Thailand 'Jin Xuan' Sticky Rice Oolong Tea

Swap Sample Sipdown! (33)

I was thrilled to find a great selection of unflavored oolong samples in my swap package from Kawaii433! I’ve been digging straight oolong lately for some reason, so it’s amazing to have so many to try. Thank you Kawaii, you’re the best! ❤

Of course, I have to try this one first. I absolutely love the sticky rice oolong from David’s Tea, and that’s saying something, as I don’t generally find David’s blends to be all that good. So I’m very excited to try another sticky rice oolong from a source that specializes more in straight teas!

As expected, this is friggin’ fantastic! It has a splendid sweet and sticky rice flavor that makes my heart go pitter-patter. But there’s also more complexity than just that. There’s lashings of butter and cream and even sweet corn and popcorn notes. Of course it’s deliciously silky smooth, which when combined with the sweet and creamy notes makes it almost custard-like in flavor. I would even go so far as to say I taste a hint a vanilla in here, though that’s probably just the sweet cream flavor tricking me!

And, of course, that’s not the end either. There’s a satisfying nuttiness that goes beyond rice, perhaps suggesting cashew or macadamia nut. And underneath all of the luxurious, almost dessert-like flavors, soft floral and gentle stonefruit notes that linger on the tongue long after the end of the sip.

So rice! Much wow!

This smells divine. Seriously, I couldn’t help but plant my nose in the bag and take a few long drags before getting around to the brewing.

I think I might’ve accidentally brewed it a bit under 185, but the result was still delicious. Strange, but delicious. My first impression was that it still smelled amazing – rice and that light sweet note – but the flavor was all broccoli. As it cooled it cycled through spinach, wet popcorn and settled at something resembling rice once it was close to room temp.

It’s a fascinating oolong and I can’t wait to toss a few leaves in the bottom and have a go at grandpa-ing it while I pack for my next trip.

Wow, I didn’t expect this to taste like the real stuff. Freshly cooked rice fluffed with a knob of butter, and those crunchy pieces that are stuck to the bottom of the pot. Om nom nom nom…
The tea leaves are olive green but I could also spot the odd blanched-spinach-green leaf in there, which I guess is safe to assume is the Nuo Mi Xiang herb. Not sure if it’s a rogue leaf or if it’s supposed to be there.
The color of the liquor is pale gold with slight green hints – in-between a sauvignon blanc and semillon.
Back to the taste, in addition to the sticky rice and going in the same direction there’s notes of popcorn. Balancing all this toasty, crunchy goodness is some refreshing greenness that reminds me of stinging nettles tea. This completes the savoury profile and goes well with the buttery notes too.
It’s a unique tea and an interesting experience indeed. I can see myself going back to it once in a while.

I can’t believe I haven’t already reviewed this! I’ve bought it about three times. It’s a great flavoured or flavour-imparted tea. Slightly sweet, satisfying, rounded. Changes each steeping.

Just adding to my original review that I drink this often and put in another order for it. I finally got the banana and vanilla notes. Yay. It is quite complex, and definitely not all about just the sticky rice.

I need to learn how to focus, focus, focus.
>.<

It’s so yummy on this cold afternoon.

Porcelain gaiwan, 6g, 195-200˚ F, 8 steeps: rinse, 25s, 35s, 45s, 55s, 65s, 75s, 85s, 95s

I wasn’t expecting this to taste and smell exactly like sticky rice but it does. It’s got a delicious smell and taste. It almost doesn’t taste like tea. It makes me hungry, in fact.

(Gaiwan, 30 sec infusions for first 4, +5 sec following, 13 steeps total)
Very interesting – had no idea what to expect! Wet leaves smell lightly toasted, touch of butter & starch. Pale yellow brew to start. Steeps 1-2 are delicately savory, buttery green vegetable flavors with just a little sweetness. Not getting “rice” so much as general toasty starchy notes. Fun to see the bright green “sticky rice” leaves open up while oolong leaves are still fairly tight. Steep 3 has tiny additions of bitterness and dry finish. Steeps 4-7 get a light floral aroma, though taste isn’t really there yet. Steeps 8-11 gradually lose flavor, especially buttery notes. Final steeps 12-13 get a slight boost of floral aroma and flavor, but all other flavors are receding.

Next day followed pkg directions for western brewing; had most of the same flavors as gongfu, but not as distinct. Pleasant and generally comforting.

This tea is exactly what you expect if you like A) good Jin Xuan and B) the flavor and aroma of Thai sticky rice. It’s scented with an herb that has that flavor and aroma. It’s delicious and enjoyable. Nice floral notes of a good Jin Xuan. Not a lot to say because this is just what I imagined it would be. I will say the Jin Xuan is a stronger and less neutral base than I expected, so the flavor is pretty balanced between the tea and the sticky rice herb. I expected the sticky rice flavor would be stronger than the tea. That was the only thing that differed from my expectation. Either way, I love it. Been looking for a good sticky rice tea for a while now and this one hits the spot!

This was my most recent sipdown. I had difficulty sleeping last night due to neck spasms, thus I stayed up late drinking tea and listening to music. At first, I was unimpressed by this flavored/scented oolong, but it grew on me in a big way over the course of my review session.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of rolled, scented tea leaves in a 4 ounce gaiwan filled with 194 F water for 10 seconds. This infusion was followed by 13 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 12 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 leaves emitted aromas of cream, butter, vanilla, and sticky rice. After the rinse, I noted emerging sugarcane and custard aromas and an almost overpowering sticky rice scent. The first infusion saw the sticky rice absolutely dominate the nose. In the mouth, the liquor offered strong notes of sticky rice, cream, butter, vanilla, and custard chased by hints of sugarcane and banana. Subsequent infusions gradually softened, revealing mineral, popcorn, grass, daylily shoot, spinach, and seaweed impressions in the mouth. The scent of sticky rice continued to dominate the nose, but it gradually smoothed out, allowing the scents of cream, butter, vanilla, sugarcane, and custard to reassert themselves somewhat. A hint of popcorn also gradually became evident on the nose. The final infusions were very soft and smooth, offering lingering sticky rice, butter, and mineral notes balanced by somewhat subtler impressions of vanilla, cream, popcorn, and seaweed.

I was tempted to give up on this tea after the first three infusions. Though I love sticky rice, this tea was way too heavy on the sticky rice aromas and flavors in the early goings. As I pressed forward, however, the characteristics of the tea began to assert themselves more and a nice balance of Jin Xuan and sticky rice was achieved. Due to this occurrence, I found that my opinion of this tea had done a complete 180 by the time I wrapped up my review session. Definitely a tea worth trying, give this one a shot if you are the sort of person who enjoys flavored oolongs.

One of my favorite teas I’ve had. This tea starts out with a nice buttery and light popcorn taste. Not to mention it fills the room with those flavors almost the whole time. Very pleasant, no incense needed with this. Over time it expands out to include toast, rice and root vegetable flavors. Very smooth on the sip and swallow. Highly recommended.