Mauna Kea Oolong

The rich volcanic ash soils in the Big Island of Hawaii can grow amazing crops. Consumers have been enjoying Kona coffee and now also have the options of Hawaiian white, green, black and oolong teas.  Oolong processing requires special skills and is not produced by every tea farm there.  Mauna Kea (Mountain of the god Wakea) Tea Garden does craft a premium Oolong, hand-picked two leaves and a bud style.

The tea made from the lovely wiry tippy leaves is light.  It is reminiscent of  some Chinese style green teas or Vietnam Oolong.    Using a Taiwanese oolong as a yardstick, Mauna Kea Oolong is atypical.  It is refreshing but not smooth.  Nevertheless, it is a tea with its special attributes from volcanoes, ocean, lei and hula.      

Mauna Kea Oolong

Type:  Oolong     Producing Country: USA     Preparation:  85°C 4 Min

Dry Leaf:  Their dark wiry leaves have white tips and are pretty.  They are pleasantly sweet, biscuity and floral.
Wet Leaf:  Two leaves and a bud unfurled from each dry wiry leaf.  Their floral note is orchid.
Liquor:      The egg yolk yellow tea is slightly peppery and grassy.  The mouthfeel is a light floral note (& faint bitterness) with licorice sweetness.

Tee Score: 3 out of 5

Mauna Kea Roast Green

In 2001, Camellia Sinensis (tea) was re-introduced as an agricultural crop in Hawaii.   Today, fine artisan teas are available from several small-scale tea farms, mostly located in the Big Island of Hawaii.  The one drawback of Hawaii grown teas may be their affordability.

The Big Island of Hawaii is the largest but the youngest in the Hawaiian island chain.  It is composites of five volcanoes.   Mauna Kea Tea Garden is on the slope of Mauna Kea volcano, which erupted about 4000 years ago.   The tea plants at this Garden are grown according to natural farming principles.

This 2013 harvested green tea is roasted and not steamed during processing.  It brews a bright and macadamia-color liquor.   It contains low caffeine and does not turn bitter like some green teas.   It exudes the spirit of aloha and is easy to drink.

Mauna Kea Roasted Green

Type:  Green Tea     Producing Country: USA    Preparation:  85°C 2 Min

Dry Leaf:  The flat, olive green leaves vary in size. Their aromas are mild and toasty.   They are very light in weight.
Wet Leaf:  It is interesting to observe the wet leaves that have the appearance of waterproof coatings.
Liquor:      The flavors of the bright and attractive tea include sweet butter cookies and toasted grains.  It is mild and barely has any astringency.  

Tee Score: 4 out of 5

Four-Season Spring Oolong

'Four-Season Spring' or Si Ji Chun is the name of the oolong as well as that of the tea varietal.   About 30 years ago, an Iron Goddess tea farmer in Taiwan discovered some very hardy tea bushes in his land adjacent to his tea plantation.  This relatively new tea variety propagated and flourished in other tea gardens in Taiwan.  Si Ji Chun, as its chosen name implies, is a high-yield cultivar and can be plucked up to 7 times a year.

Si Ji Chun oolong is generally mild and quite green.  It is an everyday tea for its value and great for a novice oolong drinker.  This 2012 machine-harvested Si Ji Chun tea is no exception.   It is pleasant but not as alluring as other green oolongs, such as Dong Ding.   It is light and almost green-tea-like.

Four Seasons Oolong

Type:  Oolong    Producing Country: Taiwan     Preparation:  90°C 5 Min

Dry Leaf:  The small-medium semi-rolled beads are clean and vegetal.
Wet Leaf:  The wet leaves are floral (orchid).  The various sizes of individual leaves are an indication of harvesting by machines.
Liquor:      The tea is yellow in color.  It is very light, clean, vegetal and faintly floral.  It may be like a green tea but is smooth with no astringency.

Tee Score: 3 out of 5

Jin Shan Shi Yu

Jin Shan Shi Yu means 'gold mountain timely rain'.   It is grown and produced in Anhui province, China.  The tea  is crafted with young buds and leaves, harvested before or after spring rain.   The name was derived from 1) the appearance of the 'raindrop' shape dry leaves   2) the location of the tea farms and manufacturers is near Gold Mountain village.  

When blind tasting several Chinese green teas, it is not difficult to identify those teas (e.g., Gunpowder and Dragon Well) that have some unique characteristics.  Jin Shan Shi Yu also falls into this category.  Athough it is vegetal, it is mellow, licorice-sweet and elegant.   It makes a real good cup of tea.  

Jin Shan Shi Yu

Type:  Green Tea     Producing Country: China     Preparation:  85°C 3 Min

Dry Leaf:  Their dark green shiny twisted leaves also contain curls that look like tiny hooks.  They have the scent of a pan fry tea,  and are toasty & herbaceous.
Wet Leaf:  It is obvious young leaves & buds were used to make this tea.  When they unfurled, they smell fresh like cooked spinach.
Liquor:      The pale yellow tea is refreshing and lengthy in the mouth.  It is smooth but slightly peppery.  It has an interesting flavor profile of asparagus freshness and licorice root sweetness.  

Tee Score: 4 out of 5

Earl Grey

The shades of Earl Grey are plentiful, more than fifty.   Earl Grey is the most recognized flavored or scented tea in the Western world.  It is named after Charles, second Earl Grey and prime minister of UK from 1830 to 1834.   All the tall tales about the tea imply that Earl Grey received the recipe from a Chinese official as a gift.   The traditional Earl Grey tea is Chinese and/or Indian black tea flavored with bergamot oil.   Bergamot is a citrus fruit grown in Mediterranean and its rind yields perfumery oil.   Twinings is said to have the rightful claim to the original Earl Grey tea formula.  Twinings tried a new Earl Grey blend with lemon and extra bergamot in recent years but had to bring back the classic edition after outrage from its customers.

Many tea merchants today create their own shades of Earl Grey using different types of tea and flavorings.   There are Earl Grey oolong, Earl Grey sencha, Earl Grey silver tip, and smoky Earl Grey, just to name a few.  This Earl Grey is the classic one from Twinings. The tea is not too strong and the bergamot flavor is neither overpowering nor Pine-Sol-like. It is a nice go-to tea in the afternoon.   Because of its fragrance, Earl Grey tea is often used in baking and confectionery.  

Earl Grey

Type:  Scented Black     Producing Country:  England   Preparation:  100°C 4 Min

Dry Leaf:   The small pieces of black tea leaves give off strong aromas of lemon, grapefruit and cedar.

Wet Leaf:   The wet leaves have a strong cedar scent.

Liquor:       This mahogany-colored Earl Grey is light, citrusy and mildly astringent.  The lemony taste stays in the mouth for a while.    

Tee Score:  3 out of 5

Tan Huong Oolong

Tan Huong is a tea cooperative in the northeastern Vietnam's Thai Nguyen province.   Vietnam processes and exports mostly black and green teas.  With the assistance of a Taiwanese tea specialist, Tan Huong produces this oolong.   Like Zealong, Tan Huong Oolong is presumably created in the image of Dong Ding.   The aromas of its dry and wet leaves are evocative of Dong Ding but the flavors of the steeped tea are untypical.  The tea has slight astringency and  mild licorice sweetness.   In other words, it is uniquely Vietnam oolong.

Vietnam Oolong

Type:  Oolong     Producing Country:  Vietnam   Preparation:  95°C 4 Min

Dry Leaf:   The dark green rolled pellets are raisiny and biscuity. 

Wet Leaf:   The deep green leaves are floral.

Liquor:       This tea is yellow.  It is light, slightly astringent and floral.  It has the sweetness and spiciness of licorice.    

Tee Score:  3 out of 5

Zealong

Zealong is oolong produced by the Zealong Tea Estate in the Waikato region of New Zealand.   A Mr. Chen and his son, immigrants from Taiwan, imported 1500 tea cuttings in 1996 from their homeland to pioneer the first and only tea garden.  Only 130 survived New Zealand's agriculture quarantine but they thrived and multiplied after careful propagation.   Then, 13 years of hard work later, Zealong tea was officially launched.

This unroasted Zealong is likely modeled after Taiwan's Dong Ding, and may still be a work-in-progress.   It has the smoothness but lacks the depth of a fine Taiwanese Dong Ding.   It is light and enjoyable.

Zealong

Type:  Oolong     Producing Country:  New Zealand    Preparation:  95°C 4 Min

Dry Leaf:   The dark green rolled beads are clean and biscuity. 

Wet Leaf:   The deep green leaves are slightly toasty and faintly floral.

Liquor:       This tea is bright yellow.  It is light, smooth, a bit sugary but not complex.   It begins to taste watery after the second infusion.  

Tee Score:  3 out of 5