If you are in the mood for a truly delightful tea, try Just4Tea’s Jasmine Pearl tea. Just4tea.com describes the tea as:

Made by stacking up alternating layers of premium Oolong tea from Fujiang province and Jasmine petals. This scenting process is repeated multiple times. After the scenting process, the tea is then rolled to pearl-shaped balls, which gives the tea its name. It delivers a unique flowery scent with a fresh green tea flavor.

I love drinking this tea. It’s very relaxing to me. I can’t decide what I like best, the scent or the flavor. Regardless, the combination of the scent and flavor makes for a perfect cup of tea. As I take a sip, my senses are awakened and the stress literally disappears. Jasmine Pearl Oolong has so many attributes that makes it worthy of your attention. The round shape gives it a unique characteristic and adds a fun factor to the steeping process. The jasmine flavor takes the oolong to another level. There’s one catch to this loose leaf tea, you have to like jasmine flavoring. I typically do not like floral scented or flavored - anything. However, this tea in my opinion is perfectly balanced. So, the floral flavor is welcomed and not “in your face” dominant.

After you purchase the tea, experiment with the steeping process. You’ll be surprised how much tea you get out of the pearls. They unfurl as they steep. I don’t want you to waste the tea - you’ll get a feel for it after the first steeping. It’s recommended that you use 2 teaspoons of jasmine pearl with 180 degree water for 3-4 minutes for an 8 ounce cup of tea. The oolong tea is from the Fujian Province, China.

• Visit Just4Tea.com

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First off, I would like to congratulate Harney & Sons for their role in helping the Dorchester Hotel in winning the Top London Afternoon Tea Award of 2007. Harney & Sons is an American based tea company. The company has been around since 1983.

One of my last purchases from H & S was a tea called Ginger’s Oolong. I really didn’t have any expectations of the tea. It wasn’t recommended by anyone. Basically, it was a random purchase. When the tea arrived, I quickly popped the lid off of the large tin. Their tins are black with a gold label and gold trim. The tins have a signature style to them. The tea had an incredible scent to it. The ginger spice mixed with the aromatic oolong made for an exceptional fragrance. After I steeped the tea, I noticed the great scent was retained throughout the process and into my cup. However, upon my first sip it was safe to say that the tea was actually bland in flavor. I was confused as to how something with such a powerful scent could be so weak in flavor. I’ve tried about 10 or more cups since the first cup. I’ve tried adding more tea leaves and cooler water temperatures to see if I could get more flavor out of the oolong. I’m going to keep trying to make this tea enjoyable. Now, I want to stress that the tea does not taste bad. It just doesn’t have the body and flavor of a lot of other oolongs I’ve tried.

• Visit Harney & Sons

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I was just talking to a reader, of marTEA.com, last week about how I don’t get enough time to drink as much Oolong as I would like. I’ve made it a point to personally try every product I write about. Copying and pasting press releases and calling it a blog is not what I want to do. That said, I like to try about 3 teas or more a week. Unfortunately, Oolong often has to take a back seat. That is until now…without planning it’s raining Oolong at marTEA.com.

Zarafina offers a “Wuyi Oolong Rock Tea.” The tea grows in the Wuyi mountains of China. I made this Oolong in my Zarafina tea maker suite, and I was floored by how great it tasted. First of all, the dried leaves are huge and full of character. The floral scent of the dried leaves builds the excitement. I set the Zarafina tea maker suite to “Oolong”, “Loose”, and “Strong” as my desired tea settings. After the tea steeped and poured into the pot automagically by the tea maker suite, I poured the first cup. The color of the liquor was a bright copper. The floral scent was still present in the tea. After my first sip, I was very impressed. Many teas do not retain their scent within the flavor. For certain teas, you would not want the taste to equal the aroma. In this case, since the aroma of the tea was so pleasing, I was hoping it would taste half as good as the scent. It was better. I don’t want new tea drinkers to think this tea tastes like you’re drinking a scented candle. The floral scent I’m referring to is very natural and inviting. This is how Zarafina describes the tea: “Growing among the fabled Wuyi Mountains, wrapped in the clouds and fog that gives its leaves their incredible, complex perfume and taste.” I don’t go for multiple infusions of the teas I drink that often, but this one I had to try it over and over. I’m such a fan of Oolong teas. I definitely recommend this one.

• Visit Zarafina

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If you are a peach lover, you’ll love this USDA organic bottled tea. One of the main ingredients of the tea is organic peach puree. Hence the title of “Peach OO-LA-LONG.” I can tell Honest Tea makes every effort possible to make sure their products are high quality. Peach oo-la-long is a fair trade oolong and black tea mix. The organic cane sugar and organic brown rice syrup in the tea add up to 8g of sugar per 8 fl oz. Compared to other bottled beverages, this is not too bad. Honest Tea states that this beverage has one-third the calories of other bottled tea beverages. Not to mention the fact that this is an organic product. So it’s not sweetened with a lot of ingredients I cannot pronounce. I can’t stress the detail Honest Tea packs into their bottle labels. There is an entire story on the bottle about how this bottle was given a penguin as its main character. I won’t spoil the story on this blog. I really enjoy Honest Tea’s products. My kids like this tea more than a lot of other teas I’ve let them sample. I’m not a super fan of peach flavored beverages, but I wanted to give this one a try. Honest Tea has several other flavors to select.

Visit Honest Tea’s website to see what flavors they have to offer

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It has been a couple of months since my last cup of a quality Oolong loose leaf tea. The Oolong I’m drinking this week is made up of dark, silver-tipped tea leaves from Taiwan. This tea is absolutely delicious. I enjoy everything about this tea. It’s the kind of tea I can drink any time of the day. Unlike some strong black teas or “grassy” green teas, Oolong is well balanced. I don’t feel overwhelmed while drinking Oolong.

Now, I get a kick out of how Oolong is often called the “champagne of teas.” If Oolong had the same affects as champagne does on my wife, I’d be a lucky a man. However, the fact is you can safely drive after drinking Oolong, and your inhibitions will not be lost. So, the next wild party you’re at, don’t expect Cristal and Oolong to be flowing. The champagne reference simply relates Oolong as a fancy and exquisite tea selection. I highly recommend drinking Oolong tea. It really does deserve its own classification. You’ll enjoy the natural sweetness and relaxing characteristics.

• Adagio’s Oolong Selection

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Stash tea is now carrying Yamamotoyama tea. Yamamotoyama’s slogan is “perfecting the art of tea since 1690.” That’s quite a few years in case you’re counting. The chrysanthemum tea I’m drinking today claims to contain 100% natural ingredients. It’s basically Pu-erh oolong tea and chrysanthemum flowers in a tea bag. Chrysanthemums are perennial flowering plants. There are many of you that may have a variety of this plant in your backyard.

This particular tea is said to contain a yellow-pedal variety of chrysanthemum. The Pu-erh oolong is very interesting in this blend. The earthy tones of Pu-erh are very pronounced. The earthy flavor of Pu-erh mixed with the light fragrance of the chrysanthemum makes for a very complex pairing. As I always say, if a tea has character, I’m a fan. For example, I may drink the tea and say that Pu-erh is the dominant flavor of the mix. You may try it and enjoy the floral notes of the tea. Regardless, this tea is meant for those that are not looking for a “normal” Lipton-like tea bag experience. This is a tea that will help you appreciate the complexities of tea, or it will let you know that this is clearly not for you.

Either way, I like this tea. It has a bit of an aftertaste that I’m trying to get used to. Other than that, the aroma and taste are pleasing. Only purchase this tea if you are familiar with Pu-erh. Otherwise, I’m afraid you may have strayed too far our of your comfort zone.

Wikipedia: chrysanthemum

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It’s been a while since my last Oolong blog. Recently, I purchased a Jasmine flower-flavored Oolong. Now, I’m not much of a flowery person. Flowery scented candles, perfumes, and soaps are a few things that come to mind that I usually cannot stand. This particular tea was highly rated by Adagio tea drinkers, and because of their feedback, I thought I’d give this a go.

A quick Oolong recap: Oolong is classified by its level of oxidation. Oolong’s oxidation level is between a black tea and a green tea. For many, it is the happy medium. For me, I’ve enjoyed almost every Oolong I’ve tried. Oolong is not as grassy as green tea, but it is not as “sweet” as black tea. Oolong is known as a traditional Chinese tea. Many restaurants that serve Chinese cuisine, serve Oolong tea. Unfortunately, the Oolong served at the restaurants is not near the quality of the fresh-gourmet loose leaf Oolongs that I’m used to. That said, I was ready to try a night-blooming jasmine flower flavored Oolong. The scent of the dried tea leaves had more of a distant floral scent. I describe it as distant, meaning it doesn’t smell like you stuck your nose in the middle of a bouquet of flowers. As with most Oolong teas, a cooler water temperature of 180 degrees for 3 minutes is a good rule of thumb to allow for steeping. My first taste of the brewed tea really exceeded my expectations. The jasmine flavor was perfectly balanced with the Oolong tea. I was hooked from the first cup. It’s the perfect tea for any time of day. It’s good in the morning, afternoon, and after a meal. The tea is just perfectly balanced.

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Many Americans are familiar with Oolong tea. Not the gourmet loose teas that many of us have grown to appreciate, but the “Oolong” that is given to customers with their meals at a Chinese restaurant. Your favorite Chinese food is often served with a fortune cookie and tea bag. Since the Oolong tea served in traditional US Chinese restaurants might be the only tea known to a lot of people, I thought I would blog about the tea.

The bagged tea I’m trying today comes from the Kari Out Co. The Kari Out Co was founded in 1964. They specialized in condiments and expanded into several roles of food service including the Kari Out Co. branded Oolong I’m writing about today. The tea bags came when a group of coworkers and me ordered Chinese food from a local restaurant.

The tea inside of the bag was very dark. The bag did not contain near the amount of dust as many well-known name brands I’ve tried. Once the tea was brewed, I took my first taste. I quickly had to take a second taste because of the shock I had during the first taste. This tea tasted almost exactly like Hojicha. It didn’t taste anything like the Oolong varieties I’ve tried in the past. Hojicha is a mesquite flavored tea that is basically derived from charcoaled Bancha leaves. The subtle flavors and floral hints that make Oolong special to me were not present in this brew. The good news, I like Hojicha.

See my previous blogs on Oolong and Hojicha. I will not say anything bad about this tea because too many people including myself enjoy this tea and other “Oolong” teas as we enjoy our favorite Chinese take-out.

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