Oriarm 250g Jin Xuan Milk Oolong Tea Loose Leaf - Taiwan Alishan High Mountain Oolong Tea Leaves (Flavored)

This is a high quality product, well-balanced and smooth oolong tea to drink. I have been drinking Asian teas for many years, and this refreshingly fragrant oolong is one of the finest Alishan Jin Xuan tea I have found on Amazon.

I should have known better than to order a large quantity of tea from a seller on Amazon, but I suppose after reading the descriptions and reviews I felt confident that what I was ordering would be a true Jin Xuan without any sort of artificial flavoring. The sad news is that in my experience, a true Jin Xuan oolong does not have a strong smell to the dry leaf and the flavor itself should not actually taste like milk. The reason it's called a milk oolong is simply because the texture feels creamy in the mouth and the flavor is slightly buttery and sweet, but when I say that I mean it in the most subtle way. Opening up the bag from Oriarm, however, I got a strong whiff of a peachy, creamy scent that reminds me of a peaches and cream instant oatmeal flavor. I've tried another milk oolong from Amazon before (Tealyra or Tea vivre can't recall) and it also had this artificial scent. Folks, if you're new to Jin Xuan oolong tea, this is not what it should smell like, in fact it should barely smell like anything when dry. Nevertheless, I went ahead and steeped this tea 3 times and each time there's a mild artificial flavor to it. I'm giving this 2 stars simply because the artificial flavor is mild as compared to other milk oolongs I've tried so it's bearable. I suspect people like this tea because it's sweeter than an actual milk oolong would really be and they don't have experience with a true milk oolong to be able to discern the difference and I don't blame them because the options for a true Jin Xuan without artificial flavoring are few and the language in the descriptions for the teas are usually misleading. I took a chance on this tea because I hoped it would arrive before an order I placed at Yunnan Sourcing and Taiwan Sourcing (which it did) and be a backup option to hold me over in the meantime. Once I do get some decent teas, this bag from Oriarm will likely end up at the back of my tea cupboard. Pretty disappointing.

Watch out! It’s from China even though it’s description says clearly from Alishan Mountain Taiwan. And I can not return it.

Beautifully and accurately packed. Amazing smell and taste.

Good value for the tea, thanks