Milk Oolong 2011

Name; Milk Oolong

Type; Oolong, Un-oxidized oolong, China or Taiwan

Price; £ 3.50 for 50 grams from Better Beverage Company.

http://www.betterbeverage.co.uk/

Review;

 It’s not often I come across a tea I loathe.  Even rarer that I would waste the time to write about it. And it is entirely plausible that I simple haven’t had a good milk oolong. 

As previous reviews of Better Beverage may have suggested they are a business.  A business with selling a product for money is a key component (unlike those that just do it for the passion, or the love of tea or any other reason). So again the age old question of whom to blame; merchant or tea.  I’m doing a bit of both.  I’ve tried a milk oolong in Pekoe Tea, and it was alright.  I wouldn’t buy any, and I wouldn’t write a thank you letter if I received it at Christmas, but I would still drink it occasionally.  This one from Better Beverage is going straight in the bin.  I tried to find out more information but the owner of Better Beverage is rather cryptic saying that he doesn’t know anything other than it passes European health law (to a degree (worrysome?)).  

You know that fake artificial butter that gets put on your popcorn when you go to the movies?  Just imagine drinking a tea cup full of that “delicious” “butter”.  That is the best description I can give.  Milk oolongs are suppose to give an array of flavours, this just tastes fake perfumed.  And chances are it is.  The price was ridiculously low, so I guess I can’t be that surprised.  The worst part about drinking it is that the oil seems to just sit in your mouth, impossible to wash/scrub off.  Might go buy some whisky to solve this problem…

Don’t enjoy!

-Tea Fan

Golden Monkey

Golden Monkey
Type; Black, China, Fujian *Edit 4/2/12

Price; £ 2.00 for 100 grams from Better Beverage Company.

http://www.betterbeverage.co.uk/

Review; Surprisingly this tea is rather nice. What got me to buy it was the large quantities of tips that are distinctive in this black tea. Chinese black teas have this nice malty, caramel sweetness to them that is often missing in other blacks. For value, I find this tea hard to beat. Don’t get me wrong though, Better Beverage should be embarrassed about some of the teas they are selling. The Darjeeling? I doubt it. Also much of their tea is stored next to coffee, which may be why the black teas I’ve tried from there are much better than the greens. Better beverage like Anteaques sells tea, not packaging, however with less of a finesse and care than Anteaques does.

This Fujian black *edit 4/2/12 is a wonderful example of what can be had from black teas in this region. Described by a friend of mine as the aroma one gets when one walks into a clean stable, there is a horse musk in the air. Good colour in the brew, rich amber, that one should be mindful of not to let over-brew.

Enjoy!

-Tea Fan