Tearroir

This was light, floral, and yummy.

I tend to always enjoy a well balanced light rolled oolong that is accented by it’s floral notes and not over ran by them which this did not do so it’s good to me :)

I’ve been drinking this most of the day and really enjoying it. It is creamy and sweet, and I got a solid 5 steeps out of it and enjoyed each one.

From one of my Steepster boxes last year. Definitely veggie-ish. Dry, the leaves smelled a bit like milk oolong, but once brewed up, it just doesn’t have that taste or mouthfeel.

Very light, with a sweet after-taste.

Not bad, but not something I would seek out.

This is delicious – it is very creamy, with a hint of floral. I gave the second steep to my aunt who has never consumed an oolong in her life, and she was very impressed. It was her first cup of non-teabag-dust tea, actually. I think this one made a very nice first impression. This one is right up my alley too, and it is clear there are lots of steeps left in it.

Forgot and oversteeped this but I think what this experience has reminded me is that if I’m not in the exact mood for oolong, I shouldn’t drink any. And I am very rarely in the mood for oolong. :(

The Ever Spring I enjoyed slightly more than the Ali Shan!

It took some coaxing but I managed to elect some faint honeysuckle and gardenia flowers in the 2-3 infusions. It was a soft faintly oily oolong and sort of left a good full mouth feel. I just wish that the flavors had been more pronounced!

New Ranking
Price = 81
Representation = 75
Taste = 72

New Score = 76

This tea tea was sortof a let down for me. I usually don’t read the reviews before I finish my tasting notes, but this one was so subtle I needed to cheat some!

On the first infusion I did get a soft creaminess, as well as some faint vegetal (bok choy?).

However the tea really never developed for me. That was it.

I would be up for trying teas from Tearroir again, but their prices certainly need to come down some. I would not describe this as “the best teas on earth”.

New Ranking System
Taste = 69
Representation = 75
Price = 52

Score = 69

Backlog:

In my full-length review of this tea – http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/05/27/2014-high-mountain-ali-shan-oolong-from-tearroir/ – I pose the question, what’s better than an Alishan Oolong? A freshly harvested Alishan Oolong … which this is!

I loved this tea. Oolong are my favorite tea (second only to Yellow Tea) and Alishan is my favorite Oolong, so I guess to say that I loved this tea is sort of unnecessary, right? It was lovely with it’s velvet-y buttery notes, floral tones and hints of vegetation.

Absolutely lovely!

Yeah, this is really, really nice. It’s fresh and veggie-tasting with a lovely fragrant finish. It’s very slightly sour; I may have steeped it a little too long. I would definitely buy this and drink it again.

This is a nice tea to drink in the afternoon or evening. It is light and very floral. Refreshing and a good choice for spring or summer.

It’s rare that I take a sip of tea and go MMM! This is delicious. I balked at the 90 second steep time but it’s really perfect.

Whaaaat? You know I’ve been embarrassed to say that “All Oolongs taste alike to me.” Well never mind. Because THIS oolong is niiiice. Oh darling, I’m so happy now. Sweet like a flower, no sharp edges, bursting round flavor! I can tell it’s an oolong, but it sings a little more vibrantly than your average oolong-joe. Me likey.

My second packet of this from one of the Steepster Select boxes.

I felt like having something greenish this morning, something I could drink without milk and sugar, unfussy. This was a good choice. I had meant to try brewing this second packet in a gaiwan, but I forgot. That’s all right, because I got lots of flavor out of it this time.

Light & floral, with a sweet finish. A little on the dry side. I am enjoying it though.

Packet 1 of 2 from the most recent Steepster Select box.

I was unsure this would be good after watching it steep and comparing it to the instruction on the packet – 1.5 minutes and it was still pretty light in color.

The scent reminds me of Milk Oolong, and it mentioned being milky and floral, so I tried it as a latte first – good, but a little insubstantial.

Second steeping, I’m having it without milk and it’s been steeping awhile – better, but not spectacular to me. I’ll try the second packet in a gaiwan, I think, when I have time to spare.

I got this one in my Steepster Select box for May. I’m bad this is the second box I’ve received but the first one of the samples I’ve gotten around to.

When I opened the packet the smell was soo beautiful and intoxicating. Floral in a vaguely perfumey sort of way, sweet, and an underlying green oolong smell. I was already salivating. The dry leaves are tight small curls.

A little bit of a rinse and then I brewed according to the printed directions, maybe a bit longer even because my timer didn’t go off. The brewed leaves are small in size and the color of stewed greens. The leaves are no more than 2 cm from tip to stem and completely unfurled in the first steep. It smells like savory greens when first brewed. At this point I wasn’t as excited about it. I brewed in a medium sized white porcelain teapot.

It has a full mouth feel, but not creamy. Cooler, the liquor is still quite fresh green tasting for an oolong. I’ve never had the chance to try first flush teas before so this is a nice treat. The flavor is light and only the the tiniest bit drying. It’s slightly sweet on the finish but only subtly.

The package says 5 resteeps. WOW. I don’t know if I’ll get through that maybe. But I think my teapot also considerably more than 7oz. We’ll see how it goes.

I was impressed by the first steeping of this oolong, where I found delicate creamy flavors with traces of honey and fruit, but I was hoping to find more complexity In the later brews. Sadly, and probably due to user error, I found only green notes and astringent flavors that completely washed out the sweetness and creamy texture. I am eager to give the tea another try and be more careful about brewing temperature and time, but for now I stand disappointed by a predictable tea. 6/10, hope to adjust this rating later.

A beautifully delicate tea with a surpassing account of complexity despite the lightness of flavors. The first brew reminded me of buttered peas: fresh and green but with a touch of sweetness and a creamy texture. The grassy notes in the aroma did not join the flavors until the second steeping, which I think I may have done at too high a temperature by accident because the sweetness retreated a bit. With each brewing the tea develops a darker color and slightly more stringent flavor, but I am finding the development enjoyable. 8/10, edited to drink again. I am glad that I was caught up with my Select boxes so that I can enjoy this month’s teas while they are still as fresh as possible!

Origin: Nantou, Taiwan
Dry Leaf: Ever Spring is right!!! Very fragrant little forest green pellets with lovely gardenia scent.
Method: 10 ounce ceramic Gong Fu pot
Wet Leaf: Dark forest/moss green color,,, they are medium size, two leaves on stem and Lots of the leaves seem to be cut on a bias/slant over the top which is very interesting!!!!!!! The precisely cut tops are also included in the mix as are some smaller leaves that are very tender and young but not buds. It is a mixture but all the same color.
Liquor: clear
Flavor: Wow!!!! Very thick mouthfeel!!!! Light flavors of gardenia and cream. Delicious!!!

The tea maker has really worked hard on this tea and the results are really yummy!! Second steeping was also very good. The leaves were fully opened up then and absolutely no astringency, bitterness, or stomach upset either. Fantastic floral Oolong!!!!!!!!

From the Steepster Select Box; May, 2014

This tea is light and sweet and creamy. A nice afternoon treat!