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Aaaannnd more teas going into the cupboard… I want to tell myself this is a good thing; but I also want to be saving up to place online orders for Butiki and Della Terra as well. Ughh. It’s just hard since I work in the same mall as a tea store (so very accessible) and get a discount there too because of it.

Anyway, I purchased three new teas today (50g of each, since that’s the min. amount you can purchase): a flavoured green tea called Japanese Cherry, and Milky Oolong and Raspberry Oolong. I got home and immediately wanted to drink one; and this is the one that my friend Robyn suggested so trying this one first.

In all honesty, I’ve tried very few oolong teas – and basically all of the ones I’ve tried have been flavoured. I’ve also liked almost everything I’ve had. I decided today that I’d pick up at least one oolong tea to try out and after talking to the sales lady (a different one today – so now I know there’s at least three ladies who work there), she told me that this is easily the staff favourite out of the oolong teas they sell, the runner up being milky oolong. I smelled this one – and it was pretty heavily so I figured I’d take a chance since the only other tea I have right now with raspberry in it is Chocolate Rocket – and that tea is basically different in every other way.

Listed ingredients for this are oolong tea, raspberry bits (lots of them – they’re really noticeable), and flavor. Not sure whether or not that’s natural or artificial flavouring. The dry leaf smells like raspberry sweets and desserts. ALMOST pastry like, but the smell of the green oolong base cuts through and adds a sort of grassyness that kind of offsets the small of baking. It’s very sweet smelling – though.

I’ve complained before about Tea Desire’s generic brewing guide and how non-specific it can be. This is my first oolong from them, and the brewing guide for Oolong teas is pretty bad too. They suggest using 1 tsp/ for 2 to 5 min. – that’s fine, and not really unusual. However, the temperature they recommend is 70 to 90 degrees celsius. That’s a big difference – especially with tea. I think what I steeped mine in was around 80 degrees(ish). Middle ground is usually fairly safe…

I wish I could say I’m drinking this hot – but alas I ended up having to do some domestic things and left my tea to sit. Now that I’ve come back to it, it’s kind of lukewarm and really not a good tea temperature. I’ll have to go back and drink this at a proper temperature some other time this week (hopefully before I leave for comic con).

Smell is a more subtle and mild raspberry, with buttery notes that again sort of remind me of baking if not for the grassy notes of the oolong cutting in between. It smells pretty good – although the grassy smell is sort of reminding me of some green teas that I’m not too fond of.

This might be because of the temperature I’m drinking it at or maybe I left it to steep a bit too long, but the raspberry is tasting kind of funny. I’m getting great buttery pastry kind of notes and the aftertaste is creamy, sweet raspberries which together remind me of really good, flakey pie or raspberry danishes – but as I’m taking the actual sip there’s a bitterness to the raspberry that seems a tad unpleasantly artificial. I’m glad I can quickly swallow and enjoy the pleasant aftertaste, though.

I’m also tasting the oolong base, and it’s good too. Buttery and kind of lightly vegetal: definitely not as grassy as it was smelling.

I’m gonna resteep this a little later tonight, and I’ll add on to this note with my opinion on the resteep. For now, though – I’m kind of liking this, but that odd raspberry taste as I’m actually drinking is also pretty unpleasant – however, I don’t want to immediately pin it to the tea: it could be user error from over steeping and it might be the wonky temp. I’m currently drinking this at (so, conservatively rating this – and reserving the right to change it later).

EDIT: Second steep – this time much more attentive in regard to the steep time and temperature, and I’m drinking it hot. Oolong base is more present, and there are some lightly vegetal notes because of it. Still getting the buttery pastry taste, especially in the aftertaste which is creamy and delicious. The odd raspberry flavour I had before during the sip is way less pronounced, although still slightly there. However, the small amount I’m tasting it works (and I’m thinking it might be from the vegetal notes mixing with the pastry/dessert comparison I seem to have going on). I’m not sure if the change in taste is because this second steep has brought out different flavours or because I did a better job brewing it.

Regardless, I feel more comfortable increasing my rating slightly – but I’m going to have to try a first steep of this again while having the same attentiveness brewing it so I can confirm the flavour of this tea for myself.