This one is quite different from your standard Wuyi teas. So don't expect a strong "toasty" note. While it is rich in dark flavor, this more so resembles a black/red tea due to how SMOOTH the taste is. My standard water temp for oolongs is 195F. And it clicked with the name "Ruby" as this very much has a ruby red grapefruit profile. Very refreshing and perfect for a morning rush! Flavor kids in on the 4th infusion, so have a little patience and be generous with your leaf quantity. Strong Cha Qi to jump start your day.
This is the best Ruby 18 I’ve had. The fragrance of this tea is sweet. I'll always come back for more. Please always keep it available in this store.
This Brandy Oolong is a taste I always enjoy. It is smooth and sweet, blended perfectly so it goes down easy. For me, the caramel is the most prominent flavor. You can influence the strength of that favor by adding more tea (not more brewing time). A sweet treat!
Carla Figueiredo
September 2022
woww....just.....amazing....great for cold weather! tastes amazing! can't have enough words to describe it! brings back old memories...
The description of this tea is pretty accurate- a fruity, spicy cinnamon, minty flavors. I actually added more mint leaves to it. Also, this tea would taste great to mix w/ other teas, like my vanilla black, or mango oolong b/c of the subtle fruity taste to this tea. I reseeped it 2x at 195, 3min. Flavor was still there at the 2nd seep. I could easily get 4 reseeps from this. So far, the variety of Oolongs given by Tealrya is amazing, so I would just try as much as you can over the years. They're worth it!
An unique and delicious fragrance and flavor. Similar to the best "Black Beauty #8" that I've had from Telyra. This oolong is heavily oxidized, but the resulting tea is so very smooth. Love it!
Let's face it, the people who've already reviewed this can do a far better job than I in explaining the undertones and mouth feel.
I will tell you , it's very refreshing. . . .very smooth, and a nice back to sit back and relax enjoying life :-)
The color is a deep reddish brown . . .Very nice :-)
Ransom Stark
December 2015
This tea is intoxicatingly bold in flavor, and while I see people throwing out adjectives, I really cannot nail down what the essences of the tea are. I will simply say it is indescribable in flavor, and must be experienced. It seems to be capable of a half dozen steepings before its character realily starts to disappear.
This is one of the best oolongs I've ever tried. Instant craving.
The brewed tea is a dark amber that has great aromatic notes of roasted/carmalized sugar cane and stone fruit.
It is extremely smooth and complex, without any hint of tannic bitterness and has an excellent sweet finish.
Very satisfying mouthfeel on this tea!
I brewed the tea with water at 90C/194F with .45 grams of tea per ounce (30ml) of water for a 10 ounce brew (4.5 grams total) for 3 minutes.
I've saved the tea leaves to see & taste what multiple infusions will bring.
I highly recommend this delicious Brandy Oolong Ruby 18 tea!
Agree that this tea is hard to oversteep. Beautiful color and a hint of chestnut and maltiness than ends with a distinct honey finish. My favorite oolong thus far.
I love this tea. Hard to oversteep, good hot and cool, so you can take your time drinking.
In terms of flavour, it's definitely juicy and milky. The mouthfeel is kind of unique to this tea.
The taste is sweet, but fairly strong. Some maltiness, some milkiness, and some fruitiness.
Definitely a good tea for beginners and to share with people who are unfamiliar with loose leaf tea.
It’s like this tea is just on the border of being a black tea but not quite. It brews up a rich dark color like a black tea with a malty flavor and just a touch of milky flavor.
As this cools down a bit more it’s even more milky. Forgot about my tea for awhile and then I took a sip. Wow! More milky notes coming through along with the dark robust malty flavor. What a treat!
Oops! My review was a bit premature before finally dialing in this tea. I was trying to get, Too Much of a good thing.
Ordered a sample of this. Not too excited by this tea. Tastes like a typical assam black tea. I brewed it gong fu style at recommended water temperature and found it bitter.
I first purchased this tea in 2017 and had always meant to come back for more. Having finally ordered it again, the tea that arrived is completely different from my earlier batch. These leaves have a nice aroma, as does the tea soup. It also has a subtle floral taste. What it lacks this time around, compared to the earlier batch, is a decent mouth-feel. The brewed tea has a thin and somewhat astringent character. Hence only 3 stars.
I've had a lot of Ruby #18 teas and this was a big disappointment -very little aroma or flavor, just sort of bland, generic tea. Even at half the price I would have expected more. This tea type is usually brimming with wintergreen, camphor and spice.
Disappointing, the discription really had me at “Amber Carmelized honey stone fruit” but I just don’t find these flavors as reviews have for years past. I found a hint of amber honey but in adding more tea to bring more flavor, it easily became surprisingly bitter multiple times and temps (2-3min oolong temp) to me it’s not an oolong flav. However if the Brandy Oolong name meant you might expect black tea with a smidge of gross brandy in it…then they nailed it!…I just can’t find that thing makes this one worth it?
Not at all up to the quality I expect from Brandy/Ruby 18 teas. I realize this is listed as an Oolong - perhaps it is processed differently, but it is far, far less aromatic or complex than other Brandy/Ruby 18 teas I've tried from other vendors, yet it is sold at the premium price that this tea tends to command. Pretty bland and disappointing, unfortunately.
