Taiwan Sourcing

My first jade oolong. Very unique flavors and nice relaxing, happy qi.

I love smelling the wet leaf after a quick rinse. There’s the usual floral notes but with something behind that I can’t pin down, maybe caramel or nougat ? Really sweet on the first 3 steeps (but not sickly sweet), a little floral and then watermelon. Very unique.

Also loved being able to read all about the processing in the 3 part post on the website !

This oolong is all around accessible, complex, and has an incredible energy. This tea smelled and tasted like buttered popcorn, and left a soothing aftertaste. I think that the price tag is sort of on the higher side, but this tea is made with exceptional quality so I think its worth it.

I wrote a review of it, and you can read more here…

https://www.theoolongdrunk.com/single-post/2017/04/23/Drink-This-Potion-Before-Midnight

This I think is a good tea but the roast profile is just too strong for me. Next time I will try brewing with fewer leaves. There was a sweet note behind the roast but I couldn’t really taste it enough to pin it down.

I brewed this eight times in a 110 ml teapot with 7g leaf and 190 degree water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, and 30 sec.

The main note of this tea I would describe as sweet and grassy. It has a bit of a salty aftertaste. It is really quite good. One of the best unroasted oolongs I have tried. It did not seem a horribly complex tea as I didn’t notice a lot of different notes. Still it was very good.

I steeped this eight times in a 150ml gaiwan with 190 degree water and 8.3g leaf. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, and 30 sec. It was a very light color until the leaves opened up. Once they did it was a yellow colored tea liquid.

This is a really nice oolong. It is slightly floral with notes of honey, without the intense sweetness of honey that is. I brewed this eight times but I think it would have gone a few more. It was a very light colored brew.

I steeped this tea eight times in a 150ml gaiwan with 9.2g leaf and 190 degree water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steteped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, and 30 sec.

I noticed the extended forecast for dreary with a capital D for this weekend and I planned accordingly. Make some Thai jok and have this tea alongside.
First the jok (AKA congee). 6 cups H2O, 2 tbsp fish sauce, 1 tbsp brown sugar, 2 kaffir lime leaves, 1 bruised stalk of lemongrass. Bring to boil. Add 2/3 cup cracked jasmine rice, lower heat and simmer 20 minutes stirring often. Meanwhile toast 2 inch ginger and 3 fat cloves of garlic, both julienned, in neutral oil till brown and add to jok. Crisp up some Thai sausages, cut into chunks and toss in. Slice some snow peas and add at last minute then serve with bean sprouts, fried garlic bits and cilantro. Oh and the tea.
Now for the tea. In the bag it is just a run of the mill green oolong, just enough perfum to set the juices flowing but not extreme. Then I pour the first brew and oh dear, I’m having one of those very special tea moments. The wafting notes of floral bouquets and exotic fruits abound. Then the sip, man oh man, it immediately opens up on the tongue with gobs of thick honey, buttery, gardenia, star fruit and more I can’t describe. This is the best Jade I’ve ever had, ever. Full bodied and long lasting a well structured tea.
Onto the pairing. It was definitely as the weatherman said it would be, 36° and raining. When its like this oatmeal, congee and jok are my go to breakfasts. I can cook and my hubby likes something in his belly before yoga. So the stage was set. The combo of the jok with the lemongrass and lime leaves along with the meat and veg meeting the jade oolong is a top ten culinary experience for me. The flavors all complimented and balanced each other so much I didn’t want it to end.

This is the only Jasmine tea I have liked so far, some Jasmines taste artificial but not this one.

It is sweet and floral balanced perfectly with the Oolong.

Sipdown. I brought this to work to finish off and have liked it better.
Once steeped, leaves are big and intact.
Taste is plum and fruity, sugarcane sweetness with a full mouthfeel and thick body. Juicy. The sugarcane really lingers in the aftertaste.
Thanks for sharing Daylon R Thomas!

I think this is the tea I have. Received in trade from Daylon R Thomas
200F, 1 min, western, backlog
Sweet and malty, smooth and thick, roasted note in background.
My stomach was a little weird after drinking this tea, so I didn’t continue much past two steeps. I have more so I’ll eventually try it again to see if I have the same reaction.

Had this tea about 5 different times at this point and retried it while I’ve been sick : (
https://www.instagram.com/p/BRqzwWTggFX/

I find that the 45% roast is not enough. There needs to be at least 1/4th+ more roast to this to give it a nice pop of taste inn the high notes and bring about the steady taste throughout. This tea is not one for aroma, but that’s generally my thoughts when it comes to semi roasted oolongs as they tend to all be the same. Light cups with some hints of floral underneath the complex dark roast that isn’t finished on this; which I wish it was!

The leaf is somewhat small. Wondering if that is due to this being a winter harvest or not. Will continue to play around with this tea, should have another 10 sessions or so :)

Beautiful long unbroken leaf, it looks good. Fragrant whiffs of dried plum, it smells good. Deep bronze hued brew, it feels good. Flavors of cocoa, plum, graham cracker, malt and prune, it tastes good. Ah but there’s a rub.
I have really enjoyed all the teas from this company. I like that they offer, a wide range of teas and consider there descriptors most honest and helpful when selecting. This tea though as good as I have stated above just does its mojo with the first 2-3 steeps. After that I get a gentle sourness that I have only tasted before in Darjeelings. I have brewed this many a times and no matter that sour note comes through. Will it distract me from enjoying the first few steeps, heck no?

Top notch Jade, oozing like buttah on the tongue but not too thick. Highly aromatic, good staying power. Quite the nice specimen.

Bright, light, right. Excellent everyday tea reasonable priced with the flavors most look to in a Jade. Sweet, clean, heady aromas, hint of butter, spinach and camellia. Came as a free sample, with a sweet note.

This is a nice black tea with notes of malt. Can’t say I noticed any mint notes there. It was good. This is already my fourth tea this morning so I stopped at eight steeps. I think it would have gone a few more. It was good as are all the black teas from Taiwan Sourcing.

I steeped this eight times in a 150ml gaiwan with 7.5g leaf and boiling water. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, and 30 sec.

“Goddamnitt Daylon, another oolong?”
“Not quite, it’s from the same varietal-
“Bullshit. This smells and tastes like an oolong.” My mother then smiled with her sly green eyes in confidence.
I responded with my own confidence. I knew what she was talking about. It tasted more like the higher oxidized varietal it is known for than any common green tea. I kept that in mind when I responded. “It’s a Jin Xuan, mom, which is really common for milk flavored oolong. This one is a green tea, so it’s really a baby oolong.”
My mom continued to smile. She chuckled with a quiet glee. “It’okay Daylon. This one is actually good. It reminds me of the ice cream from the Hale Koa.”
“The co-co-the green tea ice cream?”
“Yeah, that one.” She took another sip and left me the rest.

To think I haven’t opened this in over a year, and to think a green GABA tea would strike such a conversation. My mom is by no means inexperienced with tea, though she is picky with her greens and oolongs. This one is a good exception to the norm. Much of what I said in the Spring 2015 version is the same for this tea. It is lemony, grassy, thick and mildly creamy in texture, floral, tart, and sour at least for me. And the GABA did have its focusing effect. I definitely prefer the GABA Oolong, but I am not heartbroken for sending it off, nor am I regretful for keeping this one handy.

I personally would not reach for it despite its impressive quality. In order for the GABA’s to have any effect, I’ve noticed that waiting preserves its effects on me personally. So I would drink it often, but once a week rather than 3 days in that same week or everyday.