Canton Tea’s Anxi Rou Gui Review

Type: Oolong
Origin: Da Ping Village, Anxi County, Fujian Province
Price: Sample (regular price – £14.99 for 100g)
Vendor: Canton Tea Company
Brewing Method: Per Instructed - 1 teaspoon of leaves, 1 cup of filtered water, heated to 190°F-200°F, steeped for 2-3 minutes
Overall Score: 4.2 out of 5

The leaves smell grassy with some background floral notes. It smells more like a typical green tea than a typical oolong tea. It also has a slight nutty aroma. The color of the leaves is an overall dark green with some light green specks throughout.

The liquor is a deep yellow color. The tea is starting to smell like a typical oolong now. It smells clean and vegetal with a nutty background.

The taste is a little more bitter than expected. It has a nice crisp flavor. It is fresh and vegetal, but the nuttiness is more in the aroma than the taste – I barely taste it. The after taste is buttery and lingers for a moment. The tea is quiet astringent, also.

The flavor is around medium body for an oolong, I would say. However, I think it is slightly stronger in flavor than some oolongs I have had. For green tea lovers who are looking for a more pungent flavor than what plain greens have to offer, this would be a good tea to try. It’s definitely a greener oolong and has more punch than a regular green.

Mighty Leaf’s Jade Oolong Review

Type: Oolong
Origin: China
Price: Sample (regular price - $28.95 for 4oz.)
Vendor: Mighty Leaf
Brewing Method: Per Instructed - 1 teaspoon of leaves, 1 cup of filtered water, heated to 200°F-205°F, steeped for 3 - 5 minutes
Overall Score: 4.1 out of 5

The leaves of the Jade Oolong are small, rolled balls about twice the size of gun powder tea. I can see a few stems still attached to the bottom of some leaves. The leaves are all shades of green but its more dark than light. Although the aroma of the dry leaves is very subtle, they smell fresh and grassy.

While brewing, the tea smells like a typical oolong. The aroma is quite vegetal. The liquor lives up to its name, Jade, because it is a pretty green color with a slightly yellow tint.





The taste is very crisp, clean, fresh, and vegetal. It is not bitter, but it is fairly astringent. This tea reminds me of spring with its sweet, vegetal taste and it’s earthy aftertaste… but I could be biased since I am looking out the window at all of the flowers starting to bloom as I’m tasting this tea.

The tea dries my mouth out a little, but the overall flavor of the tea is good. This tea is a greener oolong and I would say it is somewhere between light and medium bodied. I say this because it is not subtle by any means, however it still has a delicate flavor.

Mighty Leaf’s Wuyi Oolong Review

Type: Oolong
Origin: China
Price: Sample (regular price - $12.95 for 4oz.)
Vendor: Mighty Leaf
Brewing Method: Per Instructed - 1 teaspoon of leaves, 1 cup of filtered water, heated to 200°F-205°F, steeped for 3 - 5 minutes
Overall Score: 4.0 out of 5

The dry leaves of the Wuyi Oolong smell slightly fruity and earthy. The leaves are a dark brown mix of long, rolled pieces. However, I found a lot of tiny broken pieces in this particular bag.

The liquor is a bright yellow color – it kind of looks like honey. While brewing, the aroma reminds me of a very light bodied black tea – brisk and earthy.





The tea tastes sweet and fruity. It has a pleasant grape-like flavor to it. It is definitely a blacker oolong because of the rich, dark taste. The tea is smooth at first, but it does dry out my mouth more than I care for. The fruity flavor that comes from this tea makes it more sweet than bitter.

There is not too much to say about this tea – it is very simple. It gets right to the point with its flavor. Because of the grape-like flavor, the taste reminds me of a very subtle Darjeeling.

David's Tea's Quangzhou Milk Oolong Review

Type: Oolong
Origin: China
Price: Sample (regular price - $18.00 for 50g. Also available in 25g and 100g packages)
Vendor: David’s Tea
Brewing Method: Per Instructed - 1 teaspoon of leaves, 1 cup of filtered water, heated to 190°F-200°F, steeped for 3 - 5 minutes
Overall Score: 4.5 out of 5

Quangzhou Milk Oolong is milk infused oolong tea, hence the appropriate name. I have been scared to try this tea because the last milk oolong I had (from a different vendor) is still listed as the worst tea I have ever tasted. It smelled and tasted like sour milk.

When I opened the package of this milk oolong, I grimaced at the smell of the leaves. However, once I stopped cringing I realized the leaves smelled more like butter than milk. The leaves are large rolled balls that are covered with a mix of light and dark greens.

While brewing, the aroma of the tea, however subtle, is sweet and buttery. The liquor is a pretty yellowish-green color.







The taste is… very interesting. I was bracing myself for something awful, but I was pleasantly surprised. The tea tastes like buttered toast, seriously! It tastes like toast so much that I keep forgetting it is tea, because there is no bitterness or astringency at all. The tea is actually very creamy and smooth. Wait, did I just say that about a milk oolong?

The spent leaves are huge! There are a lot of whole leaves and even the leaves that are torn in half are still really big.

Although this milk oolong will stop past milk oolongs from giving me nightmares, I am still not completely turned on to the idea of milk infused tea. The more I drink this tea, the more interested I become, however.

The Simple Leaf’s Tankha Review

Type: Oolong
Origin: Phoobsering Estate in Darjeeling, India
Price: $4.95 for 1oz; $13.95 for 4oz.
Vendor: The Simple Leaf
Brewing Method: 1 teaspoon of leaves (2.5 – 3.0 grams), 1 cup of filtered water, heated to 170°F-180°F, steeped for 2-3 minutes.
Overall Score: 4.9 out of 5

Tankha is an oolong tea from Darjeeling, India. Just as I suspected, the tea leaves for this blend are whole, long, rolled leaves. They are dark in color and smell vegetal, fresh, and fruity. I said this with the last oolong that I tried from The Simple Leaf and it holds true this time as well – the dry leaves smell more like green tea than oolong tea (which is not a bad thing).

Once again, the oolong aroma is brought out when the leaves are hit with the warm water. The liquor is a beautiful deep golden color and the smell of it is a combination of fruity and woodsy.

The tea tastes very sweet and fruity. There is a nice briskness to it, as well. A slight earthy or woodsy aftertaste lingers for only a short while. Bitterness or astringency is not a problem for this blend. I would actually say it is quite smooth.

I really liked this one. Normally, I really have to be in the mood to drink an oolong, but not in this case. I love the slight woodsy flavor which gives it a very light smoky taste, but the fruitiness of it keeps it sweet and not too harsh. I think I may have a new oolong favorite.

While having some technical difficulties uploading this post, I made three infusions of this tea. There was no loss of flavor in the second or third infusion and I am sure I could have made more.

The Simple Leaf’s Honeybee Review

Type: Oolong
Origin: Meghma Estate in Ilam, Nepal
Price: $4.95 for 1oz; $13.95 for 4oz.
Vendor: The Simple Leaf
Brewing Method: 1 teaspoon of leaves (2.5-3.0 grams), 1 cup of filtered water, heated to 170°F-180°F, steeped for 2-3 minutes.
Overall Score: 4.5 out of 5

Honeybee is an oolong tea from Nepal. According to The Simple Leaf, “When infused, the tea exudes the aroma of native Daphne bholua and Rhododendron plants, with a slight touch of honey and fruit.” I can smell something sweet in the dry leaf, but I think these leaves have an aroma more like green tea than oolong tea - having that grassy, earthy smell (I am NOT saying that I think it’s green tea, but just that it has a green tea AROMA). The whole, rolled leaves are different shades of brown.





The sweet honey aroma is brought out while the leaves are steeping. It started smelling more like an oolong as it was brewing, also. The liquor is a pretty golden yellow color.

Contrary to what the dry leaves smelled like, the tea tastes just like an oolong. The super sweet honey flavor is what I taste, first. Then, I am left with the oolong after taste that lingers for a while. This brew is definitely not bitter, nor is it astringent. I am not kidding when I say super sweet. If you really think this needs sugar, you are out of your mind… which makes me think this would make a very nice iced tea.

Blue People Oolong Review

Type: Oolong
Origin: Taiwan
Price: On sale price of $21.60/4oz.
Vendor: Aroma Tea Shop
Brewing Method: 1 tsp of loose leaves, 8 oz. of filtered water, boiled at 212F, in IngenuiTea teapot, for 2.5 minutes
Overall Score: 4 out of 5

When pouring this tea into my cup, I detected an anise-like smell with some faint mint in the background. I observed that the liquor is a light amber color. When tasting it, I was first hit with a slight licorice root flavor that this tea has been fermented with.

After taking a few more sips, my mouth and tongue began to feel cool from the mint. The licorice lingers for a short while but the mint stayed with me for quite some time. This brew had no bitterness at all. In fact, it was very smooth and sweet.

Before brewing: The leaves are like nothing I have seen. They are very tightly rolled into balls resembling tiny pebbles. I got a laugh as I poured the loose tea on the plate and some of the tiny balls had enough momentum to roll off the plate as if I had just poured out a bag of marbles. I know I can say that has never happened with any other loose leaf tea I have tried.

After brewing: These pebbles put on a show when the boiling water was added. They slowly opened up and revealed wrinkly but attractive whole and half leaves. While trying to open up, some of the pebbles would bob up and down in the water. It was definitely fun to watch.

I shared this tea with a friend and he informed me that he, too, liked the cool mint after taste. He said that even though there was no bitterness found in the tea, he added a small amount of sugar. He concluded that it intensified the mint flavor a little bit, but the anise was very faint.

Milk Aroma Oolong Review

Type: Oolong
Origin: Taiwan
Price: On sale price of $21.60/4 oz.
Vendor: Aroma Tea Shop
Brewing Method: 1 tsp of loose leaves, 8 oz. of filtered water, boiled at 212F, in IngenuiTEA teapot, for 2 minutes
Overall Score: 2 out of 5

These leaves from Taiwan were steamed with milk, so when they say “milk aroma,” they were not kidding. I noticed a milk-like smell when brewing the tea. However, that is the one thing that I wish I could have taken out of this tea. Before I brewed the leaves the smell was that of a very sweet oolong tea. However, when the tea was in my cup, the smell was like that of spoiled milk.

The description of this tea on the Aroma Tea Shop website was describing this tea as “sweet, creamy, and smooth.” I agree with this description, but the after taste was quite unpleasant. The spoiled milk taste was left in the mouth along with some astringency.

Before brewing: The whole leaves are rolled and curled into tight little balls. There is hardly any dust or small pieces. This definitely looks like a high quality tea which was meticulously handled with care.

After brewing: The liquor is an amber or deep yellow color. The leaves have almost fully opened up. Most of the leaves are whole but some are torn or ripped in half. I would say that these leaves are very attractive as I observe them spread out on my plate.

Despite my dislike for the taste, that does not mean that you may not like it. I love milk, but not warm milk. I even shared this tea with a friend and he had the same opinion as I did, even after tasting the tea without and then with sugar.