enhanced by some sweetener.  I chose not to use sweetener, because the fruity taste of the tea itself added a kind of honey.

Grace Tea Company’s Organic China White Fujian Silver Needle is one of the very finest teas I have consumed and can stand up nicely to multiple infusions.  I paid careful attention to the brewing instructions and was well-rewarded with one of the very best cups of tea.   It would be a triumph to serve this as the opening or closing course to a dinner party if your guests are paying close and careful attention to flavor and taste.

You can purchase the Organic China White Fujian Silver Needle directly from the Grace Tea Company website.

For this review I decided to brew this tea using a two-cup glass teapot. Canton Tea Co’s website suggests using 1 tsp of pearls per cup, which is difficult to estimate using pearls, so I believe I added about 35-40 of the small pearls to the teapot. Continuing to follow the directions, I steeped the pearls about three minutes, stopping to taste the tea after two minutes (the website had recommended 2-3 minutes).At two minutes, the taste really wasn’t very far developed, but I could already tell that this was one very sweet tea.

With the dry pearls, one could very much smell the jasmine, yet the scent was not overpowering, nor was it almost sickly-sweet, as some teas are that contain jasmine. The aroma of the brewed tea was even less bold and had an even softer nose, with only faint hints of jasmine.

Upon taking the first big sip, the tea flow smooth and thick across the tongue, and the fruity sweet taste of jasmine infiltrated my entire mouth. If a flower could be described as being delicious, this would be the epitome of such a description. The amount of jasmine is enough to lend great character to the tea, while not completely dominating it.

The website recommends steeping this for at least three separate infusions. I most certainly shall.

On my personal enjoyment scale, I rate this tea an 85/100.

You can purchase the Jasmine Pearls directly from the Canton Tea Co. website. Save 15% right now when you use the code LEAF at checkout!

To begin this review, I have to say that I’m a bit of a sucker for pu-erh sold in bird’s nest form, just because I think it looks really cool. However, I will attempt to not let this affect the bias of my review. Soooo, without further ado…

The dry tuocha smelled dark, dark and rich. Its very earthy scent had a touch of spicy notes to it as well. Wet, it had spicy and tobacco tones about it.

I chose to infuse this using multiple short infusions of about 30 seconds each.

First infusion: The liquor was still very bright and clear, a light brown in colour. It smelled faintly of the dry tuocha. The taste is very light, and I wonder if 30 seconds is not long enough. It certainly does taste earthy though. It is not as spicy as the smell led me to believe.

Second infusion: This time, the brown liquor deepened and darkened in colour, while maintaining its brightness. The scent is now very earthy, with almost a bit of fishy smell to it. Mmm, the taste has deepened. Full-bodied, the liquor tastes earthy and mellow. It goes down smooth, as though it barely brushes the tongue and throat.

Third infusion: The colour of the tea is now a deep brown, nearing dark chocolate in colour. The aroma has not changed much, but the flavour is much stronger and feels more mature. Very delicious at this point. I am quite enjoying this tea and I wonder how long this tuocha will last.

Fourth infusion: This cup was just as enjoyable as the third and had the same strength and characteristics. It seems as though this tea could certainly continue with more infusions. When I have more time, perhaps I will give one of these tuocha a test of how long it can last.

I loved being able to try this tea as it continued to grow and mature in taste and aroma. I truly cannot wait to drink it again. I rate it an 85/100 on my personal enjoyment scale!

You can purchase the Pu-Erh Tuocha directly from the Mark T. Wendall Tea Company website.