Related Oolong Tea Products
All About Tea Categories
Tea Archives
-
-
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
- Simbolina on Pampers Sensitive 3X Wipes 192 Count (Pack of 4)
- Michael McClure on Pampers Sensitive 3X Wipes 192 Count (Pack of 4)
- Gwendolyn Dawson "Literary License" on Pampers Sensitive 3X Wipes 192 Count (Pack of 4)
- Charity Bishop "charitysplace dot com" on Masterpiece Classic: Downton Abbey Season 2 (Original U.K. Unedited Edition)
- lizzie on Masterpiece Classic: Downton Abbey Season 2 (Original U.K. Unedited Edition)
Tags
Meta
Disappointing compared to other brands,
I was disappointed with this brand of oolong… it tastes very much like a 2-minute cup of Lipton black tea to me. Oolong should be sweet and full but dainty, and give you a “full” sensation after drinking it. This brand tastes very much like black tea, and had enough tannin in it to leave a film on top of tea that had cooled… which is too much.
The tea bags are also on the small side, holding about half the amount of tea as I expected, and are not of the flow-through variety. Currently I’m drinking Organic Magnolia Oolong Tea by Choice, which cost about $3 for 20 tea bags, and is much more satisfying for discriminating oolong drinkers.
Was this review helpful to you?
|Healthy and Good – a Great Combination,
Oolong tea is recommended by the South Beach Heart Program (which I’m following) so I thought I’d give it a try. Oolong tea is anti-oxidant rich, helps lower LDL, and increases LDL size – all really good for you.
Oolong tea strikes a nice balance between green tea (healthy but yuck!) and black tea (tasty, sometimes a little too strong). I add a small amount of splenda and the combination is excellent. The wife drinks her tea straight up and this tea has become her favorite too. We have a pleasant cup together every night. Chinese Oolong makes “a nice cup of tea”.
Was this review helpful to you?
|Good everyday drinking tea.,
This was just what I was looking for when I bought it. Seeing the price and that it was in bags, I knew that it had to be ground and a cheaper grade tea, but I was just looking for a decent low cost Oolong, so I could reserve my good loose leave teas for those quite moments alone and special guest. One thing that irritates me about products sold on the Amazon site, is most of the time there is very little pertinent information regarding the product and sometimes, not even a picture. If I hadn’t known how Oolong tea was suppose to be prepared, I would have passed on this one. I was right at guessing that all the writing on the box would be in Chinese and if it says on the box how to prepare it, I can’t tell. That said, I bought 5 boxes since it had the right information to indicate that it was indeed from the right area in China to be true Oolong tea and I bought 5 boxes to try.
Oolong tea requires a water temperature of 180°F and the steep time of no more then 3 minutes. Steep time means how long the tea should be left in the hot water. Use a tea thermometer or a similar one that is capable of accurately reading between 160°F and 212°F(boiling) and never let the tea stay in the water longer then 3 minutes. A small digital timer works great for sitting next to you to get the timing right. Teas like this, that are from plant leaves, release tannin which makes the tea bitter and the maximum steep time is different for different types. Make sure you know the steep temperature and steep time ahead of time or you will always be disappointed in the results you get. If you like your tea stronger, DO NOT leave the tea in the water longer then the maximum steep time. Put more tea in the pot or cup before you add the hot water and always remove the tea before the tannin starts to be released, instead. If the tea taste bitter to you, then the leaves or tea bags have been in the hot water too long.
Some high quality loose leave teas can be resteeped up to 3 times, with a slightly different taste upon each consecutive steeping. Always allow the tea leaves to completely cool down and stop the cooking process before it starts to release tannin and you should be fine using those for a second or even third steeping as long as you always keep removing it from the water before the leaves start releasing tannin. A side note: My Mother almost ruined me on tea for life, using the cheapest tea she could buy in the grocery store and putting the tea in a pot of boiling water and continuing to boil the water until the water turned pretty dark colored, figure like 15 or 20 minutes here. The results where always the same, some of the strongest, bitterest, nastiest tasting tea you will ever find.
Water quality will effect the taste of teas too, but for this tea, most tap water is fine since you aren’t going to be that worried about it like you would for an expensive high quality loose leave tea. It is what it is, nothing more. Water for a high quality tea should be filtered first in a good filter system like the Brita water filter first. Don’t use distilled water for tea.
The amount of water you use per cup matters also. The British use 6 oz. cups and in the US we use 8 oz cups. If the tea is packaged in a foreign country, odds are they are thinking of the British market and 6 oz. cups, because the British are without question, heavier tea drinkers then we are here in the US. So, if the packaging does not say how many ounces they consider a cup to be and it’s made in any place but the US, assume that you will have to experiment a little until you get the amount of water right, when working with tea bags or a set weight of tea per cup, as suggested by the tea maker or tea company selling it. On this one, since I was only going to use it for everyday drinking, I used 8 oz of water. I have a nice 18 oz cup that I use for this purpose and put two tea bags into it. This leaves me plenty of space at the top of the cup to not have to worry too much about spilling it and I don’t have to remake more tea as often. A nice little coffee cup warmer, that I keep the cup sitting on, between sips, helps to keep it warm too.
From the way this tea is packaged, I assumed it was aimed at being sold in grocery stores next to all the other low quality teas you always find in those stores and with the price of high quality teas stamped on them, except the very low end quality ones, which are sold at a lower price then those. To my surprise this tea turned out to be a little better then I expected. It is on the mild side, smooth, and has a mild aroma, which was perfect for what I was looking for. I did try two steepings, from the same tea bags, a few times, and each time the second steeping was almost the same as the first. This was a pleasant surprise and meant that I could get even more value from this tea then I was counting on. I never did try a third steeping, from the same bags, so I can’t…
Read more
Was this review helpful to you?
|