Taiwan Oriental Beauty (Bai Hao) Oolong Tea

Thanks Liberteas!

I have been drinking a lot of Oriental Beauties lately and I generally like – if not – LOVE them! I try and pick out what makes them different. So…going beyond the stereo-typical O.B. notes, here…

I found this to be wonderfully woodsy-sweet with peachy-nutty-floral notes…but also, more importantly, and more-so standing out from the other O.B.‘s – slightly bakey! It’s almost like a danish type hint underneath! Whatever it is…it’s darned tasty! YUM!

Thank you Angel for this sample.

In raw form this tea is a lovely blend of dark brown, light brown and silver green leaves. It has an earthy, wooden scent.

Once brewed the tea is brown in colour and has a slightly spicy and toasted, earthen scent.

My husband had a sip and said he could taste pasta and pizza in this tea. The most bizzare statement that he has ever made. I found this tea to be spicy and warming with a gentle toasted almost fruity and floral essence. Very beautiful and elegant. Each sip brings forward different flavours but each one is as tasty as the last.

Side Note – I don’t think I have ever had a spicy natural Oolong before.

I’ve tried this type of oolong twice before, both from TeaSpring and with a couple of years in between. The first time I thought it was wonderful so a few years later I bought it again and was faced with abject disappointment, because I really didn’t care for it any more. I believe I ended up giving the rest of it away. Recently(ish) this type of oolong had a lot of enthusiastic reviews on Steepster, in many cases this one from Teavivre in particular, so as I was putting in an order anyway, I figured I would try a sample of it. Even better, because my order reaching the price that it did, my sample was free. Ha! Win.

The leaves have a peculiar aroma because they don’t smell like an oolong at all. They smell like a black tea. I can’t actually pick much out in the way of notes, other than that high-grown-ish tobacco-y one, which was rather far from what I’d expected to find in an oolong. Try as I might I couldn’t actually find any of the notes I normally associate with oolong at all.

After steeping it’s more oolong-y and slightly floral and wooden. It’s less perplexing now and even has a faint note of fruit somewhere in there. Something peach-y, I think, but I might be influenced by the fact that I remember at one point reading about this particular type of oolong being characterised by having a note of peach. So I might be picking up some peach.

The flavour is very floral, which is a little unfortunate because I don’t much care for floral. It often comes off as a bit soapy or perfume-y to me. Oh well. Looks like the second time was I tried this type of oolong was not a fluke. Neither, mind you, do I think my first go with it was, but it was during a time where I also greatly enjoyed Darjeeling. My tastes simply changed in between the first and second time. And clearly they haven’t changed back yet. When I start drinking Darj by the liter, I’ll know to try this type of oolong again as well.

Anyway, apart from the floral notes, there’s definitely a note of fruit now, and it’s not something I’m imagining this time. It’s definitely there and it’s quite strong once you get through all the flowers. Again, I’m thinking a juicy peach. There are also some notes of wood and a slight hint of grass.

Well, the floral aspect rather put me off, so I’m glad I just got me a test sample. For someone who enjoys high grown teas, I imagine this would be excellent. For me… Well, I prefer something darker and earthy.

My Teavivre order came way sooner than I thought it would! Exciting! I have been wanting to try this one for awhile.

I brewed this Western style at 1,2,3 minutes. I also brewed this gongfu. It is equally as good both methods.

It is sweet, a little bit fruity, with notes of butter and maltiness. There is a hint of vegetal in the background. This is really good.

I’m really glad I joined Steepster or I would never know about any other teas, other than black that is. Oolong piqued my curiosity because it has a funny looking name and most of the pictures I had seen of it were little balls, such neat little packages. The first oolong I tried was a bit too green for me and almost put me off of them all together. I’m so glad it didn’t as this tea is really wonderful.

I steeped it three times so far. All of my steepings were the same temperature. I added a minute more each time. With each one I’ve had empty cup syndrome. My first steeping was and incredibly smooth, suave cup that hinted at honey and fruit in it’s sweetness. The second was still very smooth and sweet but I felt like the “oolong” taste was deeper. On the third the “oolong” taste was much more intense. It didn’t get in the way of the honey and fruity notes. The tea was still smooth and so comfortable. Very complex with out being overly fussy or hard to suss out. I’m going to save the leaves and begin again tomorrow and see what unfolds.

I picked up my Teavivre Oolong sampler at the post office this morning, YAY! Thanks Teavivre!

I was excited to try the Oriental Beauty first, since I’ve never had it before! It is a very mellow and sweet oolong. I think I am starting to recognize that signature leaf-hopper flavor! :)

Anyway, I think personally I prefer a buttery green oolong over an oxidized one, but this is very pleasant and I would drink it again.

So, Oriental Beauty, the oolong everyone raves about from the tea company everyone raves about. It’s a pretty tea when dry with colors ranging from pale yellow, golden, red-brown to almost black. I can find scents of honey, peach and bread. I’m following Teavivre’s recommendation of 30sec, 1min and 2min steeps at 85C.

1st steep: I’m going to start getting a reputation for painting strange flavor “pictures” here if things keep going the way they have, and this tea isn’t going to help! The wet leaf first smelled like the wonderful crust of freshly baked bread, and then—wait for it—Southern-style green beans. The type that’s been cooked to an inch of its life, with bacon (and plenty of bacon fat) and sugar added. Reminds me of my favourite BBQ restaurants back home. For a homesick South Carolinian, it’s hard to get past that, but if I really push through it I think I can find some peach following it up. And that was just the wet leaf! This first cup was quite light in color, like fresh peach juice, and very smooth. The flavors are buttery with bread, honey and peach, but not exactly sweet.
2nd steep: This steep is darker, like copper. A gentle bitterness this time. The flavors are mostly related to what I found in the 1st steep, but they’re in a different order and there are some additions. First is buttery, baked fruit (mainly peach), then cinnamon, wood, and freshly baked bread. There’s a slight note of liquorice that comes towards the end, but it’s not strong or unpleasant (as I don’t like liquorice). But the overall impression I get from this steep is remembering when I would spread a piece of pane di casa with some ricotta, put sliced peach on top with a little brown sugar and cinnamon, then grill it. That’s not all that sweet, and neither is this tea, which is surprising considering the flavors involved.
3rd steep: The bitterness more noticeable this time, but it’s not offensive. The flavors are now pretty well restrained to butter, honey, peach and bread, and they’re all a good bit weaker. There’s not really that much to say about this steep. The bitterness did make this last steep not as easy-drinking as the last steep of most other teas I’ve had. I’m not saying it was bad, just that I simply noticed the bitter taste each sip. I couldn’t mindlessly drink it while reading, say.

Sipdown #67.
My thanks, as always, to Angel of Teavivre, for this generous sample.
I can’t say that it was different from Butiki’s, but it was also delicious, with elements of Honey & coriander!
I thought those are the last of the Oriental Beauties in my cupboard (I drank Mandala’s last week, I think), but it turns out I have one that came in a trade last week. Oh well, that one won’t be part of this extravaganza, but I’m sure I’ll enjoy drinking it soon!

After hearing so much about this one, I knew I had to have it as my next oolong sample! (sipdown – 96)

I steeped it for 2.5 minutes, which might have been a bit much. This tea is very strong and roasty, but it almost tastes like a Yunnan or some variety of black tea, instead of an oolong as I’m used to it. Maybe that’s because I’m not getting ANY floral notes at all?

This smells wonderful though – dark and sweet, and the tea itself tastes just as nice. It’s very woodsy with a bit of honey.

I’ll update when I re-steep this later on.

I think I prefer the Da Hong Pao, but this is close.

ETA: Second steep was 2 minutes, and is almost too mild! I went from too much to too little.

I’ll have to buy more samples of this in the future!

Oolong Week!

Gosh, this tea is soo pretty! I feel pretty just drinking it! The leaves start out silver tipped, then bloom through fall colours and finally into a reddy tinge. The tea itsself is a lovely reddy orange brown!

Taste? Very balanced between honeysuckle floral and maple earthy. It’s not too floral or earthy, so this would be a good starter oolong. I’d love to serve this to guests!

Full review on my blog, The Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.wordpress.com/2013/05/29/taiwan-oriental-beauty-from-teavivre-tea-review/