Oriental Beauty Sampler

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Oriental Beauty Sampler

During our trip to ShinChu, Taiwan, we found not one but two splendid Oriental Beauties and couldn't decide between them. Both are 2009 Winter Harvest and limited production oolongs that we are happy to offer in a sampler pack. While they share some of the same honey and spice notes, there's a difference in the balance of sweet, floral and musk.
Our Oriental Beauty-Special Harvest comes from an old grove where the trees were cut back and the precious leaves are only harvested every other year to avoid overtaxing them. Because of the resting period necessary to preserve these trees, the next harvest won't be available until December 2011. Special Harvest has a gorgeous orchid aroma with a lingering finish. The taste of flowers and wild honey are laced with a cardamom sweetness. It has a full body and a smooth texture that spreads and coats the tongue.
Oriental Beauty-Sweet Water has a refreshing taste and dances a fine line between an oolong and a light red tea. We get a similarly rich aroma, nectar and spice but in a different combination. This tea comes from a small garden that grows alongside a fresh water stream and the pure water source has enhanced the tea's natural sweetness.

Our sampler includes:
Oriental Beauty-Special Harvest: 25g
Oriental Beauty-Sweet Water: 25g

Our Price: $35.00

Amount per Package: 50 grams

Quantity in Stock: 0
Product Code: S-OB

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Sampler

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Details

Our Oriental Beauty is a semi oxidized, roasted oolong from the ShinChu province of Taiwan with a handpicked blend of leaves and buds.
If brewed carefully, the color of the tea will get deeper and darker until the 5th infusion. (As shown in the product image)
This tea actually has several names. In the west it's best known as Oriental Beauty (Dong Fan Mei Ren), a title given by the Queen of England who loved to drink this oolong. It's sometimes called Eastern Beauty, Fancy Formosa Oolong or Bragger's tea. It's also known as Silver Hairs or Silver Tips because of the white down on the buds. Oriental Beauty is sometimes confused with Darjeeling (which is also called Indian Beauty) because it shares a similar flavor profile.
A true Oriental Beauty oolong owes some of it's sweetness and distinctive flavor to tiny leafhoppers that feed on the leaves. Some believe that the damage from the insects' feeding forces the tea plants to produce more sugars to repair their wounds. Others think a unique chemical reaction occurs between the leafhopper's saliva and the exposed edges of the leaf that results in a sweeter taste.
Read about Oriental Beauty on Dae's Journal.