Berylleb King Tea

I’ve wanted to try this tea for so long. The descriptions were a little confusing with some people not knowing whether or not this was flavored or natural, and I was not sure how strong the overall flavors would be. Berylleb underplays it a little by saying it has a peculiar sweet and buttery taste. After reading the notes and trying it for myself, I can say it has a very pronounced and sweet peach-guava taste in a very floral and buttery background overall. Gong fu is the better way to go because this is a STRONG tea, though Western might be doable with a minimum amount of leaves. Now, I think I might want an amount of it….along with so many other teas.

Considering how long I’ve wanted to try it, I feel validated in that this tea is actually what I’ve been looking for for a while. It is an affordable and sweet oolong with fruit and florals. I’m surprised that not more people like this tea because it is VERY similar to Mandala’s milk oolong-it has a fruit taffy amidst a buttery toffee sweet second steep and gradually becomes more naturally fruity, floral, and vegetal as it is rebrewed. The later steeps are smoother in terms of flavor whereas the beginning is overwhelming-which is why I would recommend steeps of 15 seconds starting off. The body is also fairly thick and sticky in the beginning, and remains full into the later steeps. I got 9 brews, though I went from 15 sec to 30 immediately and brewed it fairly heavy into a 6 minute finale.

The notes that are up: Butter, Fruity, Cream, Guava, Peach, Vanilla, Vegetal, Flowers, is the best description available. Guava is one of the things I picked up immediately, and there were times where I swear it was distinct from the peach. It’s almost like it fluxed from guava, vanilla peach, flowers, and then sweet buttery vegetals in the first four brew sips. Strong flavor is the only deterrent as it really could be too strong for some.

I’d be very surprised if this tea was not flavored, but oddly enough, I think the fruity notes comes from the tea itself whereas the sweet vanilla candy thing is the flavoring. I could be wrong, but the guava-peach thing is something I associate with Dong Dings. It’s why Beautiful Taiwan’s Dong Ding was my favorite at one point. Then again, fruit and vanilla is more pronounced than ‘milk’ is. There were times where the taste felt a little artificial, but the later steeps were very natural.

I’m not sure who I’d recommend this to because it fits more of my personal criteria than a few others. It belongs to Gong Fu Cha in terms of brewing, the sweeter taste would appeal to dessert seekers and those who do not mind flavorings, but it might be overwhelming for anyone if the leaf is not kept down or the brews short. I did not add to much dimension to has already been written about this tea, but all the reviews of it are fairly accurate. It is fruitier than you might expect, and if you like fruity fatty veggie buttery creamy oolongs, this is it for a decent price for $15.99 per 100 grams.

I rate it 95 because of price, flavor, longevity, slight complexity, and preference. I should do it grandpa in a Tumbler Test, or western with less leaves before I make a final judgement, but I have a feeling I need minimal leaves (good thin) and that it is better gong fu. The flavor’s potency and slight artificiality (if it is artificial) is the only thing keeping me from rating it higher or drinking it more often.

I got a free sample of this along with my recent oolong order. The dry leaf has a really intriguing aroma, but I can’t get it into the cup. I can tell there’s a good tea in there somewhere, but I haven’t tasted it yet. I’ll rate it if I can ever get it right.

Fujian Anxi rolled oolong
Anxi (An1 Xi1) = county (安溪) in Minnan known for its oolong cultivars and manufacturing methods; the methods originally tended to involve loosely fisted rolling and moderate oxidation and roasting but have recently been influenced by Taiwan methods
Tie Guan Yin (Tie3 Guan1 Yin1) = oolong category (铁观音 or 鐵觀音), literally Iron Statue Of Guan Yin, referring either to a group of cultivars or a method of manufacture, both originally from Anxi (BabelCarp)

Steeping: No Wash – First steep 5g in 200ml at 80° for 2 mins – 2nd and the rest were fast.

This was a free sample from King Tea. It is an Anxi and therefor unroasted. It brewed as a highly scented pale golden tea with a very delicious creamy aroma. It has very “green” qualities at first taste; fresh and grassy. There is the hint of a floral perfume that’s slightly reminiscent of jasmine.

A light, round flavour in the mouth. Buttery and golden with those freshly cut grass notes. This is a yummy afternoon tea.

Was drinking this earlier today and thought that it was a pretty solid Keemun. A little malty, a little fruity. Didn’t really get any roast or smoke so that worked for me.
Pleasant enough tea – I would drink this again.

Thanks Sil for sharing. :))

Thank heavens I got a sample with my order because I missed it. This remains as one of my favorite blacks, and I am happy to sip it down.

The cocoa taste has faded a little bit, but the berry is still prominant with the malt. I still have a little of this left, and it too has been subjected to my vanillafying.

I blended in a lot of vanilla beans and scented the tea for almost a month, and the results were really nice. The cocoa notes pop out with the heady vanilla, but the sweet berry notes make it creamy sweet. I only scented a few grams, but I am totally doing the rest. If I want a vanilla tea with berry notes, I can make my own.

Good western. Better Gong Fu.

I really wonder if I could turn some into Earl Grey. The natural fruitiness of the tea might interfere, or it could make a smooth compliment.

Still love this one. Now I sipped down what I could before a potential swap. This really is a favorite.

Personally one of my favorites because of memories. Here’s the old description of it from random steepings: " In terms of taste it is actually closer to a Loashan for me having weird berry notes, some almost like lychee. Definitively sweet in every steep, with more pronounced chocolate in steep 2 at fifty seconds, and caramel in steep four for me. So glad I have a decent amount of this. Got a little buzzed on steep 1." I still get the same experience from it, whether at 15 seconds or 30 progressing Gong Fu at 195 degrees F. Also good western with less leaves.

I’d recommend it as a good tea to try from Berryleb if you are curious about the different dimensions Dian Hong may have, or if you want to try a good black that Berrlyeb offers. It might be less impressive for more experienced drinkers, or it might be what they are looking for if they want both the usual notes of a Dian Hong with some berry notes. A good tea no matter how you rate it.

From Dexter! Thank you so much. :)

So I’ve done some half-assed semi-gongfu brewing of this tea. A couple steeps were overdone and made my teeth feel weird, but generally I’ve enjoyed it. It’s quite rich, and… raisiny, almost. I would consider getting more, even though jin jun mei isn’t my favourite style of tea, so that says something about this one.

I bought it from berylleb in 8g vacuumed sample pack.
First infusion (45 s):
I would say that this tea is good introduction to oolongs with floral (orchid) note – at the beginning present mostly in smell. This note is really subtle, doesn’t irritate in any way. Taste is only slightly vegetal. After 15 mins when tea cooled down I started to taste floral notes as well. Interesting. Quite good for first steeping.
Second infusion (90s):
Floral smell is at same level as on first infusion.

Final: Considering I’m not fan of teas with floral notes this is quite good tea. It is nice and relaxing so I’d recommend it to anyone who is fond of smell of orchids.

I get a mild malt with tanginess from this and a bit of honey. There isn’t anything that makes me say “Ooo, have to have this over similar Yunnan Sourcing teas” though the price is certainly right. It is close to some honey blacks, but the mouth feel afterward is much more drying than those have been for me and not as much honey sensation.

I hope I got this entered correctly and not in duplicate. There are so many names for this company. I searched through all of them I could find and didn’t see this listed.

This is my first tea from Berylleb. And honestly, their name makes me smile every time I see it. I want to pronounce it Bellyreb and that makes me think of a good ol’ boy in overalls with a round pot belly. Not the most PC of associations, I grant you. But the picture of that drinking tea from a China cups tickles me.

I am glad to have tried this. It was a pleasant morning cup. Thanks again, Liquid Proust!

One of the first teas that made me interested in Taiwan Oolongs. Butter smell is in pefect harmony with the whole impression.
Personally I steep it around 7-8 times…basically one teaspoon for whole working day at the office.
As Leon and some other members mentioned, I started with less then one minute for first steep time.
Highly recommend!

Sip down. This tea is officially one of my favorite Dan Congs from the past few years. It’s also interesting to see how my opinion changed of it based on brewing parameters when I just got into the world of Gong Fu. I’ve got other roasted oolongs thanks to LP and Rasseru, so I am more than covered. Not sure if I will buy some in the near future.

Dan Congs were my go to, and now, I am not too sure. I’d probably come back to this one. Otherwise, the Indonesia Bao Zhong I’ve had has best fit the nutty and floral profile I crave. I would deny a offered Dan Cong either, however. At least I’m getting better on finding the essentials of something I want and do not need, lol.

Wow, I’ve been using too many leaves and wasting my money because of it. Thank heavens I realized how strong this tea was even with 7 leaves alone. I brewed it 30 seconds and it was incredibly almond-like, nutty with a sweet floral honeysuckle background. This tea is not nearly as robust as the Oolong Supreme Dan Cong, but it is very light, subtle, and filled with flavor. I figured out what I wanted from the brew, so my review improves. My rating also improves significantly because the less leaves needed means the more money saved.

The first time was wonderful. It was like drinking orchids with almonds and dried cherries. Of course, the session was Gong Fu with 4 grams in a little less than five ounces. The flavors got sweeter, smokier, nuttier, and better. Other times were disappointing and it tasted like a bland oolong with a little nuttiness, not much else. Sometimes it could be too roasty for longer steepings. That’s why 10-20-30 seconds is better.

Drinking it now in a giant tea ball, it opens more and opens up nicely. I change my mind on this one too much. I either love it or am too bored with it. There’s little in between. I’d recommend it to experienced drinkers for sure, but something too exotic for newbies. It really has to be brewed with precision.

need to get a few sipdowns in since tea friends exploded my tea quantities heh. Last of this today was another decent enough cup, though noting spectacularly WOW. :)

drink, drink, drink. so many tea, so little time. a decent cup for this morning, but nothing exciting to say about it. :)

bumping the rating up on this one – not sure if it’s just a time factor, in that when i first started drinking it, it was too fresh but this seems to have mellowed out and is tastier than when i first started drinking it. there’s much more flavour happening here which makes me a happier camper.

my taste buds might be having a weird day today. This tea, which has been average at best, is rather tasty today, while my tiger assam is not quite right. on the upside, if my taste buds have changed, this is a nice cup of tea now lol

PUlled this one out again. it’s still a sort of average tea, though i am getting a few malt notes today as it cools. Not a bad tea, but pretty average.

Still not sure where i sit with this tea. I don’t dislike it, but i don’t love it. Maybe i need to try brewing it gonfu or something. There’s a sweetness to this that i don’t typically associate with my favourite keemuns, which is maybe why this is throwing me off. I’ll also have to share this one with a few folks and see what they think. :)

this was a new tea that i tried yesterday. i need to try it again in a normal mug instead of the travel mug but this one wasn’t half bad. decent malty sort of medium tea.