Milky Oolong Organic Tea

This Milky Oolong is one of the most famous and sought-after teas from the island of Taiwan, and nowadays there are so many variations of this product on the market. The fame of this tea comes from the flavor of its leaves, which naturally possess an essence reminiscent of milk. In order to enhance the distinctiveness of this tea, however, some manufacturers over the years have begun to flavor the product with condensed milk, in some cases going so far as to hide or even completely lose the natural essence of this product.

The Milky Oolong we have selected, unlike others, has no flavoring and seeks to make the most of the milky aroma and taste naturally present in the leaves. To emphasize this result we often go for a harvest in late spring, so that in the leaves we can define and fix this peculiar organoleptic characteristic.

As with other oolongs in our Taiwan line, we started with a cultivar that is widespread on the island: TRES#12 or Jin Xuan, which gives a fresh herbal hint to the brew. During tasting, the hint of milk will manifest mainly in the aftertaste along with a creamy sensation due to the density in the body of the tea. This tea represents the later result of another of our products namely Jin Xuan oolong, and therefore we invite you to try both of the two variants of this famous Taiwanese cultivar.

Tasting – Sight and smell

Organic Milky Oolong tea leaves are rather tightly rolled in shape with a color ranging from forest green to jade green, enhanced by ochre hues at the stems and some silvery-white tips given by the presence of buds. Once infused, the leaves give off a fresh vegetable aroma that is at first more herbaceous and then sweeter, a hint of butter reminiscent of butter cookies and cream, and finally a floral aroma. The liqour in the cup is straw yellow in color with lime highlights: tiny particles of bai hao (the white down that surrounds the buds) can also be seen suspended on the surface.

Tasting Notes

GONG FU CHA

The first infusion of organic Milky Oolong tea is almost reminiscent of a spring green tea in its delicacy and elegance: there is a very gentle sweet vegetal note, like of bamboo shoots, spinach, and butter carrots, which then gives way to a slight floral hint of magnolia. With the second infusion, the floral component becomes strong, with notes of white flowers such as wisteria and lily of the valley. Instead, the vegetal scent becomes more herbaceous and fresh, and a sweet, milky hint emerges as of fresh cream. With the third and subsequent brews, there is a clear sense of the oily body of this tea, which leaves like a sweetish patina on the tongue and gives notes of custard and butter. The floral bouquet remains intense but not overpowering, well balanced with the milky notes. On the finish there is a very slight vegetal hint, an herbaceous note that gives freshness but not astringency.

WESTERN

At first sip, Milky Oolong organic tea is vegetal and fresh on the palate, reminiscent of freshly mown meadow grass; this herbaceous note then evolves into a sweeter vegetable, hinting at the flavor of spinach and baby carrots. At the heart, a floral note of magnolia, wisteria, and general white flowers emerges, followed by a milky sweetness of vanilla cream, milk and honey, and butter puff. The body is medium dense and extremely silky on the palate, while the persistence is long with floral and slightly buttery notes.

Place of origin

Nantou, Taiwan

Production

After late harvesting, Milky Oolong organic tea leaves wither in the sun for a few hours before moving to rest on indoor bamboo trays. Here it’s where the oxidation starts thanks to a manipulation of the leaves (the shaking) made by the tea master. Due to the low oxidation of this tea (about 10%), it takes only a short time for the tea to pass to the next stage where the leaves pass through a charcoal heated kiln to stop the enzymatic activity and fix the characteristics of the product. After this stage in the oven, the leaf is given its final shape by rolling it up by hand so that its aromas can be better preserved. The product is ready for consumption once it has completed its drying process, which allows it to keep its rolled shape.

How to prepare

We highly recommend infusing organic Milky Oolong tea in the traditional Chinese method (gong fu cha) to best enjoy these leaves. Following this preparation you can use 5.5 grams of leaves (about 3 teaspoons) in a gaiwan of about 100 ml to obtain more infusions with different flavors. After a quick rinse of the leaves in water at 90°C, an initial infusion of 20 seconds can be made, and after that, keeping the water at the same temperature, the time can be increased each time by 10 seconds from the previous infusion (20 – 30 – 40 …).

This tea has a longevity of about 6 brewings.

For a classic preparation according to the Western style we recommend 2 grams of leaves (approx. 1 teaspoon) in a 150 ml cup with water at 90°C for an infusion time of one and a half minutes.

If you would like to experiment with infusing this tea with different amounts of leaves try to think of a suitable amount to allow the leaf to expand freely into the liquid without being compressed or hindered in doing so. By doing so, you will make the most of this product without hindering the extraction of flavour substances.

The tea can be filtered for greater ease at the moment of tasting, and also the infusion times indicated above are intended to be purely indicative, so you can also adjust according to your personal taste.

Store in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight.