Royal Phoenix Oolong

Tea type
Oolong Tea
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Honeysuckle, Peach, Toasty, Vegetal, Almond, Apricot, Astringent, Butter, Chestnut, Citrus, Earth, Floral, Fruity, Grapefruit, Grass, Lemon Zest, Mineral, Osmanthus, Plum, Roasted Nuts, Vanilla, Wood
Sold in
Not available
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by jbeaudin1
Average preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 2 min, 30 sec 8 g 10 oz / 296 ml

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From Our Community

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27 Tasting Notes View all

  • “I am trying to not let myself get sucked in to the world of expensive, gourmet tea. Seeking out cheaper alternatives is a must have. I am very impressed with this. I’m not gonna lie to you and tell...” Read full tasting note
    92
  • “Very tasty tea that seems to be happier at a higher water temp – it has a clearer taste. It’s very bright and grape-y and tartly sweet. It reminds me a lot of a Darjeeling but without any...” Read full tasting note
    79
  • “I still don’t remember who sent me this in a swap but I still love it! It is one of the first “dark” oolongs I’ve really enjoyed. It is so floral and fruity! I only have one cup of it left which...” Read full tasting note
    94
  • “With the recent purchase of amazing apricot and plum jams this oolong will get a lot of love this week. Today it was showered with seven cups worth and the eighth is steeping along now. I tried it...” Read full tasting note
    89

From The Tao of Tea

For daily drinking, a smaller amount of leaf with a longer steeping time gives a rewarding cup with little effort. This tea’s darker leaf requires fairly hot water (180 to 200 F) to bring out its full its full taste and unique aroma.

About The Tao of Tea View company

Company description not available.

27 Tasting Notes

58 tasting notes

I took about a tsp and steeped it for about 5 minutes per the container instructions. I’m not getting a very strong flavor, it’s very light. It has a definite peach flavor at the end. Perhaps I’ll steep it longer next time.

Preparation
5 min, 0 sec

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96
3 tasting notes

I haven’t been overly impressed with other teas I’ve tried from Tao of Tea, but I love this tea. Discovered it at my local co-op (and for $20/lb less than on their website, which I don’t understand, but I’ll take it!) It’s going to be my new ‘everyday’ oolong. Has a light, fresh, slightly fruity taste (the company describes it as nectarine/peaches, while I think apricots).

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 15 sec

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90
18 tasting notes

This tea is very hard to measure with a teaspoon, because the leaves are so huge. It’s a full-leaf tea I guarantee I ended up under-leafing it, but that’s okay, it’s a pleasantly subtle brew. I will revisit it once my kitchen scale arrives. I made this cup with more water than you’re supposed to, because I like this as a weaker brew for afternoon sipping, adding water many times, at least 4 infusions.

At this strength it’s almost got a toasty-vegetal taste like a green tea, and it’s very smooth. When brewed stronger the peach smell does come out, and it’s very pleasant. This tea goes well with the tap water in my town, which is slightly hard even after filtering. Don’t overbrew and you won’t notice much astringency.

Flavors: Honeysuckle, Peach, Toasty, Vegetal

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 4 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML

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9 tasting notes

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first impression: exciting smells followed by bitter (and smokey) disappointment in the cup. very temperamental tea if you’re totally clueless about taming it as i am\was. short answer: HOT water SHORT SHORT infusions.

second real attempt im starting to see it more clearly. 6oz in a 150ml gaiwan, using maybe 115 of that space or maybe only 100. HOT water, 5 second steep. literally waiting 1 long beat between pouring and decanting. my mouth is no longer full of smoke but a complex if still challenging roasted dan cong that im still working thru. update later.

edit: ive tried it again and while i can keep the smoke out im not sure if there’s much there thats enjoyable to replace it. going to have to put it away for a while because its making me sad

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80
1048 tasting notes

Today was rough. I ended the previous day with a very strong beer (DKML by Founders Brewing Company, a 14.2% abv malt liquor aged in bourbon barrels) and woke up feeling loopy and weak. By the time I took my morning tea, I was feeling even worse. The tea hit my stomach like a very large fist and I ended up nauseated. After a couple unhappy and unproductive hours at the office, I called it a day and went home to recover. To be fair, I think my rough go of it today was more due to the night before and general fatigue though, so I can’t really place all of the blame on this tea. It was just the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Now, before I go any further, let’s back up a bit. At some point late last year, I started buying up Dan Congs like crazy because I realized I was not very familiar with them. I bought this one, two other Dan Congs, and a roasted oolong blend from The Tao of Tea at the same time. After receiving them, they were all stored in one of my sealed tea totes. I broke open said tote over the weekend and began cleaning it out. I had and still have so much tea on hand that I decided to sort out some stuff to give to friends and family. Pretty soon, I found myself developing a thirst and decided to try this tea on a whim. I had been doing some research on traditional Dan Cong brewing methods anyway and couldn’t wait to try to adapt some of them to my preferred gongfu procedure. Upon opening the bag, however, I was crushed when I discovered that it contained mostly broken Mi Lan Xiang leaves. Soldiering on, I plucked out 8 grams of the most intact leaves, primed my 4 ounce gaiwan, cleaned and primed my cup, rinsed the leaves, and proceeded to brew. The first infusion was only 5 seconds. It was followed by infusions of 7 seconds, 10 seconds, 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, and 5 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted fruity, slightly floral aromas with a hint of woodiness. The rinse allowed me to pick up distinct impressions of honey, wood, damp grass, butter, nectarine, peach, and yuzu. The first infusion brought out vanilla, orchid, and grapefruit pith. There was a hint of nuttiness too. In the mouth, stone fruits, honey, butter, grass, and wood ruled the day, though I could kind of pick out some underlying nutty and floral impressions. Subsequent infusions brought out the vanilla, orchid, yuzu, and grapefruit pith impressions in the mouth. I also began to pick up impressions of roasted almond, chestnut, cashew, cattail shoots, apricot, sour plum, lemon, pomelo, osmanthus, marigold, and petunia. Minerals showed up too, as did something of a muddy, almost clay-like earthiness. The later infusions were earthy, woody, and grassy with a more distinct mineral presence and faint wisps of citrus, roasted nuts, butter, and stone fruits.

Despite the lower-than-expected leaf quality (to be fair, I did purchase this tea very shortly before it went out of stock), this oolong delivered a lot of flavor at a very reasonable price point. The slick soapiness one would generally expect from this type of oolong was there, but it wasn’t all that distracting. It also had a little more staying power than I would have expected. I would almost be willing to bet that a full leaf version of this tea would be amazing. As is, this was rock solid and would make a very nice introduction to the joys of Mi Lan Xiang.

Flavors: Almond, Apricot, Astringent, Butter, Chestnut, Citrus, Earth, Floral, Fruity, Grapefruit, Grass, Lemon Zest, Mineral, Osmanthus, Peach, Plum, Roasted Nuts, Vanilla, Vegetal, Wood

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 8 g 4 OZ / 118 ML

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93
892 tasting notes

Thank you to whoever sent me this sample! This is a pleasant oolong. It has a nice earthy base with floral notes. There is something fruity going on with this cup too. It almost reminds me of a dried cherry. It’s sweet but still has that tart bite to it.

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87
4843 tasting notes

Backlog:

A really enjoyable Oolong. Fragrant and flavorful.

The early infusions were soft and honeyed with notes of sweet fruit (reminiscent of a plum.) Woodsy tones and a rustic, earthy note.

The later infusions offered stronger honey tones, and the sweet fruit notes emerged, and by the sixth infusion, I started to notice the flavors soften and meld.

A really nice cup, here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/01/24/royal-phoenix-oolong-tea-tao-tea/

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