What our customers say

Glad that you and your wife both recognise the difference of this very fine pu’er!

What a magnificent example of Xing Ren. I compared this directly against six other Xing Ren, all from different vendors – two of which were competition grade, one of them allegedly won second place in 2022 at the Chaozhou Tea King Competition, or something like that. Living in the United States makes it difficult to confirm such things, I suppose it comes down to trusting your vendors…

Anyways, Tea Hong’s Orchid Gratus stands out as being right up there with the competition-grade and old-bush Xing Ren that I sampled, both of which are literally two and a half times more expensive per gram. This one has all of the right overlap in all of the correct places, but also carries with it some unique attributes that make this feel like an elevated expression of Xing Ren.

Honestly, I’d rather have Orchid Gratus over the two competition-grade Xing Ren. It’s clear that the active phases of the processing; such as the baking, were executed perfectly, and also the resting phase, where patience is required for the maocha to catch up to the masterful techniques applied to it. This is the real deal, whoever made this tea is exceptionally skilled.

As a result of the expert-level crafting, the flavor profile is exquisite. To me, it tastes like vanilla-bean infused plums and seared pineapple flesh, soaked in apple juice and then caramelized in a pan with herbaceous spices like star anise or fennel seed. As the flavor profile melts away, I’m left with distinct overtones of honey drenched florals that linger in the aftertaste for a long time, along with a pleasant minerality that is characteristic of high-end dancong.

There’s a lot going on, and the soft edges this tea has make for a very pleasant overlap in the flavors that accentuates the whole experience as they mingle with one another. The texture is buttery-smooth and the mouthfeel is exceptionally rich; it brings with it a kind of pungency that creates a very expansive and long-lasting aftertaste with undertones of stewed and spiced apples. The aftertaste has its own complex and unique set of characteristics which sink very deeply into the palate, and make for an unforgettable experience.

We have tasted quite a range of GABA oolongs before finalising on this selection. As you said, in the beginning, we do not like this “GABA” idea at all simply because all that we have tasted were somewhat like what you described as “dirty socks” 😂. I have not gone through enough research papers on why the “reduction” process through the deoxygenated environment that results in the terrible tasting chemistry and why our selection has escaped from it, but clearly Mr Yu our GABA maker has developed a trick that not only increase the GABA content but also give a unique good taste as this. We have heard that a research is being done to understand this and hopefully we can get to read the paper soon. In recent years a couple of other producers are getting similarly pleasing results, and they are all Mr Yu’s friends. We are closely monitoring and happy for this development.

Indeed, it is a very nice mix of Dan Cong and Yan Cha! It has a wonderful taste and gives by body energy and warmth. Because of the energy boost it is great for a break in the office at work!

Availability

Hello Ming,
I am sorry if this has disappointed you. For the next batch, we shall have to wait till next harvest, which will be Spring 2016. By the time we finish screening and re-finishing the tea, it probably will be put on shelf by May.

Immediately my favourite oolong … it is just so mellow and flavourful, easy to drink with lovely sweet notes and aftertaste. Soft on the palate. I have to reorder this… as my new staple oolong tea to which others will be compared.