★★★★☆
For its price, I thought it would be much better. While I like it, I definitely wouldn't guess its price would be as high as it is. Regardless, it's still a good tea that my family likes despite being coffee drinkers.
Highly oxidized yet super smooth, the layered cup offers much to delight. Summer fruits like peach and nectarine, with a soft sweetness of honey and dwell in these leaves.
Customers use these reviews to describe their experience with Hsinchu Oriental Beauty, 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 its price, I thought it would be much better. While I like it, I definitely wouldn't guess its price would be as high as it is. Regardless, it's still a good tea that my family likes despite being coffee drinkers.
Just wow! I was very intrigued when I saw the price of this tea. I was blown away by its impeccable taste! My new favorite oolong!
I brewed it at a lower temperature and it turned out absolutely amazing with an almost woodsy taste to it in addition to the honey notes. I tried out brewing it a few different ways and it's always delicious but I liked it at 195 the best!
It was ok, by no means bad, just feeling like this just isn't my cuppa tea. The flavor is unique but has a very distinct minerality that I'm just not caring for. Reminds me a lot of mineral water.
This is quite an experience. Very fragrant, flavorful, and smooth. Enjoyed this tea even after the fourth infusion.
This will not be a normal review, in the sense that I can describe exactly why I am rating the tea this way. I can only say that this tea lasted for 3-4 steeps and each time would reveal another nuance in the flavor. Every sip I took would leave me almost confused and needing another sip so I can understand what I just drank. It is a very earthy tea so if you are not into that then look elsewhere. I also tasted hints of dark chocolate that became stronger upon re-steeping. Strange tea but I feel I have to rate it highly because of how I felt drinking it, the price is high but I only bought a small sample of it so I do not mind
This one is definitely a new favorite. It is flavorful, rich and a tea to happily anticipate drinking.
I was disappointed in this. Maybe I’m missing something, but it struck me as just average.
An unexpected oolong that is sure to please any black tea lover while delivering slightly less caffeine. The sweet notes remove any need for sweetener.
Pretty good tea. Good for rebrews too. A little too expensive though.
I usually don't like Oolong teas too much, but this one is amazing
Excellent tea. Happy to have tried it. Would order again.
The most expensive and exquisite tea I have ever tasted. I tried all of the Formosa Bai Hao varietals that Adagio offers and this shines in a way that makes it easy to justify the cost. This golden elixir hints at stone fruits, and is smooth and distinct, and the embodiment of liquid gold.
Nice subtle fruity notes that evolve with not only each sip but also with each infusion.
This is a great oolong and it's great to infuse over and over again, I think the flavor is best on the second or third, personally.
This is a seriously great oolong, and I haven t even tried the multiple steeping method yet, which I always enjoy even more. This was one brew for 3 min at 212 degrees. There are wonderful peach and honey aromas
I can definitely see the hype around this one. It is very delicate though so be prepared to really really smell and taste to get the full affect
Such a wonderful oolong tea! Definitely a new favorite!
I got 6 steeps out of this! I brew Gung Fu style so about 4 teaspoons for 1 cup. I brewed this 6 times!!! Excellent flavor- Earthy/minerally with a hint of honeysuckle. By the 5 infusion the mineral flavor had given way to a more woodsy flavor. It made me think of a fall day where all the leaves have already changed and and the ones that have fallen are making crunchy noises as you walk. Yada Yada Yada lol it was like a crisp autumn day. It's to expensive to be in the regular rotation but I will certainly enjoy it as a treat once in a while!!
This is an amazing tea. Well worth the price to at least try!
Very enjoyable tea. I want to stress that this tea has a very light taste that has a wonderful delicate apricot accent. Thoroughly enjoyed it and it takes on multiple tastes after multiple steeps.
i am underwhelmed by how weak tasting this tea is.
Fantastic tea! Maybe the finest I've ever had. Smooth, with a honey-like sweetness and subtle spice and floral notes. If I were a rich man, I would drink this every day!
Delisiouse tea. I drink it everyday after lunch to get a boost.
Try as I might I just don't get much flavor out of this. I've experimented with different temps and brew times but I still find it 'meh'.
Nothing special. Wish I could say more, just wasn't impressed.
This is simply delightful. It has a full floral aroma and full sweet and fruity tadte.
Fantastic tea with many layers of distinct flavors. Floral, spices, and woodiness. You can't go wrong with this one.
Brewed at 100 milliliter of 195F water on 4.5 grams of tea with infusions consisting of 20 seconds and adding 5 seconds after the 1st infusion.
I tend to like the green oolong teas best, but this tea is very special. It has so much going on with the sweet and smoothness of it, but also an earthy flavor to it. Excellent tea!
Mild, relaxing tea to enjoy on a quiet night. I would order again.
This tea is pleasant. It's mild and doesn't get bitter even if steeped overly long. However, it doesn't really stand out from the crowd for me. Not enough to justify paying the steep price. I'm glad I got a sample, but I probably won't buy more.
Subtle, fruity and wonderful. Highly recommend. Outstanding tea.
This is an excellent tea that re-steeps beautifully. I feel like I lack the palate to really appreciate its nuances, but I don't normally care for oolong, and I found this to be delicious.
Very fresh and mineral-tasting. I got this as a gift for my SO and it is his new favorite. It is not like any other Oolong I have had.
This is officially my favorite tea. Even my 10 year old fell in love with this. Naturally just on the cusp of sweet, takes well to multi-steeps. I was able to make it strong or light with equally amazing taste. It paired well with the crystal amber sugar.
Hsinchu Oriental Beauty is a subtle, complex tea. Quite tasty. I would purchase the sample size to begin with so that you can determine if it's delicious enough to justify the price.
This tea is utterly amazing and well worth the price! I highly recommend it!
Fantastic.
My sample came in a cute little tin and upon peeking inside, I can see why this is called Oriental Beauty - these multi-colored tea leaves are so pretty and they brew into a beautiful golden color. The liquor, however, smells different than any other tea I ve brewed - almost chemical in nature. To my regret, I taste neither the fruit nor the honey the description mentions. Rather this is quite mineral up front, with an unpleasant soaplike alkaline flavor. Not really bitter, but for all the raves of this mineral-heavy tea, Wuyi Oolong (which is similar) is a better choice. If you want the floral, summer fruit and honey, Formosa Bai Hao is the way to go.
This tea smelled so good - like honey. The taste reminded me of darjeeling, but a lot deeper.
I went in with high hopes, but for me, there's too much of a mineral taste for my liking.
I love the tea! From the very first sip all my senses were engaged. The flavor is smooth and rich and even when I forgot I was steeping cup and left the teaball in for nearly an hour, there was not even a touch of bitterness! Worth every penny, I cannot recommend this more highly!!!
For the price, one expects a truly fantastic OB, but this one is bland and uninspiring
This is a good tea that can be resteeped more than once. You can try some different temps of water and the taste will change slightly, but it s never a bad taste. I drank it without cream or sugar so it s a pretty good stand alone tea in regards to flavor.
This tea is very good. I love gunpowder tea because it is so strong, this is much subtler, but in some ways better. It is nuanced and complex without being 'too weird'. Great flavor and no bite.
This is a very vibrant tea, and it has a unique quality which I really like! The aroma reminds me of flowers, plums, and honey, while the taste struck me as being very much like a Darjeeling (with something akin to a muscat sort of flavor). That's an intriguing thing to find in an oolong, and I like it! There is a very subtle, smooth mineral taste, and the color of the liquor turned out darker than expected; however, it finds a happy middle ground between a very light oolong and a very dark one. This tea was worth sampling, for sure!
Brewed at work and water is a little cooler than ideal. Complex flavors. Dried fruit is very dominant. Delicious and bright
Wow! What a lovely tea. Expensive but so worth it. You should at least try a sample.
This tea was delightful, a light flavor and beautiful color, only for black tea lovers though!
I love oolongs. Nothing gets me like the range of flavors that come from these precious little leaves. I'd stuck to the lighter teas like formosa ali shan and ti kuan yin for years, until I picked up a sample of wuyi da hong pao on sale and fell into obsession with its exotic earthiness. I've been trying dark oolongs ever since, and while all were a delight, nothing topped wuyi for a flavor I craved until I tried hsinchu oriental beauty. I can't begin to express how exciting it was experiencing my first pot of this tea.
The fragrance alone is amazing! The scent is soothing and flowery, with faint hints of jasmine and peaches. I wish I could aromatherapy this all over my house and office, and not just in my teapot! This tea is fruity and sweet, but it's more subtle than the juicy melon flavors of the green oolongs I mentioned above. It has a faint hint of the earthiness of a delicious dark oolong too. This tea is the best of all worlds, a delightful and complex blend of all the characteristics that make oolongs a pleasure for me. This is my new splurge tea. Resteep 3 or 4 times and get every last drop of goodness!