Week of Jin Xuan - Day 3: Magnolia Oolong* & Thailand Sticky Rice 'Khao Hom' Oolong

So, today I've pretty much done nothing other than mail my package for Reddit's 1st White Elephant Tea Exchange and make french toast. I should really do something big before summer ends since school is coming up fast. Anyway, today's review is between two different scented oolongs. The album for the review is the Skullgirls Original Soundtrack PLUS by Michiru Yamane and others.


Magnolia Oolong - Tea Ave *NO REVIEW*
Type & Appearance: XX
Recommended Brew Time, Temp., Amount: 100°C, 8g, 1 min. + 30 sec. each brew
Rating: XX | XX/100
# of Brews: X

Notes:
To be completely honest, I screwed up. It turns out that the sample I thought was Magnolia Oolong was actually Monkey Picked Tie Guan Yin from Red Blossom Tea Co. As I started drinking, I realized that I drank the whole sample of Magnolia Oolong given to me a long time ago by Tea Ave and didn't save any of it at all. So, no review for this one today (it'll be coming later in a full review). I'll still be tasting it in order to create a frame of reference for the Sticky Rice oolong, however. Sorry again! (If I do remember though, the Magnolia Oolong was way too weak in terms of flavor, and the fact that I didn't have extra leaves didn't help; it was a really small sample.)


Thailand Sticky Rice 'Khao Hom' Oolong - What-Cha
Type & Appearance: Flavored Oolong - large, drab light green balls of oolon
Recommended Brew Time, Temp., Amount: 80°C, 1 tsp, 2 min.
Rating: 92 | A-/100
# of Brews:  10

Notes:
By the first brew, this tea had already begun to take on the sticky rice taste. The liquid had a very light golden color with a floral, sweet, and obviously rice-like aroma. The flavor starts off with a somewhat sour, muscatel flavor, then moves into the flavor of sticky rice (it's hard for me to explain, but if you've tasted it before you know what I mean; it's ). It finishes off on a sweet, light cinnamon note. Over brews, the color had begun to become darker, but the aroma stayed relatively the same. As for the flavor, the fruity notes became much more pronounced, but the sticky rice flavor remained and became even more stronger. In fact, the cinnamon notes were eventually lost and the sticky rice stayed as a very dominant aftertaste, which I could taste after drinking and exhaling. The creamy, milky notes of the Jin Xuan base began to come out, making the tea taste surprisingly a lot like milk- something which I haven't seen in a lot of Jin Xuan. The flavor began to wane after 7 brews, but it still tasted relatively the same. There was little astringency throughout the complete drinking session. Near the end, the creaminess of the Jin Xuan became the dominant flavor, and the sticky rice became a light aftertaste. Overall, a really, really great drinking experience.


Final Notes
Overall, I'm actually pretty happy, despite my blunder. The sticky rice oolong really made up for it with its flavor and I enjoyed drinking it very much. This is the longest a flavored oolong has lasted in terms of number of brews, and the taste stayed the same without changing much. I actually had to stop early (10 brews) since I ran out of water, but I'm almost certain it could go much longer. On par with the Vietnamese green I had yesterday.