Brand
Tea Ave
Price
~$10 for 25 g or ~1 oz
Type
Green oolong
Recommended Brew Time, Temperature, Amount
Gongfu*- brew up to 60s at 90-95°C with 8g of tea
Leaf Appearance
Pre-steeped: a mix of large, dark and light green balled oolong leaves; size varies anywhere from 1/3 to 1/2 inch long
Steeped: large, light green leaves; many have stems attached (which is to be expected with ball oolong)
Rating
B | 85/100
Tasting notes and thoughts:
So, today I'll be tasting Tea Ave's Jin Xuan (aka Milk) oolong. However, instead of using a gaiwan like I usually do, I'll be using a professional tea tasting set from Tea Ave. My brewing parameters are going to be boiling water for 3 minutes, with about 3 grams- estimated. I'm not really experienced with this, so this is mostly just going to be practice (I'm also kinda lazy today for cleaning up my whole tea set, which is why I'm using this today).
Brew 1 (3 min.):
No rinse this time. The tea was a bright yellow-green, with a few leaf particles (no filter). The aroma was milky and grassy; however, it was more on the grassy side. Compared to Vital Tea Leaf's, this is much less milky smelling but still very pleasing. The leaves were beginning to open up, but still had the pearl shape. Oddly enough, there was a light roasted taste, which was quickly followed by the vegetal and creamy milk taste. It had a tiny bit of tart to it, and was very smooth with little astringency.
Brew 2 (3 min.):
Color started moving towards a brighter green from yellow. The leaves are still opening up, but are much larger now. The milky and creamy smell is much more prevalent, making it seem much more sweeter. As for the taste, it had lost the roasted notes and is becoming more creamy and grassy, ending on a sour note. It feels even more smooth now- I really enjoyed this brew.
Brew 3 (3 min.):
Color was becoming a bit more lighter, but retained the yellow-green shade. By this point, the leaves were almost fully open (I may have used too much leaf since there are a ton; it's either that or they are big). The aroma was very sweet and milky, but for some reason I got some really light metal-like notes. However, the taste was beginning to lose its sweet and milky qualities and is becoming similar to a green tea.
Brew 4 (3 min.):
Surprisingly, the color was a much more bright green for this brew. Leaves were fully expanded, and the aroma was still milky but had somehow lost its sweet notes (to be honest, it's kind of hard for me to describe). It's starting to lose its flavor- it is still very smooth, but is lacking the milky flavor found in earlier brews.
Brew 5 (3 min.):
Last brew- note that the label says it can go to 6 brews, as long as you increase the brew time (which I'm not). Anyway, the color was a bright green but very light, and the aroma was relatively the same (milky, but without any sweet notes- it's weird). There was almost little taste at this point. I could notice some vegetal notes, but they were too light to really be any factor.
Final Notes:
Overall, a pretty enjoyable tea- milk oolong is still one of my favorites. However, I do prefer Vital Tea Leaf's over this, since it has a much stronger flavor that lasts longer too. Despite that, this is still a good tea. The lower price point (and online availability) makes this much easier to obtain which is a huge plus for me. If you're buying from Tea Ave, I suggest picking this up with your order.
Other Notes:
So, I tried some of the samples a couple of days ago, and I'm impressed. The magnolia oolong (along with the rose) fits well with the jin xuan base, and is not too overbearing like most flower teas. The oriental beauty, however, is my favorite. It smells exactly like fruits and honey, and tastes like it too. It's different than most teas I've had and I really like it.
No comments:
Post a Comment