Christina / BooksandTea Send Message

Ok, tried it again a week later. This time I used fewer leaves, and I think this is probably a more accurate representation of what this tea is supposed to be like. The liquor is a pale yellow now instead of the rosy-yellow it was last week, and the flavour is milder. This is a very vegetal white, with more of a “boiled vegetables” smell this time around.

I’ve got some Silver Needle tea on the way, so I really hope I can get a better idea of what to expect from a white tea once I have something to compare to.

I tried this tea one last time to see if maybe I brewed it wrong the first time.

Nope. Still pretty awful tasting.

A friend of mine who tried it said it tasted quite smooth to her, but I ended up giving this one (nearly the whole bag!) away to someone else. Miffed that I spent nearly $9 on this stuff.

I’ve finished the 2nd and 3rd infusions now. Both were good, but not as strong as the first one. I also used more honey in those than the first one, so they were sweeter.

Both later infusions had a nutty taste to them, but the liquor colour got successively paler, and there was also a much more floral, lilac-y, even hazelnutty taste to them. The aftertaste was also lingering, sometimes into sourness. I don’t know if the sour aftertaste is a result of the honey or not.

This is really nice, but considering how the tea got lighter and sweeter, when I was expecting the coconut flavour to last longer, I wonder if I underleafed the whole thing.

And now my final purchase from the Toronto Tea Festival!

I’m going to be straight up front and say that I have almost no experience with oolong teas. I know that they can withstand a lot more infusions than other types of tea, and that they have a nice roasty flavour, but that’s about it. But trying this tea has been quite the conversion experience!

Packaging/Instructions: This tea came in a plain paper bag resealable with one of those flexible metal bars. The label just said the name of the tea, the name of the company, and the company’s phone number. It does NOT include any instructions about how much leaf to use or how long to steep it for, or the water temperature, so I guessed using reviews written here about similar Oolongs.

Dry leaf: the leaves are dark green/brown, spindly, and curled up like an arthritic hand (yes, that’s how poetic this tea made me feel). The smell of this tea is absolutely lovely – the roastedness of the oolong complements the coconut, and the whole thing smells really round and fresh. There’s even a hint of vanilla scent in the dry leaf. Unfortunately, the bag doesn’t contain any information about the ingredients or the varietal of oolong tea, so your guess is as good as mine about what’s inside. I didn’t see any dried coconut chunks, though.

1st infusion: The brewed tea smells more oolong-y and less coconutty than the dried leaf. However, it is still quite pleasant. The liquor when poured out is a light gold. The taste is light and unassuming at first, but don’t be fooled: there’s a long, lingering aftertaste of coconut, which I like. I added a bit of honey to the cup to amp things up, but I’ll have to see what it’s like when adding some almond milk.

Long story short: I think I’ve converted! Consider me a fan of oolong! I’m really looking forward to how the taste changes over successive infusions.

Okay, so I’m onto the 2nd infusion now.

One thing I noticed about this tea as I was drinking the 1st infusion was that if left to sit in the teapot even with the lid on, this tea will get darker and darker. The liquor from the first infusion shifted from warm greenish-tan to something nearly coffee-coloured by the end.

The 2nd infusion is very jasmine-y, but has a bit of a metallic tang in the background. It still has that honey-like scent that the 1st infusion had, and the liquor is of a similar colour. I can easily see this tea being good for another 1 or 2 infusions.

Another purchase from the Toronto Tea Festival! And these are the guys behind my new favourite, Shincha Kuro.

Packaging/Instructions: This tea came in the kind of bag that uses a flexible metal bar to keep the bag closed. The instructions on the label said to use 1 tsp of leaf for 1 cup of tea, and to steep it in 80°C water for 3 minutes. I ended up using about 2 tsp of dry leaf for 24 oz of water, and steeped it for the recommended time.

Dry leaf: The dry leaf looks about average for jasmine pearls: little tightly-rolled balls of green tea with white streaks of jasmine visible. The smell of the dry leaf is very jasmine-y, but there’s also a sweetness alongside it that’s similar to honey or orange. In any event, it’s an unexpected yet lovely scent.

1st infusion: The liquor is a nice clear greenish-tan, and the jasmine smell is very strong. However, the taste is a really nice balance of green tea and jasmine – it’s not astringent, and the jasmine is noticeable without tasting “soapy”. Overall, this is a really nice, light jasmine. I’m looking forward to seeing how it holds up to multiple infusions.

Second infusion this time, and instead of adding honey, I tried adding lemon juice to perk up the fruit taste.

It didn’t make much of an improvement. Still tastes like white tea with a weird dusty, musty tone underneath. I think this might be the dried mango asserting itself, as mustiness is something I’ve tasted in fresh mangoes in the past.

I’ll still drink it, but I’m disappointed because the scent of the brewed tea is lovely.

Another purchase from the Toronto Tea Festival, this time from a specialty tea store on Queen East, where all the gentrification is.

Packaging/Instructions: The tea came in a resealable (zip seal) bag. The back label said the tea should be steeped at 170-190°F for 2-5 minutes, with 1 heaping tsp for every 6 oz of water. The bag cost $8.95 for 35g.

Prep: The kettle sat for a few minutes so the water wasn’t boiling. Because the leaves were so big, I used a few heaping spoonfuls in the infuser. About 24 oz of water for what I would guess to be 5 tsp of dry leaf.

Leaf: The leaves are broken into much smaller fragments/pieces than I think is typical for a white tea. Very few leaves are whole, and there are a lot of stems in the mix. On top of that, the tea claims to be mixed with mango, pear, and apple, but I see very few pieces of dried fruit. The blend smells sweet with heavy overtones of pear and even some melon scent, but also quite musty/dusty. It’s definitely a more complex scent than plain old white tea.

1st infusion: The liquor is a nice medium gold, and it smells lovely – the mango smell is strongest. However, it doesn’t taste nearly so pleasant. I really wanted to like this, and I hope that I overleafed it, but right now, this tea tastes very dusty and there’s even a hint of candlewax I’m tasting. I added a small spoonful of honey to heighten the fruit notes, but I don’t think it’s helping any.

I think I’m going to try again in the future and use less leaf to see if that helps.

Another purchase from the Toronto Tea Festival. My thoughts are based on steeping 2 infusions.

Dry leaf: The leaves are large, whole, and sage green. Some of them also have stems still attached. The scent of the dry leaves is sweet but a little musty. I haven’t drunk enough white tea to know whether this characteristic of all white teas or only this particular type.

Packaging/Instructions: I purchased a large resealable bag (zip seal) that had 15g for $3.50. The package says that this style of tea needs to be steeped with 100°C water, which I thought would make things too bitter. Instead, I let the kettle cool down for 5-10 minutes or so after boiling. Because white tea has such large leaves, I used 2 big spoonfuls for my steep (probably a heaping tablespoon).

1st infusion: Steeped for 4 minutes. The liquor is deep golden orange and smells like a milder version of the kind of mass-market orange pekoe bags you can get at the grocery. The taste is smooth and not astringent, but I can’t detect any other flavours besides the tea. I think I might get a hint of apple or pear, and that’s it.

2nd infusion: Steeped this time for 6 minutes. The liquor is a bit lighter this time – a nice golden orange. No appreciable change or decline in taste.

Both times, I let the tea cool before finishing it, unlike yesterday’s steep of Shincha Kuro that I enjoyed very much. This is an okay white tea, I suppose, but I worry that I may have overleafed or oversteeped it. I think I’ll need to try more varieties (eg: silver needle) to get more context.

Update: I’ve now infused this tea three times in 1 day. Thoughts on the multiple infusions are below.

1st infusion: my first tasting note was based on the first infusion. Light, fresh-tasting green with lots of floral notes.

2nd infusion: I steeped the second infusion for the same length of time as the first. It was a bit weaker, and while the floral notes were there in the scent, they weren’t as strong in the liquor. There was also a good amount of dust in the tea from the first steep, which lent the liquor a darker green colour.

3rd infusion: I steeped the third infusion for 5-8 minutes. The floral notes are back now due to the longer steep, but they’re still not as strong as the first steep. The liquor is a darker yellow-green than the first steep. There’s also a scent of seaweed (which I don’t find unpleasant).

This is still a light-tasting, enjoyable tea, but perhaps it’s best to stick to only 2 steepings.