Review - Milk Oolong

This is another odd one to pin down as there are a lot of folk with conflicting accounts. What everyone does agree on is that this is a Taiwanese Oolong, grown at high altitudes. After that, well, almost anything goes. One web store recounts this little tale:

“It’s said that it came about when the moon fell in love with a comet. The comet passed her by, as comets will do. The moon cried milky tears, which chilled the tea fields, withering the leaves and giving them a delicate creaminess. It’s been a rare luxury ever since.”

Which gives it the ring of something ancient – but really is just another example of modern orientalism as I’m fairly sure that this is a cultivar developed in the early 1980s.

Another site insists that the milky flavour must be natural because diary products are rare in Asia, while others say that they are all flavoured by steaming over milk. By whatever means it might be flavoured, there is a broad consensus that the tea has a natural silkiness but that flavourants are also sometimes used to create a more milky/vanilla taste and aroma.

I have limited knowledge of this one, so I can only review telling you what this tastes like and if it tastes any good. I have certainly had poor milk oolong in the past, one that had a milky/vanilla flavour that didn’t last beyond the second or third steeping and after that had a somewhat bitter greet taste that put me off trying another.

As it happened, Dragon Tea House had included a sample of their milk oolong in with one of my orders – I resisted trying it for a while but then caved in one adventurous date and gave it a go. I was glad that I did and promptly ordered a 250g bag that day.

It arrived in one of those vacuum packed bags so solid that it felt through the parcel like it might have been sent in a box. Cut open, there is a strong aroma, a little caramel but perhaps more vanilla. I didn’t steep the leaves for very long but long enough for a good flavour.

That flavour is silky smooth vanilla that does not, I’m happy to say, over-power the pleasant tasting oolong and what is more, it lasts steeping after steeping. The packaging says to expect at least six good steepings and it certainly manages that and more.

So, is it flavoured? Who knows! Do I really care? Not really, not if it tastes this nice. In fact, I find it relaxing and at once just refreshing enough – a very worth while tea and at about £13 for 250g, it’s at a very good price and is set to become a regular presence on my shelves. Recommended!

Visit Dragon Tea House here.