Osmanthus black and Shui Xian oolong from Jip Eu (Bangkok Chinatown)

visiting Jip Eu that day

A few weeks ago my wife and I were doing a rushed version of Christmas shopping that included a quick pass through Chinatown, so I stopped by my favorite shop there, Jip Eu, mostly to buy tea for gifts.  I bought 6 packs of an inexpensive Shui Xian, all but one to give away, and a spare Xiaguan tuocha there, and some Thai oolong and a couple of Dayi tuochas elsewhere, at Sen Xing Fa.  

Kittichai (the shop owner) gave me a tea there as a gift, an osmanthus black tea, which I'm reviewing here, along with the Shui Xian.  Very kind of him!  Those guys do feel like extra family to me, and I would probably visit them even without buying or drinking tea.  Maybe it feels slightly less like that for me only seeing them a couple of times last year, but that's how the covid era goes, Bangkok keeps shutting down and opening back up.  I don't work out of my office, almost ever, so stopping by Chinatown while on that side of town doesn't combine together.  I suppose I could be biased about their teas, liking what I would prefer to like; it's worth considering.

One might wonder what else is in Chinatown as gifts for kids.  There is a toy area of the wholesale shops there but my kids are both moving on from Legos and dolls and such.  We did buy some of those educational toys, about setting up a demo water filter and a seed sprouting kit.  Some extra clothes and such were most of the rest, some hair accessories, and we picked up a half a kilo of chrysanthemum due to almost running out.  It wasn't one-stop Christmas shopping; another trip to a department store and going to a sporting goods store later that day rounded it all out.  They do have online shopping here but we are slow to move to that (my family, and that also works for Thailand in general).

On to how the teas worked out.

Review, Osmanthus black:

first infusion:  really nice, although that interpretation depends a little on how one takes tartness.  Floral tone stands out most, leaning a lot towards fruit, along the line of roselle (hard to describe, between rose petal and cranberry, I guess).  Smooth, warm, rich tones fill in beyond that; this is definitely not an edgy version of black tea (astringent, or harsh, or flawed in any other way).  That roselle tone, which really has to be osmanthus, given what this is, includes a bit of tartness, or I suppose that's just as likely coming from the tea, but seems to link to the floral range.  Black tea contributes really mild mineral tones and other warm toffee like sweetness.  Probably floral will fade in a second infusion and wood tone will pick up, maybe even warmth like spice, which should also be nice.

Where to go from the basic flavor list for discussion?  The only other flavored black tea I ever tend to drink, besides Earl Grey, is jasmine black tea.  That's probably my overall favorite flavored tea form, the way that input can integrate in a good version.  Osmanthus is pleasant too, sweet and rich, floral towards fruity, not disagreeable in any way, and well suited for blending with tea.  

One might've tried mild osmanthus oolong and edgier, intense jasmine green tea, or strong versions of jasmine white, and think that jasmine has too harsh an edge, but that's most typically coming from the green tea.  How it works out for white is a bit strange; that tea has to mild, if it's white, but jasmine input can get to be a bit much.  I suppose at some point the balance is determined by the level, and producers making adjustments by mixing actual flowers (versus layering tea and flowers to add flavor), or adding chemical agents to extract flavors is something else.  What is the word I'm leaving out here?  Along the lines of solvent.

Anyway, this isn't as good as the best jasmine black tea I've ever tried but it is quite good.  For someone with more of an osmanthus preference that opinion could easily be reversed.  It's probably as well to say more about the tea base after a second infusion, since heavy floral input extracted relatively quickly this round, and dominates the flavor range, which isn't so bad.  I tend to brew Western style on the heavy side, using a proportion that works well for three infusions (maybe 4 grams for a 12 ounce cup, but I don't measure either, so I don't really know).  In this case, for flavored tea, the first two infusions will be quite positive, but very different, and the third might well be pushing it.

second infusion:  maybe a little better, for the black tea input ramping up.  The floral and fruit range didn't change much, just fading a good bit, but the tea input did.  It has nice toffee range sweetness, and a bit of a savory edge to it.  I have no idea what tea this is but it's not like the Dian Hong I drink most of.  I suppose it's closer to Wuyishan Fujian black tea I've been having, or it could be something else altogether.  

It kind of doesn't matter, exactly what black tea style this "should" be like.  It's suitable for a flavored tea base, mild and rich, maybe just a bit non-distinct to stand alone, but it would be easier to determine that trying a plain version.  Mineral tone gives it more of a positive base effect, along with the mild towards wood or spice range aspects.  If it's fruity or floral at all it's not possible to separate that from the osmanthus input.  It's good.

 

Review, Shui Xian oolong:

first infusion:  this won't be the fairest appraisal of this tea because I'm using the end of a bag that I separated out as two separate parts from an original paper wrapper.  I've drank this a few times and it's quite pleasant, but that form was more whole leaf than this.  Since I took out the top half to put in another bag just thinking it all through better earlier would've resulted in using the most whole material, instead of the most broken, but I'm not that clear minded first thing in the morning.  Or even now, at 11; there's a narrow window in the afternoon where I'm more optimum, maybe between 1 and 3.  My kids and I sometimes joke about how I'm not a morning person or an evening person, and it's not just a joke.

This has a really nice inky mineral base and strong woody sort of flavor, like tree bark, towards spice.  There's a Chinese name for that I'm forgetting; I'm not good with memorizing that list of main tea terms.  It makes you sound so much more knowledgeable and authoritative too, like you are speaking for an old tradition.  

This includes some cinnamon as well, more than I would expect for Shui Xian.  The flavors are really intense and clean, with what I take to be good input from a roast step, and a great level of oxidation (probably mixed, since they blend inputs to get to the most positive outcome in these sorts of teas).  It all works better than it should.  I've tried Cindy's Qi Lan again since drinking this and the character overlaps a good bit (Wuyi Origin's, really good tea, a version from a different quality level).  To say this is more rustic or rougher edged implies more of a difference than I'm really experiencing, since that degree is so limited, but I suppose that's it.

This tea most definitely punches above its weight.  If you bought this for $8 for 50 grams it would seem like a good buy, as standard tea versions go, and I paid $3 for what could've been 100 grams (I think it was that).  Packaging was entirely in Thai (maybe with some Chinese mixed in), and I didn't have it translated, and was in a rush when I bought it.  It's odd how this tea is a great value whether it was 50 or 100 grams; it usually doesn't work out like that.  For $6 it still would be (200 baht instead).  It goes without saying but twisted style teas like this taking up a lot of space in a package is what makes it hard to determine amount; it was mostly whole leaf, and again this is the end of the "bottom" half.

That's the opposite of how that would almost always go in buying random Wuyi Yancha, to some extent even there at Jip Eu.  Very inexpensive teas can be drinkable, positive and interesting, but not this good, with this degree of balance, intensity, pleasant aspect range, and lack of flaws.  I suppose it just so happened that they bought Shui Xian versions with limitations that merged to become really good by matching up.  An inexpensive version like this should be a "daily drinker," the kind of tea you would have with breakfast but not focus on in a session as the main theme, but it could stretch and cover both.

To put that in perspective Cindy's (Wuyi Origin's) Qi Lan sells for $17 for 50 grams, and to me it's a good value for that.  It's better than this, but the character overlaps, and this tea should have notable flaws that it doesn't have.  For that tea slightly cleaner and more intense flavors and better feel and aftertaste would all mark it as being different, with general flavor range not as different as would be normal.

for outdoor tasting level of sunlight can affect images a lot

Second infusion:  so nice, that intensity, and again the cinnamon with inky mineral and an aromatic tree-bark version of being woody, pretty close to spice range.  I should get back there and buy a few more of these packs.  I did buy 6, but only one was for me.  Three others went to monk friends, and two to local shopkeepers, one the family Happy is a part of, that local cat that I love visiting with.

Another aside:  our cat, Myra, just changed from being an inside cat to more of an inside-outside cat, spending days outside, then visiting some inside and nights in a pen (cage).  She's been adjusting to those other environments for over a month, but just made the switch in the last week.  Kalani said that she's so proud of her, that she can do it.  She ends up exhausted at afternoon nap time, when she gets a lunch, and in the evenings, after she spends all day exploring.  Later I guess she will just head up to the roof spaces to hang out, like the other two cats often do.

I didn't edit these pictures; my "new" Huawei phone does ok, a new but a dated P20 model

Not much to add about this round or this tea.  A bit of a heavy earth edge is as close as this gets to a flaw, a bit towards a roasted coffee tone.  Even that is nice, to me.  You can't really spot the quality limitations without being familiar with the intensity, feel, and aftertaste experience of better versions, and I suppose prior to adapting to prefer those they wouldn't be that much of an improvement.

third infusion:  flavor deepens; inky mineral picks up and cinnamon fades a bit.  This will shift in character, and probably not be as positive as higher quality versions after 8 or 9 rounds, but it's kind of holding its own now.  I tried this with an orange cake a couple of weeks ago and the way that heavy mineral and towards-spice tree bark flavor matched up was just fantastic.  

From trying it a number of times already I already know it's not going to fade away quickly, as can occur with some modest quality Wuyi Yancha versions.  The depth in this indicates it's not like that; lower quality versions can have good flavor if you push them through early rounds, but they can't back it up with the same kind of complexity.  A touch of cardboard flavor range often also gives up lower quality versions; this doesn't include that.  Roast input is typically heavier in lower quality versions too, used to cover flaws, and to integrate blend inputs together that don't completely match.

Conclusions:

Two really nice teas!  I don't know what the osmanthus black sells for, although I suppose they probably do sell that, but it's a lot better than a standard grocery store blend would be.  It's a full quality level better than anything Twinings would sell, probably at the top end of the range for high profile French vendor blended teas.  You might be able to buy something comparable at local TWG outlets for five times what Jip Eu sells this for.

I mentioned this experience in a post about oolongs in a Quora Space about tea I developed, Specialty Tea, and someone on there commented that it's always nice finding an inexpensive gem of a tea version.  It's almost not about the expense, because if I'd spent two or three times as much it wouldn't have changed much.  It's that I'm drinking much better tea than I expected to, and the people I bought it as gifts for are.  I've got other Wuyi Origin tea around, so I can have some when I feel like good Wuyishan oolong, but I can use a pretty good version as a daily drinker through this, for rushed breakfasts and such, or experimenting with grandpa style brewing.  I mostly use mixed tisanes along with sheng for that now, sometimes just with chrysanthemum.

If others reading this want to visit Jip Eu they might wonder what types are best there, beyond inexpensive oolong and floral flavored black (which they almost don't carry any of).  They stock good Wuyi Yancha, that other quality range I mentioned, but it helps trying versions with them to match style to preference.  Slight variations in oxidation, roast level, plant material input, or general style can vary outcome a lot.  I've written about buying a couple versions of aged sheng there, not necessarily rare and high cost versions, but those were sold as CNNP / Zhongcha and old Dayi, so not really random stuff.  Half the time I go in there I restock an older Tulin tuocha version, a nice basic aged tea, not so far off Xiaguan range.  

If you bring up aged sheng that automatically raises authenticity discussion, and to me the heavier range fermentation effect of teas being stored in Bangkok is another main consideration.  They are kind of like Malaysia stored teas, but I at least think I can taste a difference.  Again visiting and tasting pins down what you'll get, and match to preference.  You just can't buy aged sheng or supposed good Wuyi Yancha without at least having a really good idea of what a vendor sells, and how they tend to describe versions, and what Jip Eu sells isn't supposed to represent a consistent, narrow range.  Tasting a tea first is ideal, and they're open to try teas with you.  You need to be patient there if you only speak English; that will work, but 100% of discussion content won't come across in both directions. 

I've bought pretty good mainstream commercial Dan Cong there a few times; that's an odd thing to come across.  Relatively moderate cost Dan Cong is usually so edgy that you end up balancing really fast brewing with not extracting enough positive flavor, but that wasn't like that, or as good as the more typical 50 cents a gram range versions either.  I've even bought Thai versions of black tea that were nice, and jasmine green (which I usually don't like, but did), and local, wild origin, very unusual sheng ("pu'er-like tea," in relation to that Thailand origin).  

One thing I almost never experience there:  trying the same tea twice, even varying year versions.  If you walk in and walk right back out with some tea, as I just did, you aren't approaching shopping there correctly, in general.  It worked that time though, a perfect time for it to, since the tea was for gifts.

Monsoon Thai coconut and mango-sticky rice black teas

I made it to a new Bangkok (Asok) branch of Monsoon Tea shops I'd been meaning to visit just prior to the pandemic.  The chain is based out of Chiang Mai.  They sell flavored teas, with particular focus on "forest friendly" naturally grown versions, using old tea tree plant material from old forest areas.

I've met Kenneth a couple of times, the owner; he's nice, as the staff were very pleasant and helpful.  I'll leave the rest of the background as linking to parts of that tea experience.  The shop is nice, a bit off the main Asok area, where Terminal 21 is located, not so far from one of the main Bangkok red light areas, but definitely not close to it.  That part of town has a lot of Japanese influence; the Fuji grocery store not far from there, but really beside Phrom Pong station, is great, worth checking out.

For background this tea matches a coconut black tea from them I reviewed long ago (Christmas 2015; the time just flies), and I've tried a Dhara white and Choaphrya River fruit flavored oolong since, all of which were great.  In turning up those links I was reminded that oolong was from an Assamica plant type; interesting.  That would match up with the old-plant local-source theme.

that tea had reminded me of Christmas, and it was Christmas time, so it really worked

trying an oolong there; the quality was good, the style just wasn't a preference match for me

Thai coconut black tea review:

In looking at the brewed tea it's not uniformly oxidized or mostly oxidized, as black tea often is.  There's no need to be concerned the tea won't be good based only on appearance, because brewing it and trying it tells that story.  Inconsistent oxidation or lower levels of oxidation could work out really well, if the inputs just happen to work out that way.  Or maybe not.  But only the brewed results tell that story, not leaf appearance.

Upon trying it I wouldn't say that the tea is good.  The balance is unusual when I first taste it, and given in what sense I can't imagine that could shift.  It's interesting, and novel, but slightly sour, and that flavor aspect stands out most.  The version I had tried years back was a conventional black tea, relatively fully oxidized, with a very positive and balanced contribution from the coconut flavor.  It was like coconut in a Mounds bar, really sweet with a slight toasted edge.  The coconut flavor is hard to pick up in this, although it is there.

I'll often not review teas I don't like, and this is right around that threshold.  It's interesting, and pleasant in a sense, it's just not really "good tea," with a lot of room for improvement.  The input of the leaf not being fully oxidized, or at least mostly so, probably isn't helping this tea.


That brings me to the second reason I would review a tea, if it wasn't to talk about what I like about it, for the novelty in style being interesting.  This is novel on a few levels, for being a flavored tea, for being from Thailand, as a follow-up to one of the best flavored tea versions I've ever tried.  And for considering how varying levels of oxidation in black teas works out, which turns out to be overshadowed in this version by a different concern.  I'm probably judging this more negatively because it's not nearly as good as that earlier version, or at least related to how I remember it. 

Next relationship to a vendor comes into play.  I really like Kenneth (the owner), and want to support his business, and Thai tea development in general, and the "forest friendly" theme.  I don't blindly buy in but I accept there's something completely valid there, especially as a long-term direction that food production really needs to go in.  A long term transition like sustainable food production needs to start with initial steps, and there would be positive and negative parts to the early development, aspects or forms that work better than others. 

Back to this tea, sourness isn't normal; that's typically seen as a processing flaw, that a tea stayed too moist after the final drying stage, and picked up that flavor later on, after it was finished.  This being partly oxidized could pair with that, but of course white or green teas are also left unoxidized when dried, and need to complete a drying cycle to be stored properly.  Finished moisture content and oxidation level don't necessarily link together.

All the same there is promise in this tea's character; some parts work.  To the extent I can pick it up the coconut is positive, again a very pleasant flavor addition version.  It's a shame it's not an addition to a better tea version, that this picked up the sourness that it did. 

When first brewing it I had considered that results might be more positive if I used less tea and moved away from my normal Western practice of brewing three infusions, versus two longer ones.  I'm guessing but I'm probably using 5 or 6 grams of tea to produce just over 250 ml (one cup) of brewed tea, infused for about 3 minutes.  I'm not using completely hot water since the thick ceramic cup took away a lot of the initial heat, and the water was a little off full boiling point to begin with.  For some what all that means is clear, and it would be hard to break it down fully if not, how proportion, water temperature, and timing tend to map together.

I'm using a hybrid approach, really; true Western brewing would back that off to 2 1/2 to 3 grams infused for 4 to 5 minutes, using a second longer round (so maybe 4 at first, then 5).  For a flavored tea the concern is that the first round "rinses off" the flavor; obvious enough, right?  For this coconut being too strong isn't the issue, it's that sourness.  It's conceivable that the coconut flavor input wasn't right, that it "went off" slightly for some reason, and it's that I'm tasting, not a flaw in the processed tea leaves.  But it probably just wasn't dry enough.


I tried an oolong version at the shop that I didn't like as well, something atypical, which I think was their highest end version (selling for the most, something with "forest" in the title, maybe).  It wasn't flawed tea; that was a style issue, about personal preference, not matching any range I like.   That was selling for such a high per-gram price that I would've had harder feelings about buying a significant quantity of that, where this coconut tea was pretty reasonable, something like 280 baht per 50 grams, or $9 for that much tea.  That's still a lot for a flavored tea, about double a more typical outlet price.  That's another part I wanted to address here, how sources and types affect pricing levels.

You can't compare the pricing with a market standard when there are no other options for the type.  These teas are unique; there are no alternatives out there like them.  That's just as well for this coconut black tea, and the oolong that I didn't like, but the Chaophrya Blend tropical flavored oolong I just reviewed was really novel and positive, as were those other two.

Cost also relates to supporting a local physical shop.  Pricing is usually higher in brick and mortar shops versus online outlets; their overhead is higher.  And I'm fine with that.  If you don't support your local tea shop it won't be there for you later (in general; if enough people don't).  It feels a little unnatural buying tea for twice as much as I could spend through a separate outlet, if there are equivalent options out there, but in some cases I'll do just that.  When a tea type isn't available elsewhere that's just what that type happens to cost.

For local Bangkok Chinatown shops all that doesn't apply; their overhead is low, because they're out there in Chinatown, where rents are low.  They cover their overhead through volume sales, not tea enthusiasts dropping buy to pick up 200 grams.  I just visited my favorite shop right after making these notes and bought 400 grams of tea (4 tuochas of 2012 Xiaguan sheng puer) and 3 small porcelain gaiwans for a bit less than these 200 grams of flavored teas.  It's much better and more interesting tea, per my preference, and it cost less than half as much.  Getting there towards completely aged Xiaguan sheng wouldn't be for everyone though; it tastes a bit like tobacco, a little on the earthy side, quite intense in an unusual sense.

with Kittichai at Jip Eu, from a few days ago

my wife was my driver that day so she finally met those shop owners (she's on the left)

I'm still suggesting that Monsoon teas are worth trying; diverse experience is a big part of what makes drinking tea so interesting, and these teas (the others) are unlike any other types I've tried, positive in novel ways.  If spending 1600 baht ($45--what I paid for 200 grams) throws off your tea budget then if you live in Bangkok go to Chinatown instead.  Just be careful there, because teas are even less consistent if you just visit random shops.  Even in my favorite shop, Jip Eu, quality level, styles, and relative value varies a lot.

Monsoon sets pricing lower as you buy in larger volume amounts.  Of course if you don't like a tea that's a bad thing, "getting through" half a kilo of one.  Tasting teas in the shop would be the easy way to avoid that.


The second round is much better; sourness is much diminished.  This is quite pleasant.  Maybe the coconut oil had "went off" somehow; that would explain how the rinsing function improved it.  For drinking this as a sequence of Gongfu style rounds it might have worked well, throwing out the first two infusions and then enjoying the rest.  It's a bit faded in character, and coconut barely comes through, but the balance is still pleasant.

Intensity being faded makes it hard to review.  It tastes like good black tea and coconut; that's it.  It's not as strong as the Mounds / Bounty bar effect in the one I tried years ago, but it contributes in a positive way.  There's a trace of sourness but after finishing half that first cup, and throwing away the rest, it seems to not even be present in comparison, at this level. 

Now I'm closer to recommending this tea, but I'd stop short of that.  The concept works, and the execution has positive merits, but that one flaw makes it not worth it.  Drank as this round it's entirely positive, for what you do experience, but not very intense.

Mango and sticky rice black tea

definitely fully oxidized, going by dry leaf appearance

Blogger didn't save the notes I made for this so I'll finally achieve a short review version, related to re-producing the notes from memory.  I liked the tea.  The type is a reference to an herb tasting a little like sticky rice, with more on that effect and input related to a Laos white tea version here.


It wasn't bright in character as one might expect from the name and description.  The mango aspect seemed more like dried mango, or really as close to dried apricot, which is close enough.  Sticky rice effect is contributed by an herb that really does taste a bit like sticky rice, and that part worked.  I would have expected this to be brighter, sweeter, and more intense like the Chao Phyra oolong version I reviewed not so long ago was.  Of course light oolong is a different thing than a black tea; those are going to be warmer in tone, expressing a less "bright" flavor range.


That description reconstruction:

-seemingly good black tea; no flaws, no pronounced astringency, decent complexity.

-the second infusion gave up a bit of intensity but both were quite pleasant, and a third was still good too, just dropping out quite a bit of intensity.

-anyone looking to re-create the effect of a mango and sticky rice desert wouldn't experience that, but the balance and complexity are good.  Sweetness wasn't as notable as it could've been, and it didn't seem like they tried to add the coconut sauce flavor aspect part.  The bright citrus note in the one type of mango used to make the sticky rice desert wasn't in this version either.

-flavor range was good and the balance worked well, but both intensity and complexity could've been better.  Some plain black teas I've tried in the past have seemed to surpass this across a lot of that range.  Mixing the tea and two other flavor inputs probably made it seems a bit non-distinct, compared to a really good black tea where all the flavor is a natural input.


This might have worked really, really well with a touch of coconut, based on a flavorful and fruity version of white tea.  But that's asking a lot, getting all that to balance.

Next steps:

I have a plain black tea and oolong I bought yet to try; I'll see how those work out.  Given that I didn't like either of these as much as that earlier flavored oolong (Chao Phrya blend) eventually I might stop back to buy some of that.  I keep giving tea to our "family monk" and I think he would really like it.

Kenneth will be presenting at an online conference, the Nomad Tea Festival, a theme the pandemic helped originate (or at least expand on, but I don't remember those turning up in the exact same form before).   That's at 1:30 - 2 AM local Australia time on July 26 (seemingly with scheduling set to make sense in the US instead; just make sure you get the date right if you plan to watch it, since it's often "tomorrow" already here). 

That's at 10:30-11 at night here; I'll be out of town for the weekend but still might catch it.  I suppose there's a decent chance they will make the videos available later if you miss it.

Tropical fruit flavored "wild" Assamica Thai oolong

named after the river that runs past Bangkok

Visiting with a friend awhile back the owner of Monsoon, who made this tea, stopped by and shared some samples with us.  It's the second time that I've met Kenneth Rimdahl (that owner); he seems like a really nice guy.  He talks about the forest-friendly theme here.

I could be clearer on the "Assamica" part in this title.  Old, wild-growing tea plants in the North of Thailand are exclusively Assamica variety, per my understanding, but my understanding wouldn't always be accurate.  There are so many tangents to get to in this post, along with the review itself, that I'll not dwell further on it here, or say more about the wild and "forest friendly" aspects.

Kenneth in white; Sasha (right) hasn't been mentioned here for awhile

I've written a little about that in this post, which related to meeting Kenneth the second time.  In that post I downplay the overall impact making a limited amount of tea from wild sources will have on the industry, but if the impact is still positive that's a good thing, and it sets up a basis for expanding that over time.  This post relates to meeting him in my favorite Chinatown shop prior to that, and we did talk about that background there. 

Of course wild sourced tea is a very positive theme; old tea plants really are growing in a natural fashion in different places (organically, in a biodiverse environment), and the tea from such plants tends to be mild in character (low astringency), intense in flavor, and very pleasant.  It's hard to not notice that the tin presentation, the container, contradicts the conservation theme, but this isn't a critique of how it all works taken together.

three years ago; the time flies

On the subject of tangents, I wanted to also share which flavored teas I've liked best in this post.  It's a subject that doesn't come up often here, not for a couple of years in any post, and one I tend to discredit or downplay.  But to be clear I think there's nothing wrong with people liking all sorts of different teas (even Lipton tea bags), and flavored teas can be interesting in diverse.  To me natural, better-quality, loose-leaf versions are more interesting, in general, but citing some exceptions helps place my take on all that.

I think this is lychee and mango

Review

The first infusion is really fruity; it tastes like lychee and mango. Taste is clean, more natural in effect than flavored teas would generally be. A bright citrus aspect is a bit lemony but mango often includes something like that naturally, and lychee isn't far off that range either. Lychee is my overall favorite tropical fruit, and mango might be a close second. It's hard to get much read on the tea itself in a light first infusion.

More of the same on the second infusion, brewed for close to 20 seconds, a bit strong as other tea types go, for this proportion. Flavor is really clean; aroma is pleasant. Sweetness and other aspect balance is good. It's still hard to pin down what the tea itself is like beyond the flavoring but it integrates well. It's a light oolong, not dissimilar to a Jin Xuan, but since this should be Assamica it should be quite different.

Normally I'd only only provisionally like any blend or flavored tea, it could be fine for what it is, but this works as an exception. It's good.

Vegetal range is picking up as fruit drops off but this is still sweeter and fruitier than a plain light oolong. It's not vegetal in the sense of green beans or pepper picking up, more a floral range with just a trace of green wood. For as clean and pleasant as this is it had to be fine plain, but I get it why a lot of people would prefer it flavored. I'd have to try a plain version to know which seems better.

A touch of butteriness picks up; that might have been what reminded me of Jin Xuan, even though I didn't notice it in the last round.

The fruit flavor is hanging in there, two thirds dropped out, or so, but still a main component. The overall effect is still really nice, bright, sweet, fresh, and complex. These flavors must be extracts of some kind; there's no way chemicals would taste this natural. I should ask Kenneth but probably won't; blog posts take forever with Q & A back and forth as an input.  I'll do an interview post later if I get to it.

It's hard to do much with evaluating this as an Assamica based oolong, in part due to the flavoring layer input. It's clean, with good complexity and feel, a lot like a well above average Thai oolong.  This other post covers trying two of the very rare Assamica based oolongs I've ever had that worked really well, versions from Hatvala from Vietnam.  But those were more-oxidized in style, a completely different thing (what people often call "red oolong," a popular but less common style imported from Taiwan).


Later rounds:  3 more rounds stayed pleasant and well-balanced, with fruit tones fading and woody flavor picking up.  Even after 8 or so infusions the tea was still quite pleasant; interesting an added flavor would hang in there that long, even if greatly diminished.  I put the leaves in the refrigerator with lukewarm water after those rounds, to cold brew for an extra infusion; they still weren't done yet.

It would seem more conventional for people to brew this Western style, of course, for people more into flavored teas to just brew 2 or 3 rounds in a teapot or some infuser instead.  That would work.

I really liked it.  The color shows it's a very lightly oxidized oolong, which is either a good or bad thing, depending on how that suites the final tea aspects and character, and for this it worked really well.

Other flavored teas

There's nothing necessarily wrong with flavored teas, or liking flavored teas, but inexpensive, low-quality versions are often more a gateway to better tea than a final preference destination.  Artificially flavored, low quality tea based versions aren't like this blend, closer to how flavoring gas-station coffee with those artificially flavored non-dairy creamer cups comes across (which can be ok, for a road-trip caffeine fix).

I'll list a few flavored tea versions I've really liked, with these exceptions intended to fill in what I think represents the best of this category.


Earl Grey:  no need to go to far with describing this; bergamot essential oil (citrus) blended black tea should be familiar.  If not go try some.  Twinings loose version isn't too bad, but even better versions than theirs can be really nice.  I've reviewed a good bit of Earl Grey here but none of those reviews shed any more light on what it is, or how it is.  An interesting version from the Cordon Bleu cooking school was really maxed out for that orange citrus flavor, right at the balance point for being too much.  That seemed like a natural place to set that level, upon drinking it.  I think they stopped making it though; a later search about it didn't turn it up.


Monsoon coconut flavored black tea:  this really stuck with me (that post was from 2005).  This same producer made a relatively natural version (per my understanding) that worked really well as a winter / Christmas seasonal theme experience.  Some extracted, essential oil version of coconut really captured the flavor of toasted coconut (presumably it was that), combined with what seemed like a pretty decent black tea.  I'll drink that again someday.


Jasmine black tea:  my overall favorite flavored tea, probably.  To me jasmine works much better with black tea than green, and balances and complements it even better than bergamot essential oil.  A bad version might seem off, but even Indonesian grocery store versions were good.  Hatvala, a Vietnamese vendor, makes my favorite that I've tried (reviewed here), but Moychay also produced a really exceptional example.  It's hard to describe further than just saying that this particular floral range and good black tea work really well together, even better than it sounds.

the cacao nibs on the lower right; they work better ground a bit more, like coffee

Chocolate flavored tea:  I've not done much with this popular flavored tea sub-theme (maybe well represented by David's Tea selection).  Two Christmas themed blends, based mostly on a masala chai base, did use cacao nibs and actual chocolate.  Both masala chai and Christmas blends are promising directions for blends that aren't really typical of flavor-added teas.  The most basic version of the latter is something along the lines of black tea, orange peel, cinnamon, and mint, or just a twist on a masala chai recipe, maybe adding pine needles or something such.  Cacao husks would be a good way to add real chocolate flavor to any tea, probably as well balanced with a mild black version as any (the nibs, the actual "bean," can be hard to infuse).

fruit peels dried for one of those Christmas blends

That seems like a good place to leave off.  Blending other flavors into teas is promising, it's just that drinking single-type, narrow-origin, high-quality plain versions of teas is even more promising.  None of those blends or flavored tea posts are from the last two years; I've just not been exploring that lately.  I made a mostly herbal version of masala chai that worked well when I was sick last year; that's an exception (and tried chen pi then, from looking that up, tea stuffed in an orange / tangerine peel).  I really like masala chai, it just takes some messing around to make a version, and I don't get to it often.

Cha Tra Mue gold label Thai tea

I first reviewed the standard red label Cha Tra Mue brand of Thai tea not long ago, and a friend recommended that the "gold label" version is better.  I'm only now getting around to trying it.

It probably is slightly better.  This won't amount to much of a detailed review or comparison because I didn't try the two versions in direct combined tasting, and there isn't that much to say about how it tastes.  I had owned the two versions at the same time (hence the photo of both), but gave away that earlier version before I got around to trying this other one.

it works well brewed strong since milk dilutes it

made in a conventional Western infuser device

It tastes like any version of the orange Thai flavored tea.  Once you get the preparation details down, the level of infusion strength, and amount of sugar and milk, it's all in the same range.  There's a bit of a trick to that since it works well to brew it stronger than you would normal black tea and dilute it with milk.

The part about potentially using multiple infusions is strange too, since ordinary black tea will just transition (vary) across multiple infusions but the added artificial flavoring in this mostly comes out in the first round.  I'll usually brew it twice and mix them, but there would be different ways to address that.  I suppose brewing a lesser amount for longer for only one infusion makes the most intuitive sense, but that's not what I do, since I carry over habits from brewing other types.

All the same I'll step through what it tastes like, how it compares to the other version they make, and what other experiences I've had with related preparations.

Review, what it tastes like

As described in a post about making a version from-scratch it tastes a bit like tea and spices.  Per that research the original version may have combined Assamica black tea with roasted tamarind seeds and orange blossoms.  Modern versions taste more like star anise than anything else.  Now that I think of it that other "red label" version of Cha Tra Mue flavored tea tasted best with a bit of star anise added to it, bumping up that flavor range a little more, but I've not tried that with this one.

calories from fat are listed; what's in this stuff?

You can tell by the taste this result is achieved through artificial flavoring additives.  For some that's a deal-breaker, for others just an ordinary, harmless part of modern life and diet.  Tea enthusiasts tend to not go for that, although the other range of people who love tea but like flavored versions, boba, and all sorts of blends would disagree, and they could still also self-identify as "tea enthusiasts."  I'll fill in more about specific taste in relation to the other version.

Comparison with the red label version

It seems like the artificial flavoring is identical but the back tea used is different.  There is no description of that difference so I'll be speculating it in describing it.  There is a difference visually; the other tea is ground up less, with some lighter tea material included, with this version's more black and uniformly finely ground.  My impression is that the other version may be made with Thai produced black tea while this may well be Ceylon, or at least a different version of Thai produced black tea that is closer to a standard Ceylon.

this gold label version

the red label version; a bit more sticks and light leaves

not bad tea for the price, just not typical of other versions

I'm guessing that about the input differences in part because of how a specific version of Thai black tea looks and tastes to me, which matches what I've experienced in these versions.  That black tea was on the soft or mild side compared to other commercial / CTC (crush-tear-curl) black teas, a bit woodier in flavor, less astringent, with less pronounced malt and mineral aspects.  It wasn't bad for those differences but not really a standard commercial black tea profile.



To back up to generalities about commercial black teas, Assam versions tend to be quite malty, and astringent, strong-flavored and often very astringent.  Ceylon range (and all commercial tea range, really, including Assam) varies a good bit, but in general those black teas are slightly less malty and heavier on mineral aspect range, and just a little less astringent.  That Thai version was unlike either, a bit atypical as black teas go, as described.


A fellow tea blogger once described Ceylon black tea as "tasting like blood."  I guess that could be in a good sense but it was being used as a criticism there, as describing a mis-match between typical aspects and her personal preference.

Combining all those ideas this flavored blend doesn't seem noticeably more astringent than the other version but there is more malt to it (just a little), and more mineral undertone.  I do like it better; those differences seem positive.  It would probably still be better for bumping the star anise effect a little by tossing a star, or half of one, into an infusion device along with the tea.

Other experiences with flavored Thai tea

I'll start with my favorite:  the local Dairy Queens ran a promotional extra flavor of Thai tea blizzards for over a month earlier this year.  Those were amazing.  It's for the best that they stopped offering that because I was eating too much of it; I couldn't walk by a branch without buying it.  That flavor just balanced perfectly with that soft-serve ice cream.  I did my best in suggesting that Dairy Queen offer it in the US (trying to help you fellow American readers out), but of course DQ did what any large corporation would do; they never answered back.

a latte version; this was brewed in an expresso machine

Coffee shops tend to sell iced Thai tea versions or blended ice versions, probably with cream content bumped up a little with use of half-and-half in some cases, and soft serve ice cream was just the next logical step.  This mix would also work well with milkshakes, although it would be tricky to get that right, since you don't tend to add any water to milkshakes.  The powdered tea version would have potential for that but adding powdered milk to ice cream also seems odd.  However DQ did it they got it right.


I've also had a Thai tea version made in an espresso machine before, twice, as I recall, but probably other times I'm forgetting about or didn't notice.  That works better than one might expect, although I suppose it's not ideal.  That steaming process stripping out astringency from the tea without really getting all the flavor doesn't matter as much with Thai flavored tea since the artificial flavoring is part of the equation, and since it all needs milk and sugar to work anyway; those make it balance.


The only time I've tried a nespresso version of any tea was a Thai flavored tea, which wasn't very good since I tried drinking it without milk and sugar (at a Bangkok convention / expo).

I would definitely recommend anyone into tea to try Thai tea.  I wouldn't drink a lot of flavored teas myself but it's an interesting and pleasant way to mix up the tea habit a bit.  Here in Bangkok those can be bought in any coffee shop but this commercial loose product is also a decent version.