"Our Fanciest Grade Formosa is a rare, top grade Oolong, entirely handmade. It is crafted from carefully selected tea leaves and allowed to ferment only until the edges of the leafs start to turn brown. Its sweet flavor and elegant aroma gives it the reputation of one of the finest teas in the world." ---Narien Teas website.

Now I know that I have a reputation for loving flavored teas, but let me tell you....I LOVE oolong. Really good oolong rocks my world and reminds me about everything that I love about tea. I love the complexity of oolong. My favorite oolongs are generally the green oolongs that have extreme creaminess and lots of floral notes. I also do recall that I used to drink several Formosa oolongs and that I liked them quite well, but it has been probably 6 mos or so since I've had one. Since the more roasted and earthy oolongs are not my preference, I actually passed this one over a couple of times before finally selecting it for review as it looks pretty dark. However, it really just looks dark and doesn't taste real roasted or earthy.

My sample package contains many brown pieces of leaves that almost remind me of large tobacco leaves. I brewed this in water that had been brought to a nice steam and infused the leaves for about 2-3 min. It brewed up to a light gold color and the aroma was fairly mild. You know something is going to get a good review when the first words out of my mouth after experiencing the first sip are, "Oh, snap, that is freakin good!" The most noticeable trait of this oolong is its long S-m-o-o-t-h-n-e-s-s, and I mean silky smooth. This has a nice natural sweetness and a hint of nuttiness. This requires no sweetener and is the natural sweetness is so good that it is almost like a little dessert in and of itself. There is something about this that reminds me of those candied cinnamon nuts that you can find in the mall during the Holidays.

One of the advantages to investing in some good oolong is the ability to get multiple infusions out of it. This one is not an inexpensive tea, so I wanted to make sure that I tried and commented on both infusions before giving this a score. The second infusion was made with water similar in temperature but the leaves were allowed to infuse for 3-4 min. The second cup also is incredibly smooth, but notably more weaker and a much more subdued flavor. It is similar in flavor to the first, but much, much weaker. The second infusion is actually a tad disappointing mostly because of the price point of this oolong ($19 for 3 oz). I usually justify a splurge on oolong by the ability to get 3-4 decent infusions out of them. This one will definitely not produce much of a third infusion.

Despite my mild disappointment with the second infusion, this is still a very delicious oolong and one that is sure to impress guests (well the first infusion anyway). Because of my lovefest with the first infusion, I still cannot ding the score too much. This is delicious!!

Find this and many other top-quality teas at Narien Teas, Inc..

Laura Teaviews.com Reviewer » Read more about this reviewer on Laura's profile page. » Find a list of recent posts by Laura.

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