Milk Oolong

Sale price Price $18.00 USD Regular price

Spring 2024 harvest

Taiwanese Ball-Rolled Oolong Tea

With a seductively creamy aroma and floral backdrop that dances on your palate, this gem was discovered on our travels to Taiwan. It was true love at first sip.

Famous for its naturally buttery mouthfeel, Jin Xuan - known around the world as Milk Oolong - is a Taiwanese tea cultivar developed in the 80's. While it is unfortunately often artificially flavored for consumption abroad, our Milk Oolong is the original, all-natural Jinxuan tea, simply drawing on a longer oxidation period to enhance its inherent milky flavours.

Watch as each individual ball unfurls into a perfect leaf-set, steeping a beautiful amber green liquor in your cup. Sniff the empty cup to really enjoy the interplay of nutty-ness, warm milk and fresh flowers – it’s quite an addictive aroma! Perfect for milk tea lovers who want to transition into pure teas.

Tea Specs

PICKED April 2024 (Spring harvest)

ORIGIN Shanlinxi, Taiwan | 1000m Elevation

LEAF Jinxuan Cultivar | 1 half open bud & 2-3 leaves

CRAFT Picked, withered, tossed, fried, ball-rolled & roasted

NOTES Caramel Fudge, Hazelnut, Creamy, Orchid

BENEFITS Boosts mental alertness

CAFFEINE Yes

Brew Instructions

We recommend brewing in a Gaiwan for this tea, but it can also be enjoyed Western style.

Gongfu Brew (Gaiwan): 4g | 150ml | 95°C | 1 min | +20 sec for additional brews | Can steep ~ 6 times

Western Brew (Mug / Teapot): 5g | 350ml | 95°C | 2 min | + 1 min for additional brews | Can steep ~ 3 times

For a fruity and refreshing tea mocktail, check out our Apricot Oolong Cooler recipe.

Farm Story

Our Milk Oolong has been sourced directly from a 3rd generation producer in Shanlinxi, Taiwan. At 1000m elevation, their tea farms are interwoven with bamboo forests: The best of Shanlinxi terroir. They use the artisanal method of ball-rolling tea, using cloth bags to roll the tea in small batches - a dying art in Taiwan.

We visited in November 2018, just after Winter harvest, and were immediately excited about their Milk Oolong. Among all the oolongs we tasted on that trip, it stood out as a top contender, with its distinctively creamy aroma. We followed our gut to source it and it is now a favorite among teawala fans!

Your Tea Moments

Tea Snob Milk Oolong

This floral tea has an alpine aroma and grassy green pineapple skin flavor I associate with higher elevation teas. The orchid and pine nut notes were dead giveaways it came from Shanlinxi for me. Dryleaf is nutty, and wet leaf after drinking it is extremely floral like lily (hello jin xuan), milky and creamy. I personally got a lot of dimension in scent and taste. It was also very clear and energizing. Easy beginners oolong that had enough complexity to satisfy tea snobs like me.

A Superb Oolong

This is a tea that grows on you. I ordered it some months ago, and have been enjoying it since. It's flavors are wonderfully complex and it lingers in the senses for a long time. Each brew is different, but no less full-of-flavor than the previous one. This is a a tea that I focus on entirely rather doing other things while drinking it. It is assertive, smooth, sweet, rich, relaxing, energizing, and is now one of my favorite oolongs. This tea is a gift that keeps on giving. And giving.

Super quality milky oolong

This is one of my favorite teas of ALL time. It smells amazing and the taste definitely matches up with the taste. Sometimes with milky oolongs, it will smell phenomenal but the taste doesn't compare. If you're a milk tea drinker but are hesitant to go pure tea, this is a good way to transition into it. It's super lovely and perfect on a day that you need an extra warmness to your spirit.

Milk tea without the milk :)

I couldn't wait to try this tea - was checking my mailbox everyday! It has a silky smooth flavor to it and you can smell the milky notes as soon as you open the bag. When steeped for a few minutes, you can hardly tell that you don't have a splash of milk in your cup of tea. It's now one of my favorite teas. Once you try it, you're sure to fall in love too.

Smells as good as it tastes!

I brewed my milk oolong in a gaiwan and immediately I was hit with a sweet, rich, buttery scent. I spent the next minute just sniffing my tea, to the point my cat came over to make sure I was OK. Tasting the tea was just as great of an experience - there's a creamy element that makes this tea almost indulgent. And the taste just got richer with each steep. This is my favorite tea so far!

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