Ti Kuan Yin Oolong

Form: Loose Leaf
Company: The Tea Centre
Price: $12.50/100g
Rating: 8.5/10
Review: Months ago now, I tried Formosa Oolong in my local tea house and have been looking for another Oolong which equalled (or even surpassed) the beautiful flavour of the original pot. After being recommended some Ti Kuan Yin (Tie Guan Yin if you prefer) at a tea forum, I was on the lookout for this tea. Fortunately some came along quite quickly, at Sydney's Tea Centre of course. I have finally found my home Oolong. Named after the Iron Goddess of Mercy in China, the taste is certainly different to the Formosa Oolong, with this tea having a slightly sweeter natural taste to it. Despite the 'Iron' and 'Goddess' monikers, this tea is not at all overpowering or to dominant, with Ti Kuan Yin Oolong being rather light in both colour and taste. The aroma, and indeed taste, of the tea was slightly floral and overall very pleasant; albeit slightly subdued. The taste will be familiar to anyone who knows Oolong, the fullness of a black tea with the delicate and fresh nature of a premium green tea, this is simply a very high quality Oolong. I would recommend this to anyone who loves Oolong and likewise if anyone is new to Oolong teas, they would do good to start off with this one, due to it's soft and light taste with no bitterness whatsoever. Overall, a terrific tea.

"There is a great deal of poetry and fine sentiment in a chest of tea" -Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Writer

Rooibos FireSide

Form: Loose Leaf
Company: The Tea Centre
Price: $10.00/100g
Rating: 10/10
Review: Wow, what a tea. Today, my partner and I went back up to the Tea Centre and purchased some Tu Kuan Yin Chinese Oolong and the subject of this review; South African FireSide Rooibos. The tea contains, naturally, Rooibos (which seemed of very high quality) as well as orange peel, cinnamon and cloves. The resulting brew was truly terrific. From the first sip, I was totally loving this tea. The tea was, overall, very warming and somewhat like chai, yet the flavour of the rooibos added an entirely new dimension. Aside from the rooibos, the most dominant flavour was the citrus from the orange peel, with the cloves and cinnamon creating a third layer of flavour. Since the tea was had in a pot, and due to rooibos' lack of tannin, there was no need to remove the leaves. As such, each sip was of a slightly different flavour; I strongly reccomend this to anyone having this tea, as the cinnamon and cloves becoming stronger as the tea goes on, which is a truly terrific thing. I'm finding it somewhat hard to describe this tea, but believe me, it's utterly delicious. Lovers of Rooibos should try it simply because it's a new way to try an already delicious tea and everyone else should try it because it's simply a delicious drink. To sum up, this is a Rooibos with somewhat chai like properties, yet the orange peel adds a citrus layer to the flavour and everything harmonises beautifuly; a divine drink.

"It has been well said that tea is suggestive of a thousand wants, from which spring the decencies and luxuries of civilization" -Agnes Repplier, US Author and Social Critic