Milk Oolong

Tea type
Oolong Tea
Ingredients
Oolong Tea
Flavors
Butter, Butterscotch, Cream, Custard, Gardenias, Grass, Lemon, Lettuce, Milk, Mineral, Mint, Popcorn, Rice Pudding, Seaweed, Sugarcane, Tropical, Vanilla, Floral, Nutty, Bread, Caramel, Coconut, Creamy, Fruity, Toffee, Apricot, Mango, Smooth, Stonefruit, Sweet, Warm Grass, Orchid, Sweet, Vegetal, Rice, Strawberry, Tangy, Green, Sugar, Roasted, Toasted Rice, Bergamot, Candy, Dry Grass, Pineapple, Asparagus, Burnt Sugar, Peas, Brown Sugar, Cotton Candy, Flowers, Berries, Dried Fruit, Green Apple, Tart, Heavy, Peach, Astringent, Autumn Leaf Pile, Honeysuckle, Umami, Honey, Stewed Fruits, Fruit Tree Flowers, Yams
Sold in
Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Medium
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Cameron B.
Average preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 1 min, 15 sec 5 g 9 oz / 262 ml

From Our Community

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142 Tasting Notes View all

  • “This is a free sample that I got from Garret when I ordered some of his wonderful Puers! Thanks Garret! There’s been a discussion on the quality of customer service & the personal treatment we...” Read full tasting note
  • “I need some Mandala love tonight! This natural milk oolong is phenomenal…pure candy. First, the dry smell is all pop corn and coconut milk. It doesn’t render that heavy dairy fragrance scented milk...” Read full tasting note
    93
  • “Lighter teas and I still have a very tentative accord. I like them…sometimes but there are a few that I just love so much. This is one of them. It’s creamy, nutty, buttery and caramelly. And...” Read full tasting note
    98
  • “Wow. I’ve only had one other milk oolong but this one just puts it to shame, no contest. I’ve been brewing it gongfu cha style and I’m on the 6th steep but it keeps on giving. The last milk oolong...” Read full tasting note
    97

From Mandala Tea

We are so excited about this tea and judging by the repeat buys, our customers are too! It possesses a creamy aroma with hints of coconut, hard toffee candy along with the classic floral undertone present in so many high-end Taiwanese oolongs. The producers aromatize high quality leaves from plants that grow in altitudes between 1,600 and 3,200 feet above sea level.

The Fall 2015 crop delivers the dessert-like notes in early infusions and a beautiful, balanced cup. In later steepings aromas of lilac and gardenia begin to move more forward. Production is an artform and those who create it are quite guarded about proprietary steps in processing. Through many tastings, our appreciation for their craft only increases. No “off” aromas and not a trace of artificial or chemical flavor. It is a wonderfully complex tea, sure to please most any tea drinker. And if they weren’t a tea drinker to begin with, they will be after trying this!

We highly recommend doing one rinse of 5-10 seconds (at 195 degrees) and then beginning with 15-20 second infusions for a bit before slowly increasing steeping time. It is not unusual to get 10 to 15 steepings out of this tea when prepared gongfu cha style.

About Mandala Tea View company

Company description not available.

142 Tasting Notes

92
142 tasting notes

This one is going in the permanent collection. It’s both a guest-pleaser and a me-pleaser. People have done a great job of describing its notes, and the only thing I have to add is that it really reminds me of Ewephoria gouda cheese – which is nearly candy sweet (for cheese) but all kinds of tasty.

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88
183 tasting notes

Smells amazing in the bag, I can’t stop sniffing the dry leaves. Smells like a fresh spring garden combined with a peach orchard, or grove of osmanthus trees. The flavors I am getting are similar. It tastes like an oolong leaning towards the green side, with clean, lightly peach-like flavor. It kind of reminds me of the mild sweetness I get out of wheat-grass as well.

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 2 min, 30 sec

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97
42 tasting notes

Wow! I’m in love.
I was very curious about this one. When my order came this was the first tea I opened, and let me tell you it was worth the wait. It smells milky, sweet, with some grassy notes and I want to say cotton candy or toffee. Its fantastic! I was so excited to try it that I forgot to rinse it first. In any case the first steeping was a bit more grassy, almost with a hint of seaweed in the after taste, yet still milky and sweet. The second steeping is a bit darker in color, and so much smoother, now I taste to toffee and cotton candy. This tea is really a must try, I’m only on my second steeping an I’m sold. Yum!

Preparation
0 min, 30 sec
Garret

Thank you for writing up the review, my friend! I appreciate hearing what people have to say about the various teas we are bringing from China and Taiwan. The tea that you have is from the spring crop and I quite like it. The autumn crop will be a while, but once we get it, I’m sure we will find like with the other autumn milk tea crops, it will be more aromatic and a bit sweeter, too. Interesting, isn’t it, that this happens from season to season, year to year? So much joy to be found in tea!

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91
42 tasting notes

Pfff, a green Oolong that tastes like cream and candy? I wish! But hey, I may as well give it a try and see what all this is about.

That smell from my cup on the first steeping is floral and a bit fruity as I’d expect but there’s something else coming up underneath that I’ve never smelled in a tea before, it’s too covered up by the other smells, but it just might be that milky smell this tea is known for.

First and second sips are fruity with a little bit of woodiness to it. It’s good and has a creamy texture, but I’m really not getting that milky flavor — I knew it wasn’t possible! But then on the third sip, right when I was feeling comfortable with the average oolong flavors, it hits me. Toffee? No way, it can’t be! I had to take another sip to be sure, and when I got that same toffee note I just about jumped out of my chair with joy (I’m a huge toffee fan if you couldn’t guess at this point :P ). Every sip from here on is incredibly creamy and sweet, like a really smooth toffee. I can’t believe I didn’t taste it at first, because this tea is dessert level sweet!

Second steeping is more toffee but with notes of vanilla and white chocolate. I’m sure after enough steepings this oolong will evolve into something else, as most do, but I honestly couldn’t care less. The sweet toffee flavor of these first two steepings is enough to make this a staple that I’ll always want to have on hand no matter what kind of flavor it takes on later.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 0 min, 15 sec

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330 tasting notes

I got this to compare it to the only other Milk Oolong I have had – the one from DavidsTea.

The dry teas are comparable in appearance, as are the brewed leaves. The scent of the Mandala tea is more subtle – it doesn’t slap you in the face like the DavidsTea does.

I had my first cup as a latte, which is my favorite way to sip the other version, and it was very enjoyable.

As a straight tea, with no milk or sweetener- I am quite enjoying my second cup this way. The subtle scent, no astringency, all very nice.

I may do a side by side taste comparison tomorrow morning.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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92
1 tasting notes

Other people have already written comprehensive reviews about this tea that are worth reading, but a quick note I’d like to add is that it’s very easy to get into. Even people who don’t know the first thing about tea love it. If you’re interested in getting people into trying different kinds of teas, this might be a good starting point.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 6 min, 0 sec
Garret

Thank you for the review, my friend! I agree with you about it being an easy tea for so many people. We also like how different the spring crop tastes from the autumn crop. Tea is such an interesting and wonderful thing! Enjoy!

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95
1 tasting notes

I read the reviews here, and decided that Mandala’s milk oolong would be my first foray into this type of oolong tea. I am convinced I made the right choice.

I prepared this tea gongfu style in a 130ml porcelain gaiwan.
Water temperature: 195 degrees Fahrenheit.

Rinse: 10 seconds, with about 50ml of water. … I drank it. It smelled too good! Tasted like buttery corn on the cob.

1st steep: 15 seconds. The liquor was clear and a very pale shade of yellow. It tasted grassy/vegetal, with a nuttiness and a slight floral note. I can see where it gets the name “milk” from; its mouthfeel was very creamy from the start. Breathing in after the cup was finished, I felt very refreshed.

2nd steep: 20 seconds. Yellow liquor; smelled of butter, grass, and some kind of nut. It tasted… yellow. Grassy, with almost a pineapple-y fruitiness. The tea had a very creamy texture. On the in-breath after the cup was done, I tasted a minty spinach, or maybe kale.

3rd steep: 25 seconds. Wow, those leaves opened up! The liquor looked like liquid gold! It was thick and creamy, and tasted of butter cream, with something else… citrus? The in-breath was minty, and lingered for a while.

4th steep: 30 seconds. Somewhere, there is a man, woman, or family, who grew this for my enjoyment. The liquor was still golden, and it smelled like a cross between cookies baking and brown-sugar-and-butter frosting. The taste was heavenly – the best yet. At first, vanilla, with milk at the back. After swallowing, there was a light vegetal taste on the sides, but with no astringency. This… this is like drinking a cloud.

I’ll spare the details of steeps 5 through 9, but I will say that this tea would not give up! After nine steeps and about a liter of water, I decided to steep for four minutes, to see what the leaves had left in them. All that was good and glorious about this tea, all of the flavors, smells, and after-tastes came back in one delicious cup. The six-minute steep has not been disappointing, either.

If you’re on the fence about this tea, buy it. You won’t regret it.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 0 min, 15 sec
Garret

I am so glad you enjoyed this tea, my friend! I had a customer stop in the store yesterday who had seen the reviews about our milk oolong and thought everyone was crazy because her experience with milk oolongs had been poor. So I brewed some of our up for her at our sampling bar. She loved it!

Thank you so much for writing your review! I am grateful that you took the time.

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91
35 tasting notes

Just as everyone else has said -this tea is fabulous!! I love oolongs and this didn’t disappoint. I bought 2 oz. and went back to the website to make sure I could get more and low and behold its sold out!!!! When is it going to return????

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 0 min, 45 sec
Garret

HI!! Just sent you an email. We are hoping the current shipment arrives yet this week. Demand is at an all-time high for it and we are trying so secure as much of the upcoming fall crop from this farm as we are able. Fall crop will not be available to us for about 30 days, but the spring crop is delicious and we have much on the way from Taiwan!! So happy that you like it. We think it is a pretty special tea. We’ve had other milk oolongs but have been buying from this producer exclusively now for 3 years. As long as he’s growing it, we’re buying it :)

Garret

The new milk oolong is back in stock and up on the site!! It’s really a nice crop!!

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99
18 tasting notes

This is a great tea to introduce to those unfamiliar with teas outside of the Lipton bags! The fact that this is not a flavored tea is what really makes it something special. I have friends who have been turned on to loose leaf tea after trying this one. The milk oolong can withstand 12 steepings (my bladder will not allow me to go for thirteen) and transform itself slightly with each one. It smells like a toffee and has a buttery texture to it. Overall this is a great tea for those looking for something a bit sweet but without all the calories!

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C

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96
53 tasting notes

There is just something amazing about this. It is incredibly creamy, without the oiliness of other milks. It’s still smooth, and not astringent, and I keep getting different flavors as I continue to sip. It’s got a tempered base that’s a good average of taiwanese gaoshans, and the smoothest aftertaste I’ve ever experienced. It’s almost a little peppery sometimes. The aroma is incredible. Might lower the rating is subsequent steepings dont hold up, but the first one is incredible.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 2 min, 30 sec
Garret

I’m so happy that you are enjoying this tea! We sure do love it here at the shop. It has been in our top three selling teas ever since I’ve had this source out of Taiwan. I appreciate you taking the time to write about your experience with it. Thank you, my friend! It’ll be interesting to see what the autumn crop is like once we begin getting that. You are drinking the spring crop. Quite nice!

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