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I should warn you all in advance that tomorrow there might not be a new review since I will be…drumroll…at the Opera! Yes, it is what I have been waiting (not entirely patiently) for since it was announced at the end of last season, The Magic Flute! It might be my favorite opera, I waffle back and forth between The Magic Flute and Turandot. In other news I am almost finished with the advent calenders, so those will probably be going in the mail on Friday, woo! Today though is about tea that gives an extra zing of energy.

Ginseng Vitality Oolong Tea by Teasenz is a blend of the root Ginseng and a floral Oolong resembling Tie Guan Yin. Hailing from Taiwan and sometimes referred to as King’s Tea, it is thought to give the drinker a nice boost of energy and to help digestion, awesome. I found the aroma to be very green, like bamboo leaves and herbaceous like dill weed. There is also earthiness and the aroma of baked bread with a slight undertone of sweetness. The ginseng is an odd smelling herb, it gives a slight muskiness to the already herbaceous aroma.

Giving the leaves a steeping I notice that the ginseng did not all fall off the leaves, you all know what that means; multiple steeps! The aroma of the leaves still has the delicate green scent of bamboo leaves but now it also mixes in the aroma of lychees and very mild earthiness. The liquid is sweet like baking bread and fresh pears, there is also a slight hint of dill as I pull the cup away from my nose.

The taste is strange yet good, it is the strangeness of trying something completely new. I have had ginseng before but only in candy or in supplements, this is my first time tasting it in a tea. At first the taste is slightly floral like cherry blossoms followed by the vegetal taste of asparagus. There is a hint of fruity tartness, like a mix of tart cherries and lychees. As the tea cools it takes on the typical chestnut flavor I associate with Oolongs.

The second steep has the leaves unfolded and the ginseng more spread out in the teacup. The aroma is much sweeter and more like honey with that tiny hint of dill from earlier. The taste is sweet but with an herbaceous bitterness as an aftertaste, like a root herb, it is not unpleasant just astringent. In fact I would go as far as to say it is barely there at all. As the tea cools it gets more of a lychee taste. It is an odd tea, but it is an oddness I like, mixing the tastes of an oolong with the tastes of ginseng makes for a powerfully tasty combination.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2013/11/teasenz-ginseng-vitality-oolong-tea-tea.html