Green oolong tea from Ali Shan, one of Taiwan's most famous tea growing areas. Beautiful high mountain oolongs come from its misty peaks. Warm sugar and deeply layered floral aromas, with a melting, creamy mouthfeel. Mellow and light-bodied.
Customers use these reviews to describe their experience with Ali Shan, including flavor, aroma, preparation preferences, strength, and how the tea fits into daily routines. Browse the full review history page by page to compare tasting notes, steeping tips, and favorite ways to enjoy this tea.
For my first steep, I followed all the instructions for this tea, and it was fine, but felt a bit weak. On my second, I left the leaves in the water for quite a bit longer and loved it! Far more flavor, while still not having any bitterness. There was a buttery taste on the back end that I really enjoyed with each sip! (1st steep, 185, 3 minutes; 2nd steep, 195, 6ish minutes)
I like the floral scent. It doesn't taste floral though. It taste like a mild green tea. Very smooth and not grassy.
Love this tea. I love oolongs and this one is amazing. It’s slightly floral and buttery at the same time. Highly recommended!
It was as an honor to sip this glorious tea! The flavor was slightly vegetal and buttery. Must have. Happy sipping!
What an exquisite treat, buttery, velvety, floral deliciousness!!! There's such a thin line between the green and black tea flavors it's unlike anything I've enjoyed before!!! I highly recommend this tea to anyone who wants a unique flavorful tea experience. I will steep these leaves till they disintegrate. Yum, yum,yum!!!
I feel like Adagio pampered me today with this CommuniTea sample. Sweet and floral...reminds me of jasmine. Enjoyed this on its own...looking forward to multiple steeps.
On first sip, I thought this was a green tea and my CommuniTEA packet was mislabeled! This tea is hard to describe: it has a lot of qualities I love about oolong, but also springy notes of green tea. An interesting ride!
Watching the tiny pearls unfurl was my morning zen moment. I didn't read the description before steeping, so it was uncovered. It still tasted interesting.
One of my favorite teas to sip throughout the day. A lovely blend of grassy green notes more common in green teas and the rich earthy mineral notes I associate with oolongs. Holds up beautifully to multiple steeps as well.
the tea has a lovely earthy scent before brewing. after the first steep leveas smell enticing and earthy in aroma. the first cup is astringent and zaps your mouth with flavor the enveops the whole mouth while still feeling delicate. the second steeping lightens the aroma to more flora and your left with a very delicate oolong taste you would expect with a rolled oolong. i would also mention give the tea plenty of space to brew at the start the pebels look small but in those pebbles are full tea leaves with stem and sometimes even a full second leaf so this tea needs lots of room to unfurl and steep to get the truly best flavor.
This is a delicious oolong tea. It’s smooth, buttery and has a slightly fruity flavor at the finish with a floral aroma. It’s so drinkable that my first steep disappeared in no time. Luckily I filled my tasting cup with a sweetened version to chill first.
I measured 2 tsp. of tightly rolled ball shaped beautiful forest green tea leaves from my CT packet today. I did a quick 15 second rinse of the tea with the 195F water before starting the steep to cleanse and awaken the buttons of tea. In 3 minutes, most leaves had completely unfurled and floated to the bottom of my IngeniTea. The clear pale yellow liquor had a floral scent to the nose and the first sip had a bit of a mineral taste, very pleasant, with a fruity and tangy aftertaste. As the hot tea cooled a more subtle floral flavor came forward to join the fruit like finish that tasted of soft apricot or peach. There was no bitterness or astringency detected.
I could sip plain but when I added some honey, the sweetening elevated and brightened all flavors of the tea. For the next three resteeps, I added more time (up to 5 min.) and used less water to brew. The taste of the tea changed slightly with each next cup. The third and final resteep was much weaker in flavor and more mineral in taste. The floral scent and gentle fruity finish of earlier steeps were gone.
The chilled and sweetened tea was excellent. A colder temperature brought out its floral notes and I detected a gardenia-like scent with a floral taste. In all, this was a very enjoyable, nicely nuanced and multi flavored oolong to sip hot or cold with flavorful resteeps to enjoy too.
I'm on my 3rd steep;
This tea tastes gentle, yet strong;
I can't brew it wrong!
Pleasing to the eyes
To watch the green leaves unfurl
A mindful soft tea
(Haiku Review)
Ideal for slow sipping if you want to catch all of the complicated flavors, without any additions to muddle the flavors. It starts off robust, savory and bitter, but as it brews it becomes a little bit sweeter and brighter. A cup that shines its brightest on the third date.
I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong with this tea. I find the flavor quite weak and what I do taste is a bit salty and quite perfumey, especially on the second steep. It’s more perfumey than floral, but a bid reminiscent of lilac. I first tried it in the oolongs portions sampler and noted it as 4/5 stars (with similar impressions), but I’m only giving it 3 stars now because I’ve had many more teas I like much better than this one since then. Steeped for 3 min @ 195F.
This is such a smooth, soothing tea. In my personal tea notes I have nicknamed this “honey tea” because that was the flavor that was most prominent to me. I found it to be a light, refreshing tea that would be pleasant any time of day or any season.
Opening the packet, I pick up the notes of a floral green; oolongs are a spectrum, so I am not surprised. I double-check brewing temperatures, looking through the chat to see if anyone recommended a time or temperature not on the packet. I didn't see much that indicated I should vary from the recommended, which DID surprise me. I brewed it using the little Shizuka teapot I got from Adagio rewards because it has a built-in strainer to the spout, so I can let the leaves unfurl more than they would in my normal mesh basket.
Taking my first sip, I honestly can't tell the difference between this and high-quality floral greens. However, where jasmine greens need to be permeated with the oils of jasmine to achieve this effect, this is all the tea, so I'm very impressed. You can talk about the tasting notes of tea, wine, and coffee all day long, but having a single ingredient taste like another thing got added when it is just tea leaves is still astounding.
I am slowly working my way through buying samples of the higher-end teas here, and this just jumped in the queue—one of the best CommuniTEA teas I've had.
I don't know about this tea, I'll try again, but my first try was a little meh. It was smooth and not bitter, but the flavour was not for me.
What a treat! I'm new to oolongs and have been trying and experiencing but this tea is so unique that it shines. It's light and vegetal/floral, yet also rich and complex. Each steep brings out new flavors and sweetness. It's buttery, honey-sweet, yet has a hint of citrus. I'm savoring my fourth steep and will be sad when it's gone.
Naturally sweet, slight green flavors. Reminds me of a very light jasmine. Very smooth flavor.
Buttery tasting oolong with a light vegetal flavor. Subtle sweet spring flavors which make this a complex and gentle tea! I enjoyed this a lot and you can definitely taste the quality of this oolong.
The liquid is golden yellow. The taste is smooth and a little light. It's unique from the other oolong I've tasted but sadly it's not many. I like it so much to where I'll make as many steeping as I can.
This is a nice tea, but too mild for me. I did the first steep for 2 minutes at 195F, and two additional cups at 3 minutes.
This tea was very light and smooth. It reminded me of a green tea with some grassy notes. I got multiple steeps out of my sample packet. Not sure I would buy this but glad I had a chance to try with CommuniTea this morning.
There's a lovely sweetness to this, but a tartness, almost a lemony note lingers with the aftertaste. This is one of those teas that gets a 'how is this just leaves?' out of me.
So, I wanted to love this tea, there are so many people that rave about it. However, my tastebuds don’t seem to align with lighter Oolongs. I love the scent, sweet and herbal, the color was a beautiful golden.
The taste is where it fell flat for me, I just can’t find all the layers and different flavors everyone else seems to have tasted. To me, it was just grass, kinda tasty grass, but meh.
I’ve tried this tea before at shorter brew times and different strengths but it is just not for me. (1tsp to 8oz, 4 mins to 190°F)
Enjoying with the CommuniTEA: Lots of nutty fragrance from the dry ingredients and packet. Once steeped for 2.5 mins at 190°F, I notice more nutty notes and subtle floral notes. When I take a sip the most prominent scent/flavor is floral with a nutty finish.
Is this supposed to taste good? It smells like boiled hay and tastes like grass. I'm glad to see that so many people have enjoyed this tea, but it's not for me. Give me a simple black tea any day.
A solid oolong tea if that’s your thing. For me I reach more for black teas so the flavor wasn’t my favorite.
Really delightful light tasting tea. A touch of sweetener made this a perfect cup with a very light (but not off putting) grassy flavor.
This is a fantastic tea. I love a classic oolong. It has a creamy buttery mouthfeel and mineral notes and nutty tones in the sip. Because this is a green oolong it is more light in palette, but isn’t “grassy”. This one will just keep on steeping too! I would definitely recommend this one plain so it can sing. Happy Sipping!
195 degrees for 3 minutes. Soothing, sweet, and lightly floral, this tea hits all the buttons for me. I enjoyed this the most as it cooled closer to room temp, showing off its maximum flavors. A mellow morning brew of spring 😀.
This is an elegant tea, well worth experiencing. The tightly rolled leaves have secrets to reveal! Brewed for a short 2 1/2 minutes at 195°, the resulting tea is light, floral, and exotic. I’m sure the tea is good for at least 3 steeps, but sadly this is not a tea for me. As a part of the CommuniTEA offering, I was thrilled to try an elegant pricier tea, but oolong and I are not friends. This is a bit too green and floral for my tastes, which runs more towards hearty rich brews like Assam. It was however a pleasant tea to explore.
Such a delicate light tea. Steeped with lid for 11/2 mins@180° .It had an aroma similar to honey and was so smooth and buttery in my mouth. The flavor reminded my of childhood days when I would sit up on a breezy hill in a patch of wild columbine . The honey bees and me sipping the sweet nectar from the flowers. This is a very nice tea and may become an expensive addiction.
Nice oolong, tending towards the green end of things. A little grassy and vegetal tasting, but complex and very smooth and full bodied. A light mineral taste on the finish. Good for multiple infusions.
Wow! I knew I was going to love this tea even before it finished brewing. As I watched it unfurl, the aroma hit me...decidedly oolong but with an extra nuance of sweetness! Excellent aroma! And the taste is even better! Light, sweet, no bitterness at all...and under the oolong is just a hint of green tea. Not a grassy note...just an extra herbal edge in the background. Superb! I increased the steeping time for the second cup...lighter taste, but still wonderful! 195F, 2.5 minutes for first steep. increased to 3.5 minutes for second steep. Wonderful tea!
Tried for CommuniTEA - Absolutely LOVE this tea. It's so nice, light, and comforting. Tastes like honey. Added to my wishlist.
Floral and smoky, with an almost creaminess. I was surprised by how long the flavor lasted in the leaves.
This tea has a SHORT steep time. First steep was around 3mins and that felt like wayyy too much. So lowered it to 1 min steeps...and you get multiple steps out of this strong grassy oolong tea.
This is an exceptional tea. I never would have tasted it had it not been for the CommuniTea. It’s a light pale color and not grassy or astringent. It’s sweet, floral and delicious!
I thought Jasmine Silver Needle was my ultimate 'happy place' tea before I met Ali Shan. Oh. My. God. I dont even have the words to describe the delicate deliciousness of this tea. It had a honey floral aroma and flavor that is totally enchanting. It had a nice buttery mouth feel (yay for finally learning proper terminology!) and it feels like satin in my mouth.
There's not much more for me to say (which is totally rare!) This tea speaks for itself. Definitely a tea all tea lovers should try. ❤
This is, without a doubt, the best oolong I've ever tried. This tea has a beautiful scent and a naturally sweet taste. To me, it tastes like honeysuckle and smells like spring in the wind. It's the most frou-frou descriptor I've ever used, and I feel pretentious, but it's true.
The leaves do well over multiple seeps, I'll usually brew three times warm and then put the lovely full leaves into cool water in the fridge overnight for a cool tea in the morning, which is also always lovely.
The first thing I thought before I tried this tea is that it better be good for that asking price! Folks, I have come to say that it is exactly as good as it should be! It's the smoothest oolong I've ever tried, even though it's much closer to the green end of the oolong spectrum. It's a highly reccommendable tea and well worth the price.
Delicious full-bodied oolong; smooth and buttery. I enjoyed this quite a bit, first brewing it at 190°F for 1min. Lasted four cups like this, and I eventually brewed for about 4 minutes, which brought out many layers of flavors and was a completely different experience. A very good tea.
I am sitting here drinking this trying to decided how to describe it. What come to is if I black tea and green tea had a child this would be the results. I get a very faint green tea taste. Yes I get that bold crisp flavor from a black tea.
Really nice, delicate flavor. Stayed pleasant with multiple steeps.
Great Tasting and Great Quality Tea for the Daily Tea Drinker.
It was a great tea, I enjoyed it a lot it was smooth and lovely. A perfect afternoon tea that I enjoyed!
Soft unique tea! Its very layered and fun to sip. Theres fruitiness, smokiness, very light hint of green, and it's all very soft. This somewhat reminds me of the champagne oolong but lighter and more playful
Delicious oolong tea. Reminds me a little of the milk oolong blend but not as creamy, a little sharper, and the leaves make this satisfying crunchy noise as they unfurl in the water! Ali shan is an exquisite blend I'm glad I tried.
Excellent tea. Really delicate aroma, floral and a bit vegetal. The mouthfeel is smooth, and the taste is floral and light as well. There is a slight and very pleasant herbal/grass note to the taste. It is very complex, but it doesn't smack you in the face with its complexity. Very easy to drink and it handles multiple infusions quite well. Probably a bit pricey to be a daily tea, but it's a must try.