Taiwan Jin Xuan Milk Oolong Tea (Flavored)

Today is probably not the best day to write about tea, but given that I find comfort in both writing and tea, here goes. I got this Milk Oolong on a recent order from Teavivre. I’d like to just reiterate how much I love Teavivre. Fast, relatively low shipping threshold, and I’m not sure if they sell a bad tea (everything I’ve tried has been delicious). My only other experience with a milk oolong was from David’s Tea. I loved every single thing about that tea. The milk flavor was strong enough that even I could taste the creamy, delicious goodness. So I had a high bar set that I was hoping Teavivre could surpass.
My first pot of tea I made according to Teavivre’s directions—2 t per 8 oz of water steeped at boiling for two minutes. What I got was overwhelmingly oolong and short on milk. Green oolongs aren’t my favorite in the first place, so that was a bit of a disappointment. I valiantly brewed a couple more resteeped pots. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what I was hoping for—a milk miracle, I suppose. It was a miracle that never occurred.

I decided to give it another try this morning, in the hopes that different brew parameters would help. Also, I ordered a lot of this tea. So I have quite a bit to work my way through. I brewed 1 t per 8 oz at 90 C, and low and behold. Milk! I was so happy! The smaller amount of leaves and lower temperature seems to have allowed the milk flavor to come through. I’m definitely a happier camper (tea-wise) this morning.

And if you don’t want to read about my crappy news, please stop reading now. I totally get it, since it isn’t exactly about tea. But it is weighing heavily on my mind. I found out from my vet yesterday that my dog has a very aggressive pancreatic cancer. Animals with this condition seem to only live a couple of weeks after diagnosis. She is my baby, gotten from a rescue. She was terrified of everything when we got her, and she’s come so far. She’s only seven—young for cancer. She is my tail. She follows me everywhere, and prefers me to all other company. The thought of losing my Bella is tearing me up.

This is yet another delicious sample graciously provided by Teavivre! Thanks so much! I’m really, really liking this flavored variety more than the natural. This has a sweet yet floral aroma and the flavor is of a nice green oolong with a heavy, creamy finish to the sip. This feels decadent to drink, but it is totally guilt free. I haven’t completely decided if I have to have this tea variety in my cupboard – but if I do, this flavored variety will be the one for me!

Yay! Another generous sample from Teavivre.

I was anxious to try this as I have discovered a bit of a love for milk oolongs, and I wasn’t sure if I preferred flavored over not.

Next time I will try a comparison with this, the unflavored one, and Davidstea’s version (which I am not sure on whether it is flavored or not)

I enjoyed this as much as the unflavored Teavivre offering, but again if I had them side by side I would probably notice the creaminess more in this one.

Limiting my caffeine now so steep 2 will take place tomorrow, hopefully the leaves will be ok overnight at work.

ETA I should add that though my palate is still new and untrained, I have really been enjoying these milk oolongs. Imagine, no additives or fake flavors and they’re still so fresh and buttery and creamy. That’s good stuff.

also….

Steep 2 was a success. Still creamy and buttery and vegetal but not in a way that turns me off (spinach tea is not for me!!)

Steep 3 to follow :)

1.5 tablespoons for 375 ml

Strong oolong note. I detect very little milky flavour. Faint grapefruit note near the end of the sip in background.

Thanks to Sil for letting me try this!

Dry Smell: Somewhat buttery and vegetative.

Wet: Mostly vegetables or leaves.

There doesn’t seem to be much of a milky taste up front as it tastes like TKJ. Now the aftertaste is where we start getting into the milky area of things. The feeling it leaves in the mouth is very similar to that of having just drank a tall glass of milk.

Thank You Teavivre for this sample

I brewed this tea on two separate occasions and wasn’t overly impressed by it’s flavors! It had a very Vegetal/Spinachy taste that was very prevalent, especially from the 2nd steep onward!! It had alot of astringency and flavors were very muddled. I really wanted to like this tea..but alas..this is " Not My Cup of Tea"!!!

The smell of the dry leaves on this one was like a licorice-y butter to me, though the wet leaves had a much more darkly vegetal scent – I think this may be the greenest oolong I’ve tasted so far. I’m not sure I’m getting too much of the milk (I think I was expecting it to be really strong, since this was the flavored version), but it does have a really pleasant creamy-buttery taste. The cup is tasting better and better as I drink more of it (I think because I’m getting better accustomed to the greenness), and between sips there’s a long lasting pleasant aftertaste. After I let it cool down a bit more, I can taste more of the milk flavor in the aftertaste.

With the second and third steeps (at two and three minutes), all the flavors started coming out much stronger – more vegetal, but also way more milk taste and almost a kind of spiciness to it.

Many thanks to Teavivre for the free sample!

I’m still a bit messed up from jet lag, so this will be shorter than usual. This tea is nice, fairly typical of Taiwanese Oolongs, but it lacks anything truly unique to make it stand out. It’s not very flowery or fruity, the aftertaste lingers, but only for about 45 seconds. The only things that stands out is how creamy it tastes, but that isn’t really interesting. Don’t get me wrongs, it’s still good, it’s just that I’m a bit spoiled but some of my other teas, and this just doesn’t measure up.

Thank you so much Angel! Teavivre is just AMAZING! :D

I’m alive, lovely people! I’ve been drinking tea, but mostly bagged, and just quick in between classes or on the weekends. But I’m here! :D

This one…I smelled milk with the dry and steeping, and it’s a nice smell.

The taste is one that I can’t place, to be honest. I’ve got some milk in there, a creamy flavor, and another flavor, kind of floral flavor. It’s…really yummy, but I can’t give it a name.

It’s really good, and I’m going to try it with cream, even though I always feel like I will ruin certain teas with cream.

This tea is really yummy, floral, creamy, just lovely. I am sorry I don’t have a lot of nice descriptors for this tea, but it’s great!

I’m a little late to the party, but I thought I would brew this up and see what I thought. My milk oolong experience is limited, but this was the first official flavored one I’ve tried. I was surprised to see that they wanted me to use 10g for 8’oz. That’s a lot of leaf (and a good chunk of my sample), but if you insist Teavivre… I was also surprised to see it wanted boiling water. Aren’t you supposed to use less than boiling for oolongs?

Anyway, the tea itself is not bad. It’s creamy and buttery like other oolongs in the past. It’s not blowing my mind, though. There is a little bit of vegetal taste too. I wish you didn’t have to use so much leaf, too. Maybe I overdid it? I’m interested to see how the rest of the steeps turn out.