Milk Oolong

[Joie]

I recently bough a tea called Milk Oolong. Mainly because it's the last Oolong in my local tea shop that I haven't tried. No matter what I do....different temperatures for different lengths of time, even different vessels, I just can't seem to get a good result. It seems to turn out very bitter or just king of flat. I've had a lot of luck, and a lot of fun learning how to brew some other Oolongs, but this has me stumped. Anyone have any suggestions?

[tenuki]

throw it out.

[Wesli]

could just be bad tea

[hop_goblin]

Yep, sometimes tea just sux

[tenuki]

Yep, sometimes tea just sux

In my experience this seems to be true more frequently with milk oolong than most....

[Beidao]

I have a rather cheap Milk Oolong, very easy brew, almost impossible to get wrong. I would say, put it aside. Try it again in three months or something. See if it's better then.

Just curious, which vessels, lengths of time and temperatures have you tried? Without knowing that, it's hard to give suggestions I'm afraid.

[Beidao]

I should also say that I've several times bought an expensive, good quality Jin Xuan tea (Jin Xuan is a kind of bush that gives milky tea). It has been giving me lots of troubles and it took me half a year of improvements in brewing technique before I started to get it right. It didn't really turn out bad, it was just different every time I made it - sometimes flat, sometimes great.

[beecrofter]

Try it grandpa style, put 5 grams of tea in a qt mason jar, add just under boiling water to just past half full and when the tea does not burn your face off its usually ready. 1.5 gm/100ml seems a good start when brewing in a glass, bitter and astringent means try slightly cooler water, say 185-190 instead a dragon boil.

[Joie]

I've tried it with a gaiwan (I'm not crazy about that thing at all), with a larger teapot that has it's own diffuser, and with just a teacup and a diffuser. I started with water just under boiling and decreased the temperature from there. Finally the last time I just poured hot hot boiling water on it. Nothing. There's always just a hint of sweetness in the aftertaste. It's Like juicy fruit gum (I know, not sophisticated, but I promise that's what it tastes like), but always with that strong bitter flavor in the beginning. I think it really is time to give up, at least for now.

[gingkoseto]

Is it possible the store gave your wrong tea by mistake?
If the leaves are too large, maybe the tea leaves are too big and therefore bitter. But this problem seldom happens on Jin Xuan (milk oolong).

I did experiment for a few times by brewing Jin Xuan leaves in hot water for more than several minutes and there was not even a hint of bitter flavor. But with another Taiwan oolong varietal, Si Ji Chun, just 1 minute brewing, or after a few very short infusions, it's possible to get bitterness.

Btw is your infusion time below 20-30 seconds for the first a few infusions?

And since it's a local store, if you still want to deal with them in the future, better bring up the problem to them and see what they can do.

[Joie]

It's a pretty small shop. The selection isn't huge, and there's not a lot of traffic. Perhaps it is just old. I'll ask about it when I'm there next.

Thank you all.

[devites]

Yep, sometimes tea just sux

In my experience this seems to be true more frequently with milk oolong than most....

I get my jin xuan from Floating Leaves so it is always kick*ss

[Salsero]

There are at least two completely unrelated types of tea called Milk Oolong: Nai Xiang (a mainland processed or flavored tea) and Jin Xuan (a Taiwan varietal).

There are threads about Nai Xiang oolong HERE and HERE. Is it possible that yours is the Nai Xiang? IMHO, that one seems to include a lot more iffy products.

And by all means ask the vendor what they think about brewing it.

[gingkoseto]

There are at least two completely unrelated types of tea called Milk Oolong: Nai Xiang (a mainland processed or flavored tea) and Jin Xuan (a Taiwan varietal).

There are threads about Nai Xiang oolong HERE and HERE. Is it possible that yours is the Nai Xiang? IMHO, that one seems to include a lot more iffy products.

And by all means ask the vendor what they think about brewing it.

I read the second link cited by Salsero, and was really surprised to see this:

OK, I asked Daniel at TeaSpring about their Nai Xiang "milk oolong" and here is his reply:

Quote:
Yes, the flavor (flavoring) is added after the tea is processed. It is not natural.


His tea looks very much like what I have, and I think confirms my suspicion that this taste/aroma is not naturally occurring.

I heard in China some dishonest vendors would spray their oolong to make it milk oolong. I've never seen such a product but heard it existed. But it's always widely considered dishonest, even illegal to artificially make "milk flavored oolong". I've never tried the milk oolong from TeaSpring, but assumed it's Jin Xuan. I wonder if there is any misunderstanding involved in the conversation with TeaSpring. I can't imagine a vendor comfortably admitting their milk oolong is flavored.

In China, most flavored tea such as jasmine tea, osmanthus tea and lichee tea are processed with relevant flowers or fruits. Spraying anything other than natural flowers or fruits on tea to generate flavor is widely despised. Most higher end vendors won't do it at all. Some vendors, even if they spray their tea, they won't tell people they do so So I found it rather odd that TeaSpring claims their milk oolong is made with artificial flavor.

[Joie]

Ok, I've read the threads you cited, and the creamy taste that several people have referred to is not here.

This tea does smell very sweet before it is brewed, and I would say that a candy smell is probably accurate. The menu from the shop describes this tea as "leaves coated with milk". Something was done to it, I'm just not sure what.

It's not entirely bad, if I use water that seems almost tepid to me and a whole lot of tea leaves I can get a passable drink. Maybe it's just too delicate for me.

It's definitely not my favorite.

What's really disappointing to me at the moment is that an order I made last week (my very first order by mail) was supposed to arrive today according to the tracking information, but it did not.

How will I wait until tomorrow?