Guangzhou Milk Oolong

Tea: Guangzhou Milk Oolong
Vendor: David's Tea
Price: $9.00 / 25g
Vendor Description: This limited-edition oolong from the Wuyi Mountains of China is velvety smooth and lightly creamy, with a subtle hint of orchid. It’s said that it came about when the moon fell in love with a comet. The comet passed her by, as comets will do. The moon cried milky tears, which chilled the tea fields, withering the leaves and giving them a delicate creaminess. It’s been a rare luxury ever since.

Leaf: The leaf smells very much like a sweet milk candy. It has a very prominent sweet and milky aroma. It is rolled into tight little balls. There is a light green to almost black spectrum of colors. There are a few rather varied shapes and sizes to the balls.

1st Infusion Parameters: 5g, 5 oz, 208F, 45s

1st Infusion: The first infusion has a clear yellow hue to it. There is a very strong milky aroma. The flavor matches the aroma and is very milky. The amount of milky flavor makes the overall flavor sweet and smooth. The flavor component of the tea is smooth and light with a light sense of bitterness. The milk and oolong flavors seem to be almost clashing with one another.

2nd Infusion Parameters: 208F, 1:15

2nd Infusion: The second infusion has a darker yellow hue. The aroma is less milky, and a more oolong like aroma. The tea is much more noticeably a green oolong. The flavor feels rougher than the first with some of the more distinctive notes of a green oolong. The flavor is shifted very heavily to the back end of the profile. It ends with a light sense of astringency and a little bit of milkiness on the aftertaste.

3rd Infusion Parameters: 208F, 2:30

3rd Infusion: This infusion had yet an even darker yellow hue. There was still a little bit of milkiness to the aroma, but for the most part it was gone. The flavor had a little bit of tang and bitterness to it, the notes of being a green oolong were shining through much brighter now. They were not overwhelming though. The flavor was less astringent and it felt a little empty. The majority of the flavor was there, but it showed signs of lightening up.

4th Infusion Parameters: 208F, 3:30

4th Infusion: At this point the hue started lightening up to a lighter shade of yellow. The aroma was light and barely noticeable. There was a little bit of milk aroma left. The flavor felt milkier than the 3rd infusion probably because of a less pronounced oolong flavor.

Rating: 6/10

Conclusion: This tea is very unusual. From what I have read to generate this flavor the oolong is effectively dipped in milk during the process to add the milkiness flavor. This makes it effectively a flavored oolong, just as jasmine scenting would be as well. I felt like the flavors were not blending well together, more like fighting for the front seat pushing the other aside momentarily. It is also fairly highly priced, and for that level of pricing I would opt to look for a Dan Cong instead.

EDIT:  Apparently what I have previously heard about milk oolong is incorrect.  The flavor is apparently generated through artificial flavoring and not the use of milk.  This explains why it tastes more like milk candy than it does actual milk.  

Bai Hao Yin Zhen

Tea: Bai Hao Yin Zhen
Vendor: David's Tea
Price: $20.00 / 50g
Vendor Description: This is a true luxury, considered by many to be China’s most famous white tea. To create it, only the first leaves and downy, silvery unopened buds of the tea plant are picked by hand during the April harvest. How does this influence the flavour and aroma? Connoisseurs rave about its sweet complexity, and about an underlying grassy taste that makes it uniquely perfect.

Leaf: This tea was a very mixed bag of needles. Some where very broken for a Silver Needle (Bai Hao Yin Zhen), but yet it was very fluffy. It was primarily a budset tea, but did not appear as purely of one compared to others. It has a light and fresh aroma to it and an interesting green hue amongst the silvery white hairs.

1st Infusion Parameters: 5g, 5 oz, 185F, 1:00

1st Infusion: The tea has a very sweet aroma to it. The color is a clear yellow hue. The sweetness of the aroma reminds me of the Emerald Needle from Adagio. The flavor however does not seem to match the aroma well. The flavor is light and smooth, but lacks the sweetness of the aroma. It is a subdued and subtle taste, very conservative for a Silver Needle. The flavor feels muddled and mixed, more akin to a white peony than a Silver Needle.

2nd Infusion Parameters: 185F, 2:00

2nd Infusion: This infusion has a darker straw yellow hue to it. The aroma is distinctively a silver needle. The flavor is richer and more appropriate. The backend of the flavor feels emptier and there is a light sense of bitternes, partly from the increased strength of the infusion, but also from the tea itself I suspect. There are honey tones in the flavor, similar to a honey smoothness. It finishes off with a light sense of astringency.

Rating: 6/10

Conclusion: This Silver Needle didn't seem as pure as some of the others I have tried, most notably the Seven Cups and Swan Sisters have better flavor to them. The flavor of this one is a bit muddled like it's mixed with a little White Peony. The cost is higher than that of the Seven Cups or the Swan Sisters versions, for something that does not perform or look as appealing.

Sencha Ashikubo

Tea: Sencha Ashikubo
Vendor: Davids Tea
Price: $9.38 /25g
Source: Ashikubo Valley, Japan
Vendor Description:If you’re a lover of Japanese sencha, this tea is a must. It comes from the stunning Ashikubo valley in Japan, and is dried the traditional way – using wood fires. As a result, it’s milder and less grassy than regular senchas. Admirers point to its characteristic fruitiness and to the hint of toast that comes from the firing process. Most say they can’t go a day without it.

Leaf: the leaf is either a chumushi or asamushi, it's along the line between the two. The life has a nice glossy appearance to it, there are a few nice long needles and not too much powder.

1st Infusion Parameters: 5g, 5 oz, 185F, 1 min

1st Infusion: The infusion is a clear yellow hue. There is no sedient or murkiness. The color has a brilliant yellow radiance to it. The aroma reminds me of a heavy grassy sencha aroma. Even though it's a thick and heavy aroma it was not very strong. The tea has a certain woodiness to it. It is lightly bitter and has a hint of grassiness. While the tea is very subdued it has some very mild tones.

2nd Infusion Parameters: 185F, 15s

2nd Infusion: This infusion was lightly murky. It has a sweet aroma and a light astringency. The flavor is lightly marine.

Rating: 6/10

Conclusion: This is a very puzzling sencha. It is mild and very much like an asamushi or a chumushi, but it's hard to tell where between the two it lies. The first infusion had an interesting woodiness to the flavor, possibly a result of the wood fires from the description. In a way it reminded me of the Kuradashi Sencha from Hibiki-an. The flavor is light and appropraite and quite good. It's hard to describe, but it was a very solid tating tea. The downside of it is that this tea is very highly priced. At almost 40 dollars for 100g, this is one of the pricier senchas around. While quite tasty, I'm hesitant to say that this tea is worth the cost.