Ocean of Tea recently contacted me to ask if I'd like to sample some of their teas. The company is based in Tempe, Arizona. I selected two teas, Ti Kuan Yin Oolong, and Earl Grey Premium, and I sampled them yesterday.
The first tea I tasted was Ti Kuan Yin [which translates Iron Goddess of Mercy]. The package said the tea was hand-harvested from the Wu-Yi tea bush [the Wu-Yi mountains are the birth place of oolong tea], and made by traditional techniques developed in China's Fujian Province.
The leaves were tightly rolled before they were infused, and as you can see in the photo above, they expanded considerably after. According to package instructions the tea yields 3-4 steepings. I sampled two steepings.
The color was a light golden yellow. The tea had a fresh, delicate vegetal taste with a hint of nuttyness. I didn't detect a floral taste, but there was something I couldn't quite distinguish until I went to their website and read one taster's description of dried apricots. I concurred, that was the hint of fruitness I tasted. The tea was very smooth with no bitterness or astringency, and I enjoyed it very much.
The second tea I tasted was Earl Grey Premium. It was less complex than the oolong, but definitely not lacking in taste and flavor. Some Earl Grey teas are so overpowering with oil of bergamot, that they give the tea a bum rap. But not this one. It was perfectly balanced. I could detect the presence of bergamot, but in a complimentary way, not at all intrusive.
This was my first experience with Ocean of Tea, and I highly recommend their teas and will order from them in the future.
The second tea I tasted was Earl Grey Premium. It was less complex than the oolong, but definitely not lacking in taste and flavor. Some Earl Grey teas are so overpowering with oil of bergamot, that they give the tea a bum rap. But not this one. It was perfectly balanced. I could detect the presence of bergamot, but in a complimentary way, not at all intrusive.
This was my first experience with Ocean of Tea, and I highly recommend their teas and will order from them in the future.
Those both sound delicious, and I do love a good Earl Gray. I'm glad to know about this tea company.
ReplyDeleteOops! Just saw the topic and realized I need to skip this post -- I've got some samples from them too, and I probably ought to try mine before I read your review. But -- as Arnold Schwarzenegger says -- I'll be back!
ReplyDeleteThanks for reviewing our Ti Kuan Yin & Earl Grey! We are so happy that you enjoyed both of the teas! If you would like to sample more, just let us know. - Ocean of Tea Team
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