Last year I picked up some tea during a visit to Toronto that was labeled as Milk Oolong.

Unfortunately the tea was not a true Milk Oolong.

Here is an excerpt of what I wrote then:

There is actually quite some controversy about Milk Oolong. There is a particular type of tea called Jin Xuan which is commonly referred to as Milk Oolong. This tea was created in the early 80’s and has a thick creamy texture that is similar to that of milk.

However, I am sure that the tea that I bought is not true Milk Oolong.

Instead there are many imitations where flavoring or other additives are added to tea leaves to create a milky taste. I believe that this is one of them.

My tea friend was disappointed that I did not like the Milk Oolong as it is one of her favorite teas. She let me know where she got the Milk Oolong that she enjoyed.

I ordered some Milk Oolong (JinXuan) from Bird Pick Tea a couple months ago. I tried the tea on the Friday after it arrived. It was a nice treat after getting home from work.

I had ordered two bags of the tea, so didn’t want to write about it then as the second bag was a birthday present for my tea friend. Now that her birthday is past I can now write about it 🙂

Here are the tea leaves. Like most lightly oxidized oolong teas the leaves are rolled into little balls.

Here you can see the leaves start to unfurl in the infuser of my tea cup.

Here you can see the unfurled leaves. They look like what Jin Xuan tea leaves should look like. You can see the big contrast from the previous tea that I bought in my post Milk Oolong?

The tea leave almost completely filled the infuser after they unfurled.

The tea has a wonderful buttery fragrance and a beautiful buttery color. You can also see that the tea is pretty clear of particulates and there are no bits and pieces of leaves or other material in the bottom of the cup like the other Milk Oolong that I bought.

This tea has a wonderful buttery taste and a smooth mouth feel. The tea also has staying power with multiple infusions. I have had several cups of the tea this evening as I prepared to write this post.

Maybe one more cup before bed.

Have you ever tried Milk Oolong?

Steven