Today I want to share about my recent tea experience. If you read this blog regularly, then you know that I am a tea drinker and I love to review different teas in this blog. Previously I shared different Chinese tea brands and even Ceylon tea through blog posts. Recently I received some tea samples from iTeaworld, another tea brand from China that offers quality tea that was prepared according to ancient practices. Surprisingly, these traditional Chinese teas are from over 100 years old tea trees!
Tea Samples from iTeaworld
I received the Classic Tea Collection, Oolong Tea Collection, and Black tea collection from iTeaworld to facilitate this review. The Classic tea collection is a pack that contains both Oolong teas and Black teas. Therefore, with these boxes, I could spend time tasting different teas to find out the quality and how the tea tastes. Below is how I tasted these different tea types and how I enjoyed each flavour and tea experience with Black and Oolong teas from China. Check the tea collection here before reading further.
Oolong Tea Selection from iTeaworld
Oolong tea is a partially oxidized tea. It is not the same as green and black teas considering the processing and flavor. This traditional Chinese tea undergoes a unique production process where the tea leaves are withered, rolled, and oxidized to varying degrees, resulting in a wide range of flavors and aromas. Oolong teas can exhibit floral, fruity, and earthy notes, with a complexity that makes them highly prized by tea enthusiasts. The degree of oxidation determines the tea’s character, with lighter oolongs having a more delicate taste akin to green tea, while darker oolongs offer a richer, more robust flavor closer to black tea.
iTeaworld’s Oolong Tea Selection includes four distinct varieties of teas. There were a total of 16 sachets. The following is a list of teas that I found in Oolong tea collection. Above photo is a sample photo for each Oolong tea variety.
- Dahongpao Oolong Tea
- Minnan Narcissus Oolong Tea
- Tie Guanyin Oolong Tea
- Fenghuang Dancong Oolong Tea
Below is when I prepared each of these four types of teas prepared for tasting. You can see that different varieties appear in different colour once brewed. Also, check the difference in leaves. Tea leaves were opened when I added water to brew tea. It looks exciting to watch how tea leaves open up when brewing teas.
Among these distinctive varieties, Tie Guanyin Oolong tea stands out as a gracefully curled and rolled tea, offering a velvety texture to the touch. In contrast, the remaining tea varieties are characterized by tightly wound, slender leaves.
Overall, I am happy with my tea tasting experience with Oolong tea from iTeaworld. Check the Oolong tea collection here.
Black Tea Selection from iTeaworld
The next tea selection I tried from iTeaworld is the black tea collection which comprised another 4 tea varieties and total 16 sachets.
My black tea tasting experience included sensory and flavor perceptions that I encountered while sampling black tea. It further included the overall sensory journey of assessing the appearance, aroma, taste, and mouthfeel of the black tea.
During my black tea tasting experience, I typically evaluate factors such as the tea’s color, fragrance, and flavor profile, before experiencing the tea’s strength, briskness, sweetness and any apparent undertones, such as malty, floral, fruity, or earthy notes. This evaluation helps me to appreciate and understand the quality of the black tea being tasted.
The black teas from iTeaworld could win my heart with a moderate to light taste that gives me the joy of tasting black tea. Please note I like light teas and hence I used few leaves only in my tea cup. If you want a strong flavour, add more tea leaves and brew for more time.
Overall, the black tea selection is also worth buying. Below are the different varieties of black teas that are included in the Black tea Selection box that I received.
- Yingde Black Tea
- Lapsang Souchong Black Tea
- Yunnan Black Tea
- Wild Souchong Black Tea
You can check more about these black teas by visiting this link.
After tasting all 8 varieties of black and oolong teas from iTeaworld, I am happy with my experience. It was nice to see how tea leaves are curled and how those were opened up while brewing. The tastes were to my expectations as well.
Visit www.iteaworld.com to read more about these traditional teas from China. Remember, the teas are from over 100 years old tea trees!
