Phoenix Honey Orchid Oolong Tea

Where do we start… lets see i did order this tea a while ago just because i liked the name Phoenix Honey Orchid, it sounded wonderful but does it keep up to its keep up in taste?

I had a pretty hard time figuring out the amount off leaf i needed to use, first 3 times i tried to brew i had not enough leaf, then to many. I almost gave up in trying to figure it out. Needles to say the taste with not enough leaf was a let down, and when i had to many well it was not really bitter but it tasted not like i expected or hoped it to taste.

Now that i got it right for my taste buds i’m kind off surprised! It tastes very bright and fruity, maybe citrus or light tropical fruit. I’m not pretty sure about what i’m tasting but i’m loving it. This tea grows on me, i had a lot off trouble figuring out what and how, maybe i got it wrong in the first place because the leafs are so long and tippy that it looks like u got to many leafs in there, the pot is pretty filled with dry leafs now. it looks funny because most off the time i drink rolled up tea’s or small black’s.

back to the brewing i’m on my 4th cup now, still getting a very very nice flavour from these leafs, its almost feeling like a waste that i wasted allot off this expensive tea with just trying and trying… but it feels good to finally have it the way i like and love it!

o and the colour is bright golden orange, it looks amazing in my glass teacup!

This is only the second oolong I have drunk and I was stunned at how different two teas of the same "type" can be. Where my earlier experience of oolong had led me to expect a sweet amber brew with chestnut, apricot and violet tones, JING's Phoenix Honey Orchid Oolong, prepared using about 3 teaspoons and water just under boiling ("fish eyes") in the 250ml glass gong fu pot, was lighter and paler. The first infusion had a sweet biscuity aroma and the taste was more reminiscent of a lightly brewed black tea, with sweeter citrussy notes which came to the fore as the tea cooled. The second infusion was more strongly biscuity in aroma and more rounded in taste but retaining a pleasant tannic bitterness at the edges. The third infusion was paler and more honey-scented with floral notes, tasting greener and more mineral, with violet coming through as it cooled. I can understand why the happy customer quoted in JING's overview is such a fan - this tea has enough complexity and oomph to make it interesting and stimulating at any time of day, but is not overwhelming or dominant. A tea for any time.