Last week, I started my two-part series about Oollo Tea’s Classic Taster Set. I was excited to try the rest, so I am posting part two this week! I will be trying three rolled oolongs from Taiwan.
Like I mentioned, I met Jenny from Oollo Tea during my trip to Vancouver, BC. The Classic Taster Set is comprised of 6 teas: Red Jade Black Tea, Baozhong Oolong, Oriental Beauty Oolong, Iron Buddha Oolong, Maliba High Mountain Oolong, and Qingjing High Mountain Oolong.
Today, I will be tasting the latter three, so let’s go!
Oollo Tea: Iron Buddha Oolong
Description: “Tightly rolled, the full leaves unfurl to emit pleasant stone fruit and wild honey notes with a hint of roasted nuts.“
Review: Iron Buddha is also known as Iron Goddess or Tie Guan Yin. Based on the smell, and appearance of the dark brown twisted leaves, it seemed to be of the roasted variety. It smelled warm and sweet, with a hint of nuttiness. This disappeared after steeping and the fragrance leaned towards more earthy with dark roasted notes. The liquor also had a prevailing roasted smell and was a reddish-orange colour.
Since the fragrance was so strong, I will admit that I expected more flavour, but I mostly picked up just the roasted flavour. During the second and third infusion, the roasted flavour mellowed out slightly. I was able to taste a mixed profile of sweet, earthy flavours and a grassy note with some astringency at the tail end that stayed in the back of the mouth.
By the fourth steep, the roasted flavour was mostly gone and the grassy and earthy notes were able to shine more. The liquor lingered and left the mouth feeling dry. What surprised me during the fifth and last infusion was that some mild roasted notes appeared, but by then the liquor was rather light. I think this would be a nice oolong tea for someone who enjoys a roasted Iron Buddha (3/5 rating).
- Type: Oolong tea
- Origin: Taiwan
- Caffeine: Unknown
- Ingredients: Tea
- Company: Oollo Tea
Oollo Tea: Qingjin High Mountain Oolong
Description: “The essence of summer, the small pearls of leaves whisper flavors of flower and highland grass with a whiff of vanilla.”
Review: I haven’t had too many high mountain oolongs from Taiwan, so I was happy when there were two in the set! High mountain oolong is a type of tea that Taiwan is known for. When I first took the oolongs out, I admit, they looked so similar to me that I almost mixed them up.
The teas are rolled into tight balls and are dark green and olive green. They had a lovely fragrance of freshly cut grass and some mild sweetness, whereas the wet leaves were more floral in nature. Despite it only being the first infusion, the leaves had expanded quite a bit and there was a good ratio of stem to leaves. The liquor was a pale yellow with some grassy and floral undertones. I didn’t expect it to have such a nice, sweet, ample flavour that enveloped the mouth.
Liquor-wise, the second and third infusion resembled a highlighter colour. I found that the flavours skewed more towards grassy and that the floral flavour started to disappear. There was some faint bitterness at the end of the sip, which left the mouth feeling dry. By the fourth infusion, there was still a bit of flavour left that lingered. The tea overall had a nice clean finish (3.5/5 rating).
- Type: Oolong tea
- Origin: Taiwan
- Caffeine: Unknown
- Ingredients: Tea
- Company: Oollo Tea
Oollo Tea: Maliba High Mountain Oolong
Description: “This is the taste of spring, with bursting floral and fresh grass fragrances rounded by a lingering sweet finish.“
Review: Like I mentioned previously, this oolong looked very similar to the one above. However, I did notice that this one had longer stems, so that helped me tell the two apart, thankfully! The oolong rolled balls also was dark and light green in colour.
Whereas the dry Qingjin oolong had more of a grassy fragrance, this one was more fruity and sweet. The steeped leaves were more of a brownish olive colour and reminded me of a forest or a grassy field. The liquor was a clear bright highlighter yellow.
The flavour was very clean and was predominantly floral and honey-like. There was no bitterness and for a first infusion, I really enjoyed it because it was light and delicate. The second steep had a much stronger floral smell and taste and the leaves had mostly unfurled. The leaves were much larger in the Maliba oolong than the Qingjin.
I found that during the third infusion, the sweetness had disappeared and the liquor was more grassy. The last infusion was rather light, however, and there was a nice lingering. I enjoyed the first and second steep the most (3.5/5 rating).
- Type: Oolong tea
- Origin: Taiwan
- Caffeine: Unknown
- Ingredients: Tea
- Company: Oollo Tea
Overall Thoughts
This was a nice set that gave a good overview of both Taiwanese oolong teas, as well as the brand. Oollo does focus more heavily on oolong teas, so it makes sense that the taster set skewed that way.
I enjoyed the Oriental Beauty (from last week) and Maliba High Mountain Oolong (from this week) the best! I think this sample set is worth getting as it is a good variety of teas. I really enjoy taster sets, and this is one reason why: they always include a nice selection of teas, and many times they aren’t something I may pick!
I also have reviewed Oollo Tea’s Spring Blossom Baozhong and Gongfu Honey via Amoda Tea!
Have you ever visited Taiwan?
