Wild Arbor Oriental Beauty Oolong

I’m almost completely certain Oriental Beauty is my favorite type of oolong. I’ve enjoyed every variant I’ve tried of it, thus far. And this is, by no small margin, my favorite. No, not just because it had the words “wild” and “arbor” in the title. (Although, that certainly helps.)

The taste is all tart, sweet, fruity, and some form of magic not known to us humans. I would say more…but that might be windbagging it a bit.

Like I did here: http://steepstories.com/2013/09/19/wild-arbor/

Holy peaches Batman! This tea is super aromatic with heavy notes of peach and a touch of citrus. The sweet aftertaste lingers in the nicest way.

The dry leaves of Wild Arbor Oriental Beauty Oolong come with a musty hazelnut smell, so it would seem that we’re steering away from the vegetals and the florals. There’s a touch of dried fruit in there as well, perhaps black cherry. This coalesces in the cup as some true fruitiness overlaid with cooked nuts–caramel apples at the peak of the holidays. Dare I call this a Thanksgiving tea? The aroma gets more and more savory as it sits; at least now we know where the turkey got to.

Luckily, the tea itself has no poultry notes. (Could you imagine the audaci-tea?) Rather, the first infusion brings in all those apples in full force, pummeling your mouth with that fructose flavor. The other main player here is… Full review here: http://snooteablog.com/2013/09/14/snooty-tea-review-tea-setter-round-2/

This is a very aromatic tea. I recommend only 10 seconds for the first infusion, because it is a stronger tasting tea. It also has a beautiful color.

Fruity is right on the money with this one! I am absolutely terrible at describing the nuanced flavors, but this one screams fruit. There is a lot of natural sweetness and a bit of citrus. Big fan!

Got this one back out because I wanted something warming, but didn’t want to be up for 15 more steeps with a shu. This is such good tea. It tastes like peaches and apricots. Brewed it in the gaiwan. It is slightly bitter, and I add a little sugar to it to bring out the fruit flavors. The apricot especially lingers. Due to high oxidation, the color is amber and this is a lot like drinking a lighter black tea. I picked up some of the last ounces of this during Tea Setter’s last few days.

Steeped at 205 degrees beginning with 15 seconds, then 40, 60, 80… I’m on steep 4, and it should go for one more good steep, I think.

It’s warming enough for winter, but light enough that it works all year. This is a favorite that I wish I could always keep stocked, so I’ll have to sample several potential alternatives when these last few ounces are gone.

Oooh, a wild arbor oolong! Oriental beauty one too!

This oriental beauty is pretty delicate and complex – earthy, lightly roasty, citrus, cherry wood and peachy. The peachy flavor is like grilled peaches with a burnt caramel glaze.

Full review on my blog, The Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/wild-arbor-oriental-beauty-oolong/

At the other end of the oolong spectrum likes this near-black Wild Arbor Oriental Beauty from Tea Setter. The scent is very strong—almost fermented—and definitely earns the label wild. I brewed these potent black matte leaves at a lower temperature and for a shorter steep because I worried that the liquor might be overwhelming.

The brew ended up apricot-colored and tastes like a somewhat lighter version of some of the high-quality Taiwan blacks I’ve tried. I have to say that I would never have guessed that this was oolong, since it clashes with all of my previous oolong experiences.

However, I happen to like high-quality black teas, which this seems to me. Everyone else is talking about fruit. Hmmm… to me, this has a dark and smoky facet reminiscent of Russian Caravan (or a dilute brew of Lapsang Souchong…). I’ll definitely be exploring this tea further. In my second infusion, later today, I’ll use half the water and increase the temperature and steep time and see what transpires.