Tea Ave

Finally trying the last of Tea Ave’s line up of scented teas, and only now do I stop to ponder… Does the name mean Tea Avenue? Or are we talking “welcome tea” and “goodbye tea”… the latin ave, as in Ave Maria?

I imagine it’s the prior but I have fun imagining it’s the latter, as it sums up my thoughts when drinking tea.

The scent of rose oolong is a bit more mild than the other tea ave teas I’ve tried. Of course there is rose, and a creamy scent from the Jin Xuan cultivar oolong. In a way, this sweet and mild combination reminds me of fruit loops breakfast cereal when smelling the leaves dry in the warm gaiwan.

The rose petals become a gorgeous magenta and float to the top while most of the tea leaves sink as I fill the gaiwan with water. The aroma of the wet leaves is really creamy with subtle rose notes. As with the other more subtle scented teas from Tea Ave, I’m not getting much fragrance from the Taiwanese aroma cup set I’m using to enjoy this tea.

The taste of this tea is very light, and has a nice subtle rose taste. I’m enjoying it more than I thought I would. Most times I’ve had roses in tea, they’ve been really strong, and while I love rose, too much can sort of taste cloying. I have a horrendous headache as I’m writing this, so luckily this isn’t too fragrant or I’d be tossing it out the window!

The second infusion has quite a bit more flavor, more rosey, but still not overpowering. I really enjoy it. By the third, I’m mostly tasting the creamy Jin Xuan and not the roses. On the fourth infusion, I’m getting mild notes of high mountain foliage, the kind of taste you’d expect from great Taiwanese oolong.

I would say this tea would be ideal for someone who likes a little bit of flowers but maybe not a lot of them, because you really only taste the rose in this for a couple of infusions, and after that it’s all creamy smooth high mountain oolong. It’s a nice transition and a very subtle, relaxing comfort tea. Has helped my headache a bit.

In fact I’d say that I liked this more than some of the scented teas from Tea Ave I thought I’d love.

Here are my rankings, now that I’ve tried them all. The first two are stellar. The rest are ones I enjoy, but they didn’t leave a strong impression, as they tend to be rather subtle and require a lot of leaf if you want more than subtle.

1. Magnolia
2. Osmanthus
3. Ginger Lily
4. Rose
5. Jasmine
6. Cape Jasmine

This tea is lovely. I’ve had Oriental Beauty in the past and didn’t like it but this had a deep honey sweetness along with a honey floral aroma (almost like honeysuckle). There was a bit of roast flavour to the tea which added to the overall taste. Did 3 infusions on this tea and took a picture of my gaiwan set with the tea but couldn’t figure out how to get it from my PC onto instagram on the computer. It was turning into an hour long (or 2) job!!! I’ve finally given up. Too much trouble.

In the warm gaiwan, the dry leaves smell like honey and flowers, a little bit like jasmine, but softer. The wet leaves smell quite similar.

The first infusion of this tea is so light on aroma, quite light in taste as well. I’ve been noticing with some of Tea Ave’s scented oolongs, you can use a little more tea than I’m accustomed to using. It’s hard for me to describe the flavor of this first infusion, other than to say a little similar to jasmine, so I’ll move on.

The second infusion is still a bit subtle to me. It’s a nice floral flavor, somewhat similar to jasmine. Third infusion, more of the same. It’s difficult to describe how this differs from Jasmine. There’s a bit of a flavor that leans it more toward a spice/savory kind of floral taste, sort of like saffron. It’s not as aromatic as I’m used to in most floral teas. It took about four infusions for me to taste the creamy butteryness of the Jin Xuan in this one. Not sure why. I think it’s just a lighter tea and took me a few infusions to brew it more strong. I have been brewing my oolong teas a bit lighter lately in attempt not to overpower them.

Not a bad tea, but so far the least compelling to me of the Tea Ave scented oolongs. I imagine those who have nostalgic memories of gardenias (a.k.a. cape jasmine) may enjoy this more than I did.

I must admit the instructions on the tea said to use substantially more leaf than I did, and to steep it longer than I did. I may have to try it that way and see if it yields more interesting results for me.

On the other hand, I brewed this exactly the same way I did all the other Tea Ave teas I’ve tried, and some of those got perfect 100 scores from me… so hmm.

UPDATE
I brewed this again using more leaf per water and the flavor is much more pronounced. It isn’t particularly different than what I had mentioned, but tastes stronger and is more enjoyable this way. :3

Alright, I’m excited to try this since this tea seems to be exclusive to Tea Ave… that is I haven’t seen any other companies in America who have tea scented with ginger lilies.

Sticking my nose into the pouch, the dry leaves smell like EGGNOG. Oh man, how I love eggnog. I’m excited. The dry leaves in the warm gaiwan smell like honey and toasted sesame. Yum. The wet leaves after the first infusion have the classic high mountain oolong aroma with a hint of gingerbread in the background. It’s faint.

The first infusion is a pale green-yellow. I’m using Taiwanese aroma cups to drink this. The aroma cup isn’t holding much scent on this infusion, and the aroma coming off the tea is very faint as well. The tea definitely has a soft hint of ginger taste. I’ve been so curious about this tea, wondering, will it just taste like ginger? Will it taste like some kind of flowery ginger? I’d say it tastes like a subtle, creamy ginger, and I do mean subtle. Though, I will say the ginger is the dominant flavor over the oolong leaves. So far the whole thing is subtle. It reminds me of banana bread a little bit, or ginger cookies.

Second infusion, the leaves still smell like high mountain oolong, mostly, with a subtle ginger hint. Again, the aroma is so subtle I’m hardly getting anything from the aroma cup. Just the faintest hint of ginger. This tea seems to be more of a flavor tea than an aromatic one, so I think from here on I’ll do slower pours, aerate it less and try to get a thicker liquor and longer aftertaste.

The second infusion tastes again rather light, but the ginger flavor emerges more, there’s an earthy quality as well, substantially less creamy taste than the other scented oolongs Tea Ave has used this Alishan Jin Xuan cultivar for, making me wonder if a lot of the creamy taste of those were coming from their respective flowers. There’s a subtle warmth to this tea like the warmth of eating ginger, but really diminished.

Alright, third infusion, still not aromatic, and still quite a subdued, delicate taste. I like it, but boy is this tea ever light. I could have probably used a larger amount of tea leaves than I usually do with this one. To be fair though, a subtle tea is not a bad thing. This tea is relaxing and has a very unique character. It’s a comfort tea, for sure.

Compared to tea that has fresh ginger added, the flavor of this is much more mellow and calm. It’s nice in that way, with a warming touch, rather than a spicy and invigorating one.

I won’t shout from the rooftops about this one. It’s good, but not particularly complex, not very dynamic from one infusion to the next. It feels a bit lacking for a high mountain oolong. On the other hand, it has an earthy, herby, very root-like flavor that isn’t terribly common in tea. I can even sense a little similarity between this taste and radish.

Good stuff. I probably won’t buy more from what I have purchased in this order, but I do enjoy it.

Magnolias are one of my favorite flowers. I love how the trees just burst into color with the extravagant, large blooms with their sweet floral scent. Much like the fresh flowers, the scent of this tea is not a heady perfumey kind of floral. It’s a fruity, sweet, very candy-like one. I’m reminded of fruit candy… maybe something like lychee, when smelling the dry leaves in a warm gaiwan, I can also smell the creamy buttery scent of the Jin Xuan oolong quite strongly. The pair very well.

I’ll be fair and say I have high expectations from this tea, due to my love of magnolias and how impressive the other scented Tea Ave oolongs were that I’ve tried, so here goes! I’m nervous.

I’ll admit, the brewed leaves in the gaiwan smell like sweet kettle corn, buttery and toasty with a hint of sweetness. Wasn’t expecting that! What an interesting aroma. I’m enjoying this tea using the Tea Ave aroma cups. The scent of the first infusion is very light in the cup, a really soft floral, it lingers a little more strongly in the brewed liquor than in the aroma cup this time. The aroma and taste are both very light and just a bit fruity. It reminds me a little bit of strawberry. It blends so well with the Jin Xuan cultivar tea leaves. This is such a smooth and delicate tea. Wonderful.

On the second infusion, I can definitely smell the aroma in the aroma cup more, and it smells just like a fresh magnolia! Wow! It’s still quite delicate with aromas of dew and floral. It’s odd thinking of how jasmine tea is sort of the standard and most widely made floral scented tea. I wonder how that came to be? Because this magnolia is so much nicer than any jasmine tea I’ve had. It’s more subtle and in that sense so much more perplexing and tasty. Maybe magnolia flowers are simply more difficult or expensive to grow and use for scenting. Who knows.

By the third infusion, the wet leaves smell like white pepper, which happens to have a buttery scent to it to if you go grab some of the dry powder and (carefully) smell some of it. The taste is more of the same flavors as before, perhaps with a bit more of the vegetal taste of the oolong and a little bit less of the sweet floral.

I am trying to kick the habit of writing long reviews other than for teas that change dramatically from one infusion to the next well into the late infusions, so I’ll end this here so I can go and enjoy the tea. I will update if I notice anything really different, but with most floral scented teas the flavor is pretty consistent between infusions, so as far as the specific notes you may find in this tea, I think I’ve covered my bases.

100/100! This is my favorite floral scented tea I’ve had at this point. Great stuff!

Infusion times: 45, 25, 20, 25, 30, 45, 60

UPDATE

On my second time with this tea I got really strong notes of butterscotch in both the scent and flavor. Not sure how I missed that the first time. It was like butterscotch cookies or schnapps. My friend thought the same.

Today was a good tea-filled day, I got a big ol’ pile of tea in the mail, I went to International 888 and finally restocked on Oksusucha (my all time favorite before bed tea) and best of all, I got to blend my love of tea and gaming by taking my tea gear to Tabletop with me. Not only did I get to have a gongfu tea party with one of my friends, I also introduced several others to a puerh I really like, so it will be easier to justify buying a large amount, since I can share it with them. Now I need to see if there is a small amount of cabinet space for rent, because if there is I am getting a small kettle and storing it there, along with a gaiwan and cup!

Today we are finally getting around to the last of the Tea Ave Oolongs, last in review, but first in the ones I tried, Ginger Lily Oolong, an Alishan Jin Xuan scented in the traditional way with Ginger Lily, along with Ginger Lily bits blended in as well. If you are like me, you are probably wondering, what the heck is a Ginger Lily? Well, a bit of googling reveals that it is Hedychium coronarium, a fascinating flower with quite the history! The aroma of this tea is warm and beautiful, it combines the slightly nutty aroma of chestnut and a hint of sesame, with warm ginger and strong floral notes of honeysuckle, lilac, and a finish of hyacinth. It is not really heady and heavy, but gentle and warming, like sitting in a patch of sunlight.

Adding the leaves to the gaiwan for a nice ste seping, and hello flowers! Now it is heady, and gently spicy, with notes of hyacinth, honeysuckle, and lilac. The spicy notes of ginger play nicely with the floral notes and the underlying notes of creamy chestnut. There is also the faintest note of fresh, sweet, tomato, surprising but not unpleasant. The liquid, using my fancy aroma cup set, is mild and sweet, with notes of ginger and flowers, it reminds me of a more flowery version of a much loved Chinese ginger candy that I have eaten many times. I used to always carry it around to help with nausea, because ginger is amazing at that.

The first thing I noticed about the first sip is how warming and creamy the mouthfeel is, it starts out creamy and smooth and as it hits the back of the tongue takes on a warming sensation. So, funnily enough, at the end of the note for the first steeping I drew a little heart, yeah, I liked the way it tasted. The notes are subtle, with gentle notes of ginger and honeysuckle, next are notes of lilac and spicebush, and finish of creamy chestnut. Om, nom, nom!

Onward to the second steep, and still loving these aroma cups, I suggest getting one if you do not have one, it really makes appreciated the aroma of Oolongs just that extra bit special. I will be honest though, not sure if it is because the tool is awesome or just because I really think it is cool, clearly I need to test more. Anyway, the aroma is sweet ginger candy goodness mixed with creamy honeysuckle and chestnut. The taste starts off sweet and gingery and just builds to creamy floral and chestnut, I am loving that ginger note, it just lingers long after the other notes have faded off my tongue.

For the third steep, the aroma is still pretty sweet, the ginger aroma has diminished a bit, but the floral and chestnut notes are going strong. The taste starts out with ginger and creamy honeysuckle, but the ginger is not as strong, it is more the memory of ginger’s warmth and taste. At the finish there is a hint of fresh vegetation and chestnut, and a bit of lilac that lingers. In a nutshell this tea is sublime, a gentle and beautiful thing that does not ever outstay its welcome, also I need more of it, this tea and the Cape Jasmine Oolong really knocked my socks off, I look forward to trying more of their teas.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/04/tea-ave-ginger-lily-oolong-tea-review.html

Sip down on this one today. This tea is so good! The rose and buttery oolong go perfectly with together. Will miss this one.

I looked forward to trying this oolong from TeaAve. It really is a wonderful oolong.

The rose in this tea becomes a part of the oolong. Each mouthful is rose & butter. I also love picked up the rose aroma from the cup. The rose is so subtle in this tea but definitely not shy either. I know this review is short but I am just not in the mood for long reviews today. This tea is still amazing!

This was one of three samples I received from Tea Ave, and when I first tried it, it was my least favorite of the three. But it has REALLY grown on me. I think I was expecting ginger to be the starring flavor, but in this tea it has a supporting role. It’s quite light and blends smoothly with the oolong. This is a very soothing and refreshing tea. Smells amazing too. Highly recommended. Great job, Tea Ave!

A free sample from Tea Ave by way of Georgia at Notes on Tea. The dry leaf is a lovely dark green with some stems rolled in, with a sweet floral aroma.

I used 5g (half the sample) in my 100ml gaiwan. One rinse, then 30 sec. at 190 degrees. The first steep was light in body and flavor, reminding me of flowers along with baked goods, but there was a strong aftertaste of sweet grass, like those weeds we used to suck and chew on as kids!

I increased the water temp. to boiling and time to 1 min., then 15 sec. longer for each steep after that. Longer steeping brought out butter, more grass flavor and a cinnamon aroma lingering in the cup. Normally I don’t like grassy teas, but this grass is bursting with freshness and very agreeable! And the mouthfeel remains surprisingly light in spite of all the creamy, buttery sensations. The flavors were stronger after cooling a bit.

This tea lasted about 6 good steeps before tapering off. I don’t have much experience with Taiwanese high mountain oolongs, but I found it interesting and delicious! Excited to try my other samples!

Thanks again for the samples, Tea Ave! I was a little hesitant to try this one, as I know nothing about osmanthus, so I have no idea how to know what I’m tasting. But this is delicious. Whatever the osmanthus is, it is definitely present in the flavor, as this isn’t a typical tasting oolong. I’m noticing the osmanthus a lot more than I was noticing the rose in the rose oolong, and I actually know what that should be like. I see little orange pieces in the oolong which I imagine is the osmanthus. The osmanthus is paired so deliciously with this oolong — but I can only describe it as a little fruity. The color of the mug is a deep yellow, so I might have brewed this a bit stronger than I should have, but it tastes fine to me! A deep, buttery, savory, floral oolong. All three steeps were almost identical, very strong flavored, while not being at all overbrewed or astringent. I’m glad it didn’t end up being a bad thing for Tea Ave to send me the osmanthus. If I enjoyed this oolong, I would imagine I’d really love the other offerings from Tea Ave… they all sound so delicious!
Steep #1 // 2 tsps. for 12 ounce mug // few minutes after boiling // rinse // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // few minutes after boiling // 2 min
Steep #3 // just boiled // 2-3min
TeaAve.com

Thank you to Tea Ave for the generous samples! I used the aroma cup they sent me to try this one! I love it :3 The flavor is nice! It’s sweet, floral, and it has a milky creaminess to it. It has a slight veggie broth taste to it, too. Overall I really liked this oolong!

I had this tonight with hubby. My bad – I oversteeped the first pot, mainly because I accidentally overleafed and therefore should have cut the time. Subsequent steeps were much more in line with my drinking preferences.

First, the tea is beautiful. The rose petals are the most gorgeous shade of deep rose pink. This would be a lovely “me time” tea or date tea. The appearance of the tea is an important part of the presentation when you are drinking gong fu style!

Once I had my steep times right, this was really lovely. The rose is very, very light. If someone else had prepared the tea and I didn’t know what it was, I don’t know if I would have detected rose. Instead, I felt that the rose petals added a nice sweetness to the tea, and it reminded me a little of candy rather than sugar or honey. We made at least five steeps and possibly six and the leaves really were not fully played out.

In getting my order ready, I have decided I will probably cave and buy one of the teapots. Have you seen them? They look almost identical to the Curve ForLife teapots and are so reasonably priced that even hubby said, “Why not get two?” when I asked him which color to get. He likes Storm, a light grey, and I love their signature blue color.

I will review the pot if I do get one, but I wanted to point out to anyone considering them some advantages of this pot. It has the silicone gasket that helps seal in the aroma and flavor and helps keep the lid from tumbling off when you pour the very last of the tea. The infuser has a nice handle and lip so you don’t burn yourself as easily when you remove it. The infuser has a flat bottom, so it will sit upright on the counter or a plate if you need to set it down while filling it or when you remove it from the pot.
These facts are not true, alas, of the Beehouse teapots i bought several of years ago when I started drinking tea. The round bottom of the Beehouse baskets is inconvenient and the lids pop off sometimes when you are pouring. There is no lip or handle to the infuser so you burn yourself pretty much every time you make tea. Daughter is smart and uses a spoon to lift the basket out but I am too impatient to stop and get a spoon!

I think that Sky pot is going to be mine soon!

I got to try this tea thanks to the generosity of Equusfell. We traded our remaining teaspoon of a couple of our free samples. I wanted to try as many as possible before placing my first order so that I can choose my very favorites.

This TKY falls in the middle of the roastiness scale when compared to others I have had – not too dark or heavy but not green. It does have a mellow flavor and is not a heavy body, but the roasted flavor adds a deeper layer to the tea.

What I liked most about this tea was the longlasting lingering sweetness and fresh aftertaste. It was like having the memory of a sweet kiss with you. When you have a really good mint, you probably find yourself inhaling with your mouth forming an “o” shape to continue to enjoy the coolness of the mint. I did that with this tea, enjoying the honey + roasty sweetness each time I inhaled. I do love a good oolong.

Of all the Tea Ave offerings I have tried, I think I would put this right under my favorite, Magnolia Oolong. The aroma cup carried a very similar sweet floral scent that stayed through many steepings of the tea, even though I only filled it at the first steep.

Thank you so much for this sample, Tea Ave!

I have never tried an Osmanthus Oolong before, and honestly, I was a little nervous that this would be a really flowery tea (flowery teas can be hit or miss with me…). However, upon opening the sample packet, I was hit with this sweet honey stone fruit fragrance. Jammy and sweet!
The liquor is a really gorgeous golden yellow. I followed the instructions on the pouch for gaiwan brewing, using 8grams. If I were to do this again, I think I’d use less leaf. This tea is so flavourful that I really think I could personally use less leaf and still get a perfectly lovely session out of it (just a note to myself for next time).
The steeped tea itself is really wonderful… creamy, buttery mouth feel with honey, fruity loveliness. It may only be 16F outside, but I have spring in my cup. :)

The second steep yielded a darker, deeper liquor with a more vegetal base (spinach and kale, like)… this steep was almost roasty.
I truly love the finish of this, too… it’s so sweet and lingers for quite some time.

I love finding out that I like something I would’ve thought I wouldn’t… Osmanthus, you’re pretty great. :)

Thank you, Tea Ave, for the sample!

Prepared with the gongfu method, using a ceramic gaiwan. Steeping times: 30, 45, 60, 75, 90, 120.

I appreciated the aromas more than anything else. The dry aroma smells fruity, very jam-like. These fruit notes are magnified after the first steeping. It was like a giant fruit salad, with an odd combination of grapes, strawberries, apricots and kiwi. Consistently rich aroma. After every infusion, I spent a couple minutes just smelling the leaf from the bowl before drinking the liquor. So delicious! I had somewhat a hard time prying my nose away. The aroma from the aroma cup was next to nothing at first, but the more and the longer I steeped the leaf, the stronger the liquor aroma became: light and honey-light, ending with cinnamon.

The liquor is clear, full-bodied, and flavorful. The first infusion is mildly fruity with a hint of honey. It tastes of high mountain air – buoyant and stimulating. Honey makes an appearance in the second infusion.

Up until the third infusion, the color of the liquor was pale yellow. SUDDENLY – it darkens to amber, a deep honey gold. The honey note becomes a lot richer as well, and the texture much thicker. A little tingly on the tongue. This is the high point of the session.

Afterward, at the fourth infusion, the honey taste lightens, but it taste even richer, as if it upgraded to the best organic honey one could get a hold of. Also at the this point, the liquor aroma smells like the first few days in which the all of the flowers begin to bloom in springtime.

The flavors continue to lighten in the final infusions. Done at this point. Sure feels more like spring now!

Thank you, Tea Ave, for the sample! Milk oolong makes me a little sick, so I was nervous to taste this tea…

I prepared this tea three ways: gongfu, Western, and cold-brewed.

First, brewed with a ceramic gaiwan, gongfu-style. Steeping times: 60, 90, 120, 150, 180.

The dry leaf aroma, as expected, smells milky and buttery. Maybe a little gingery? The wet leaf aroma has none of that: fresh flowers rise from newly steeped leaves, then roasted chestnuts and pecans.

The liquor is a clear, pale yellow. The texture is a little thick. Medium-bodied. Though flavorful, the notes don’t evolve much throughout the session. At the first infusion the liquor was buttery, but then the subsequent infusions were much sweeter and floral, with a perfumed aftertaste. Light like a cool spring afternoon. Calming feel, a breeze in the sunny garden.

The Western method doesn’t yield the same power. Wasn’t so appealing, unfortunately (thought I’d use this method for an oolong because it’s been years since I’ve last done it). Floral, full-bodied, no ginger.

Lastly, I drank this cold-brewed, then added ice cubs. I liked this method the most. So light and refreshing! The liquor was softly floral. A buttery note also appears. It’s not so strong as it comes off when hot-brewed, but subdued, aligned well with the flowers, allowing me to to drink and appreciate it without feeling nauseated. Finished with a wonderful stone fruit aftertaste!

I’m so used to taking ginger in my tea so strongly that I couldn’t tell it was there. Weird!

I’ve never had osmanthus anything so I was surprised when looking for this tea on Steepster how many Osmanthus oolongs there are!!

I brewed this gong fu using water temp at 200F. They recommended boiling which seems way too high for me. I usually do oolongs at 190 and I think when I brew this next time I will stick with my 190.

The brew was a bit on the clear gold side. I could definitely pick up the creamy milkiness of the oolong. From the aroma cup I could pick a floral scent. The osmanthus came through as a peachy flavour—very delicate and as all TeaAve scented oolongs, it combined well with the flavours and scents of the oolong instead of overpowering. I would have liked the osmanthus to be a little bit stronger as I really liked it. I was also getting a roasted flavour from this oolong which is strange since it’s a jin xuan oolong….

By the third infusion I wasn’t getting much osmanthus at all but it was still a good oolong. I think I need to try something different with my brewing method as others have have loved this.

I bought an ounce of this tea because of the great reviews and my general love for the tea from Tea Ave. The first time I tried it, I wasn’t sure I liked it, but I had it again last night and changed my mind! It’s pretty good! I think maybe the first time I was expecting something different and the floral note wasn’t hitting me right. Last night, I decided that it tasted like floral custard. Sweet, buttery, floral, smooth and delicious! I’m glad I gave it another chance. I usually have to try something twice before deciding that I don’t like it. Fortunately, this one stepped up its game!

One of my all time favourite teas is an oolong that contains jasmine, so I was quite excited for this tea, particularly after experiencing the quality of Tea Ave’s other offerings.

This does not disappoint.

The dry leaf is in tightly rolled green nuggets that smell of sweet jasmine. I steeped 3g in my 50ml gaiwan for one minute. The steeped leaf has an odd roasty fragrance to it that I find slightly off putting.

The tea soup is clear and a very pale yellow. On the palate the tea is thick but delicate. Very smooth, complex jasmine flavour with oolong floral notes behind.

The second steep is more interesting. The soup is a more intense yellow – still fairly pale but vibrant. The scent is complex – jasmine and peach skins – that fresh, juicy, sweet but also slightly tart and bitter flavour that the skin of a ripe, fresh peach has. These notes carry into the flavour as well, and there’s some of that floral vegetal green oolong flavour backing it up.

I went for at least five steepings of this, the flavour remaining delicious through out all.

One of the finest jasmine teas I’ve tried, and one that I will be stocking.

Sample provided by Tea Ave.

Thanks again for the great tea package, Tea Ave! I tried half of my sample of this the other day but it didn’t turn out the way I wanted it to and I had other things on my mind/ too distracted to write a review… a shame! The amount of info on the small package for this tea is amazing. This oolong is a jade green with little bits of bright magenta roses. The bright yellow brew has a somewhat savory, buttery flavor, very silky and not at all ruined with just boiled water. I can’t say it tastes or has too much of a rose fragrance except for hints when it has cooled a bit, but that is only with the first cup. The second steep is very similar. The third is also very flavorful, getting a little sweeter while still maintaining that slightly savory aspect. I’m surprised a more floral oolong wasn’t used as the base for a rose oolong. I think there would be a ton more life left in these leaves if I kept steeping. With the last steep session, I don’t think the water was hot enough. This steep session was much better – never bitter or astringent, just consistently buttery! The only complaint I have with this oolong is that it isn’t rosey enough. Oolong always brightens my day a little bit!
Steep #1 // 2 tsps. in 11 ounce mug // couple minutes after boiling // rinse // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // couple min after boiling // 2 min
Steep #3 // just boiled // 2 1/2 min
TeaAve.com

The dry leaf is small, green nuggets; sweet, floral, juicy smelling. Very fresh and complex.

I steeped this in my 100ml gaiwan, and took advantage of the aroma and tea cup set that Tea Ave sent with these lovely samples.

Steeped the leaves smell floral, fruity, and have a richness of stewed fruits to them.

The tea soup is pale gold, bright clear. It smells sweet, rich and fruity, with a brown sugar note.

On the palate, this manages to taste both delicate and rich. It’s sweet, with magnolia, peaches, plums, cream, brown sugar and oats. This evokes the experience of eating peach cobbler. The finish is juicy and floral.

My first steep was for 1min. The second steep, for 1:30, had the same notes as the first, but a bit of astringency creeping in. A slightly shorter steep would have been better.

By the fifth steep there was an interesting black pepper note that developed, primarily on the nose, but also into the flavour a bit. The magnolia started to take on a more jasmine-like quality.

All in all a really wonderful scented tea. Thank you to Tea Ave for their generous sample.

Magnets is hard, I mean it, those stupid super tiny rare earth magnets used in miniatures are a giant pain. So I am trying to redo some of my magnetization today by removing magnets (and the occasional polarization problem) and using bits of metal instead. I am currently covered in dried glue, impaled, cut, and generally beat up, I worry that the magnets are beating me at my own game!

It seems that so far it is Taiwan week, though I can say that was not intentional, but maybe I will run with it. Today we are taking another look at new company Tea Ave (using their awesome aroma tea cup set again, woo!) and their Dong Ding Oolong. So here is the deal, I am just going to come clean, though I am sure a lot of you already know this, Dong Ding Oolong (especially roasted) is hands down my favorite Oolong, possibly my favorite tea. This presents some problems when it comes to reviewing it, because I tend to be extra critical but also easily blown away by it, so let us see how this one measures up. The aroma of the tightly curled leaves is, as expected, delightfully pleasant, with notes of sweet honey and toasted sesame seeds, there are also notes of spicebush, chestnut, and a gentle orchid note. This is a lightly roasted oolong so it still has the floral notes along with the sweetness that roasting brings out, Tea Ave’s website (and awesome packaging) gives the roasting level a 4 (out of 10 I am assuming) and I certainly agree with that.

No surprise, this tea got tossed in my yixing pot for the official steeping, sadly it did not all fit in the aroma cup, so I had to break out the cha hai for the extra. The brewed leaves is a really nice blend of sweet roasted chestnut and sesame and a really surprising potent blend of honeysuckle, lilac, and spicebush. That spicebush note is what makes Dong Ding my favorite I thing, so many happy memories of spicebush flowers. The liquid is not as strongly roasted as the brewed leaves, in fact it has a bit of a vegetation greenness to it, along with spicebush and a touch of chestnut at the finish.

The first tea really starts out floral and sweet, notes of honeysuckle and lilac, a tiny hint of spinach…and then hello roasted! The midtaste and finish is all about the roasted sesame and chestnuts with a sweet honey taste all throughout. The sweetness lingers for a while after sipping experience is finished.

Second steeping time! The aroma is much toastier this time, it is still sweet and floral, but the toasted notes are really starting to shine through with richly toasted sesame notes and of course the spicebush. The taste is also much toastier, starting off with sweet sesame seeds and a bit of toast and delectable honeysuckle nectar. Towards the midtaste the tea picks up a spicebush note and, here is the fun part, there is a finish of sunflower seeds. That is a new one to me, I like!

Third times the charm, I really need to stop saying that because it makes it seem the previous steeps were meh and I need the third steep to make them better…which I don’t, I just never know how to say ‘hey third steep’ I guess I could just do that. So the third steep takes off where the second steep’s aroma left off, mostly all roasted notes of chestnut and sesame seeds, a hint of toast, and that lingering bit of spicebush. The taste is really similar to the second steep, with lots of toasty notes, including notes of actual toast, sesame seeds, and chestnut. The finish is mild honey and spicebush, delicious. Yes, I liked this tea, it passed the delicious taste with flying colors.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/03/tea-ave-dong-ding-oolong-tea-review.html