One of the first things you notice when you drink loose leaf tea is the quality and consistency of the leaves.  This Oolong is both consistent in size and shape and the leaves unfurl to reveal their beautiful jade green color.  It’s a very relaxing and entertaining tea experience.  The scent of the dried Oolong was very elegant.  The air from the Anxi mountains escapes from the leaves.  If there’s one thing I’ve learned about tea, it’s the strength it gives you simply by enjoying the scent and taste.  I know it sounds odd to those of you that don’t enjoy tea, but the scent of the dried tea is very much a part of the tea experience.  This is a tea where you can get lost in the scent.  Anyway, as the tea steeped it was fun to peek in the clay tea pot to see how the leaves were unfurling.  The first cup had an oceanic vibe with a light buttery flavor.  As the tea cooled the sweet floral flavors were revealed.  You can get several steepings from the lush tea leaves.  I really enjoyed the subtle tones of this tea.  I’ve read about the treacherous nature of the mountain and just how difficult it is to pick tea there, let alone drive up or down the mountain.  So, for those of you that farm and pick this tea - Thank you!

Just4Tea.com describes the Oolong as: a unique and beautiful tea grown in the high remote AnXi mountain in the Fujian province of China. The tea makers go through a very rigorous making and grading process to produce this limited edition tea. It delivers light golden liquor with a distinctive sweet, creamy and subtle floral aroma.

Visit Just4Tea.com

marTEA

June Lau, founder of Just4Tea, offers a focused selection of teas that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed.  Lu’An is no exception.  I admit it, I’m a sucker for roasted tea.  Just4Tea deploys their traditional Chaozhou family recipe to this green tea that I can’t get enough of.  One morning before I left for work, my wife made this tea for me and put it in a thermos.  I had no idea what she had made me.  When I arrived at work, I poured a cup, and I knew immediately it was Just4Tea’s due to the distinct roasted scent lingering from the cup.  I knew if it smelled and tasted great in a thermos that it would be awesome when prepared in a Yixing clay tea pot and served immediately.  I was right…

Fancy Liu An described by Just4tea.com: Fancy Liu An is a Chinese Rice Flower (Mei Sui Lan) scented tea; which has been finest produced in the province of GuangDong of China. Premium green tea is used as the base and roasted using our traditional Chaozhou family recipe. The scenting is a natural process, involving mixing the Mei Sui Lan flowers so that the tea absorbs the scent. Liu An is darker than our normal roast and consequently develop an intense, full-bodied flavor. The aroma is well balanced and complex.

As the tea rolls over my tongue, I detect a wide range of flavors.  Tasting the tea is equivalent to experiencing its production in reverse order.  First, you get a smokey bite that fades to a chocolate-like flavor brushed lightly with a faint floral and sweet green tea flavor.  Since the tea is layered with so many flavors, it makes for a very satisfying cup of tea.  I have to say as a (very) part-time coffee drinker, it easily gives the same full-bodied beverage experience without the caffeine overload.  I absolutely enjoyed this tea from start to finish.  It’s full of character, and it entertains me with every drink.

Visit Just4Tea.com

marTEA

I decided last year to make “Pu-erh for the New Year” a tradition of mine. I haven’t traveled down the road of paying hundreds or thousands of dollars for Pu-erh, but I have enjoyed nearly every Pu-erh I’ve tasted. I’ve been studying Pu-erh for quite sometime, but I know that actual tasting and experimenting is the best way to learn about tea/Pu-erh. For those of you that are new to Pu-erh, here’s a little background from a previous marTEA blog:

Pu-erh is one of the few teas that has a cult-like following. Connoisseurs around the globe revere Pu-erh for all of its fame and glory and they will pay thousands for top-grade aged Pu-erh. The “earthy” tea from the Yunnan region of China has a history as interesting as its flavor. It is named after the county Pu’er. Pu-erh is said to have many medicinal benefits such as lowering blood pressure and cholesterol. In addition, it is marketed as a “slimming” tea. For the general tea lover (like marTEA), Pu-erh is just a complex tea with attitude. It’s the kind of tea that dares you to drink it. It’s often described as having an “earthy” aroma and flavor. Basically, this means it tastes like dirt to many people.

This year’s Pu-erh for the New Year was in the shape of a small bowl. The Pu-erh came from just4tea.com’s online tea store. I steeped the bowl shaped Pu-erh in a Yixing teapot (I call it the frog pot). I infused the tea again, and again, and again… I really enjoyed this Pu-erh. The earthy tones that have made Pu-erh both popular and unpopular with tea drinkers were enjoyed with every cup I had. I have nothing bad to say about this tea. It was smooth, bold, and it made for a pleasant morning of reflection as another year past and the new year has started. Pu-erh is the perfect tea when you need to time to unwind. There are a lot of twists and turns throughout life. Pu-erh often takes on different characteristics with each infusion. It may start off bitter and end sweet or vice versa…a lot like life.

marTEA

I’ve been waiting to try this Oolong with my new Yixing clay tea pot. Since it’s a new pot, I wanted to experiment with it before trying this tea.  Anyway, I’m drinking an Oolong (spring 2007) from Just4Tea. This is a very green Oolong. It has an absolute freshness about it. The dried leaves have the aroma of a warm spring morning. I steeped the tea for about ninety seconds with boiled water that I let cool for just a minute. The pale yellow liquor revealed the freshness of the tea. After steeping the tea, the steam from the cup revealed a distant floral scent that is very common with Oolong. The flavor had a lot more character than I expected. It had a light buttery and vegetal flavor with light hints of jasmine. In the end, it had a faint hint of spice - almost pepper-like. I couldn’t get enough of the tea. I did multiple infusions with the Oolong and each time it was delicious. With this tea, you have to appreciate where tea actually comes from - a tea plant (camellia sinensis). As the tea steeps, the leaves spring to life. They were so green that it looked as though they were freshly plucked. This was a very enjoyable cup of Oolong. It revealed many flavors that added to the tea’s character.

Just4Tea describes the tea as: Very lightly fermented and grown in the AnXi area in the Fujian province of China. The orangey-green liquor yields an flowery aroma that is creamy, smooth, and refreshingly light. The flavor has a mellow and sweet finish that will please your palate.

• Visit Just4Tea

marTEA

What an elegant cup of green tea…it is very refreshing. From the Loin Peak Mountain in the Hang Zhou area of Zhejiang province to my cup in the U.S., this tea has traveled far and it delivered a fresh and delicate cup of green tea. For being a lighter green tea, the aftertaste is very lasting in a pleasing manner and it makes the tea even more enjoyable. Dragon Well is a very popular tea in China, and I can certainly see why. It has an inviting vegetal flavor with very light nutty and buttery hints to it. The dried tea leaves are non-fermented and the natural flavors of the tea are released when it steeps. Dragon Well is easily identified by the flat shape of the tea shoots. Make sure you use a cooler water temperature with this tea. I had a perfect cup after every steeping.

I highly recommend this tea for those of you looking for a higher quality green tea or someone looking for a true green tea experience. If you don’t like green tea or teas with a vegetal flavor, you may not want to try this tea. This tea is for the person seeking an authentic green tea experience. I could drink this tea all day!

Visit Just4Tea.com

marTEA

This tea has a true “wow” factor to it. I often talk about teas that have lots of character. Unique characteristics are what make tea special. This tea has several characteristics that makes it very interesting and fun to drink. It starts with the name…Tie Guan Yin was named after a Buddhist Saint - Guan Yin.

Just4tea.com was founded by June Lau. Her family has been in the tea industry for three generations. June’s father and brother actually roasted this Tie Guan Yin. So many online tea stores all sell the same tea. In this case, you actually get a tea that is uniquely made by a family with 3 generations of experience. If you’ve never had tea that goes through a roasting process, you are really missing out. The nutty and lightly-smoked aroma that is created by the roasting of the Oolong takes the tea to a whole new level.

Just4Tea.com describes the tea as follows:

Semi-fermented and grown in the Wuyi Mountains in the Fujian province of China. Tie Guan Yin undergoes a longer fermentation period than ordinary Oolongs and is blended and roasted using our traditional Chaozhou family recipe. It delivers deep flavor, with an intense, floral and nutty aroma and a fruity finish. When steeped in boiling water the crinkly balls unfurl, revealing green-brown, lace-edged leaves.

As you sip this tea, you’ll swear you taste everything from chocolate to sweet fruit all floating atop a deliciously roasted Oolong. This tea is perfect for the cold winter months. It warms your senses as well as your body. So, I highly recommend buying this tea and trying to figure out all the various flavors your tongue will pick up on as you drink this tea. I followed the basic brewing instructions of a quick tea leaf wash (10 second steeping), followed by a 2 to 3 minute steeping time in boiling water.

• Visit Just4Tea.com

marTEA

Oolong (semi-oxidized tea) is often overlooked by tea consumers. With all the hype surrounding green and white teas and black tea (bagged tea) stealing the spotlight for several decades in the U.S., Oolong has been on the sideline. Oolong gives many tea drinkers the best of both worlds because it lacks the strong grassy flavor of some green teas, and it’s not as bold as many black teas. The Oolong I’m drinking today comes from the Fujian Province of China. Oolong is a traditional Chinese tea, but it is now consumed all over the world.

Oolong has a very fresh scent to it. If you could assign a scent to “health” it would smell something like Oolong. The aroma from the dried tea is almost intoxicating. As I try to describe it, I can’t stop enjoying it. For those of you that read my blog regarding Jasmine Pearl and thought the jasmine flavoring did not sound appealing to you, this Oolong should be perfect for you. It’s very natural - as tea should be.

Just4Tea.com describes the tea as:

Lightly fermented and grown in the Wuyi Mountains in the Fujian province of China. The amber liquor yields an aroma that is gentle, smooth, and refreshingly light. The flavor has a mellow and sweet finish that will please your palate.

I often disagree with descriptions provided by the seller of the tea, but this one is right-on-the-money.

• Visit Just4Tea

marTEA

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

marTEA