I’m not really a coffee person. I prefer tea, and I know a lot of fellow writers love tea, too. But have you ever wanted to break out of the Early Grey or English Breakfast norm and try something new? Well, let me help you find some cool new teas! If you need a little hot and flavorful boost to help you reach your writing goal or you’re just a lover of tea or you’d like to try some tea but aren’t fond of the stereotypical types, these Tea Tuesday posts are for you.
How I found it: A few months ago Tea Ave, a Canadian tea company specializing in all natural Taiwanese oolongs, sent me free samples of my choice of three oolong teas plus special oolong tea cups and an oak tray in honor of their grand opening for my review. They were so generous and the teas were scrumptious. Loved them!
You can check out the reviews for the teas on their respective links (Rose Oolong, Magnolia Oolong, Ginger Lily Oolong). After this awesome first impression, I had to purchase some oolong from them at least once. They are a bit pricey so I had to wait until they had their free shipping sale this past month, but now I am back with four marvelous blends: Alishan Jin Xuan Oolong, Osmanthus Oolong, Dong Ding Oolong, and Oriental Beauty!
The Tea: For these reviews since I’m not judging them based on their similarity to a respective character I’m going to give the teas’ product descriptions. Here we go:
Known to some as milk oolong, around here we think of Alishan Jin Xuan as our dreamy, creamy oolong. An elegant tea with a refined, subtle taste, Alishan Jin Xuan’s fruity and floral aromas complement its smooth, milky mouth feel.
Only oolongs from this particular region, grown on the foggy Alishan mountainside, produce the creamy, milky qualities found in Alishan Jin Xuan—and since the leaves are naturally flavored, it’s all done without the addition of artificial flavors or chemicals. Alishan’s unique origins also account for a flavor profile that is delicate and nuanced—never strong or overbearing. A little bit like a beautiful woman: subtle, inviting. Alishan is lightly oxidized and unroasted.
Alishan Jin Xuan turns a light golden color after infusing, and its natural creamy and fruity notes develop immediately. Aftertaste is naturally sweet. You’ll want it to linger.
Tea leaves are bright green and come curled into balls.
Basically this tea is tea-ception. I brewed this tea in my adorable little Japanese tea pot I have and it comes out clear almost like it hasn’t been steeped at all. When I add sugar (or honey sucanat in my case. Yes, I’m a health nut. No judging!) it becomes a honey color. It has a really short brew time of 1-3 minutes. I brewed it to the max because I like strong flavor.
I drank it and though the tea creamy in texture at all it tastes like it has milk in it. It’s crazy! There’s a little bit of powdery substance in the with the leaves, but it doesn’t cloud the tea at all. It’s fine without sugar, but with sugar it was like wow. It’s like my mind says it shouldn’t be milky tasting–yet it is.
Serving Recommendations: Three minutes with sugar.
How much is it and where can you get it? You can purchase all of Tea Ave’s teas on their website with a flat rate of $15 for shipping. This particular tea is $9.80 USD or 25 grams or 0.88 oz. The tea can be re-steeped multiple times so you can get at least ten servings from this bag if not more. The teas are very high quality and imported so that accounts for the price.
So how good is it? This is the best oolong I’ve ever had and I’ve had like five by now including this one (it’ll be eight by the time I try the other three). I like how it’s tea-ception. XD Five stars!
Have you tried this tea? What did you think of it? Have you had teas from Tea Ave?
If you liked this post, come back every Saturday for more writing advice, character interviews, book reviews and more! On Sundays I have Soundtrack Sundays where I post a new score piece, Tuesdays are Tea Tuesdays with tea reviews, Wednesdays I have Wonderful Word Wednesdays where I post a new vocabulary word, and Fridays are Fan Fridays where I post tags and other goodies. To help support my dream to be an author follow this blog, like me on Facebook, watch me on deviantART, and follow me on Pinterest and Twitter. If you want to know more about my books check out them out here. Thank you! 🙂
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