Long Life Oolong

So um….I thought I’d really like this one since I’m a fan of peach and such. Turns out I’d rather drink a really oolongy oolong than this one. While It does have a peach taste to it, there’s something in here which is turning my stomach. Is not even peach like peach drink…it’s just. Yeah….it smells lovely…fruity and like it would be super tasty….but no.

I made this horrible mistake of leaving my tea and steeper at home when I went to work. With a 10 hour day ahead of me I had no idea what to do. Then
I remembered that our student helper had bought us the Sweet Indulgences set when he left. So, that solved the tea crisis. . . but what on earth would I use to infuse it? All I had was my timolino and NO infuser with it!
My inner CaveMama leapt out and I decided to use a triangle coffee filter.
I would not recommend this at all. The paper is incredible thick and it took like 10 minutes just to fill my mug. BUT, desperate times call for desperate measures.
Now, there was only this tea and very small amounts of Jessie’s Tea left. Not only does that not have caffeine, but I just plain don’t like it. This was a decent tea, all things considered, the peach was nice.
I wouldn’t have picked under normal circumstances though.

I was given a teabag of this tea last year and it was my first David’s Tea item that I received. Since I found that I couldn’t buy them here in the UK I kept it as a special treat for one day in the future. Well that day is now, my nan passed away 8 years ago next month and today would have been her birthday. I was very close to my nan and her passing has been extremely difficult for my family and not a day goes by that I don’t think about her.

My nan was a very strong woman and at only 63 she was taken away from us all much too young. I sometimes think that she was taken to cook for her beloved cowboy and Indians (her house was decorated with pictures and statues and she loved Western films).

To celebrate her life I am drinking this Long Life Oolong. My nan (Jean) was more of a coffee drinker than tea but I know she would love my quirky tea addiction and see it as being healthy and interesting. She was my best friend.

The tea comes in a see through square with easy to see ingredients. A sweet and peachy/apricot scent is subtle but there.

Once brewed the tea is yellow in colour with the same but much stronger peach/apricot smell that really is quite mouth wateringly good.

The taste is similar to the smell but with added extra’s. While the peach and apricot are the most dominant there is also a hint of waxy citrus orange and something slightly dark and gently toasty which must be the Oolong. Even though it’s rather fruity it still remains refreshing and light with a fair balance of flavours and sweetness.

It’s a shame I only had the one bag of this because it really is quite tasty. I may have to see if this re steeps well. Plus the cooler it becomes the more I can taste the Oolong and smooth almond. Yummy.

To my nan Jean West, I hope you have found peace and eternal happiness. We all miss you down here but we know you are watching over us. Know that we all love you and will miss you until the day that we are reunited. I am trying my best to make you proud of me. Even though it was short I’m thankful to have had you in my life. I love you nan.

Tea #16 from Traveling Tea Box C

This was another DT that has an absoltely stunning scent and then turns out a little lackluster. And it was so pretty and sunshine-y and had my hopes up too.

Sigh.

Very, very peachy. And apricot-y. It reminds me of peachy-o’s and dried apricots in the same mouthful.

As it cools, the almond becomes more pronounced and I can actually identify it in there. Which is more than I can say about the tea itself, so that’s unfortunate.

I would have like to try this as a cold brew, but there was only enough tea in there for one 8 ounce cup.

Had some of this for breakfast. The smell is amazingly peachy, and after shaking the tin I found I got a good even mix of the different components in my teapot. Steeping, it continued to smell good and peachy, with a yellow liquor. Reminded me of the sun that never comes around anymore.

The smell of the leaves after I poured off the tea was actually quite bitter, so I’m worried that I had the water too hot, but the taste is still delicious. Sort of fresh and peachy, with a mild tea background. I will do a second steep later on and see how that goes.

All that said, this is a nice tea. It doesn’t taste nearly as good as it should ot justify the $18 I paid for 100 g of it. My tin was barely 3/4 full, and it just really isn’t amazing enough to justify a re-buy. I think I would rather have the more full flavours of zing me, for much less cost. Still lovely though, especially if you don’t have to worry about cost.

I love this tea! The peach flavors are very natural and it’s just a joy to drink. Live Long Oolong is the kind of tea that I could see myself ordering again and again.

I have the lovely DaisyChubb to thank for this sample as well as for reminding that I have a bag of this tea that I’ve yet to open. I’ve been suffering from tea overload recently which is bliss, but I clearly have to pay closer attention because there are gems that I’ve been overlooking. Must drink more tea!

Weird. This is the…I think 4th? tea I’ve tried from David’s Tea and with exception of the Mango Madness, all of them had the Graham Cracker taste. In of itself, that isn’t a bad thing…I like Graham crackers. But I was hoping to get a nice peachy flavor to this tea, but I don’t taste any fruit let alone peach. Plus not to mention I like tea for variety of flavors, so got to admit…starting to annoy me.

Big thanks to Sil for sending this my way!

This is the second oolong from David’s Tea that I’ve had the opportunity to try, and it did not disappoint. I got a very solid 3 steeps out of it (adding 30s each time). The fourth would have very likely also been good, but I didn’t feel like going another round.

The dry leaf smells like sweet, juicy peaches. I could smell it all day long! The first steep had a very strong and sweet apricot flavor, which was a nice surprise. The peach flavor really came out in the second steep, which was accompanied by a peachy aftertaste that lingered for awhile. By the third steep, the fruit flavors were a bit muted, and the taste of the oolong base came to the forefront. I never really could taste the almonds despite seeing several large slivers in the tea.

I bet this makes a fantastic iced tea as well. I’ll have to try it out soon!

Sometimes after I eat something rather rich, I crave fruit teas. I don’t have any without a black tea base & I’m all out of any fruity herbal teas. This one seemed like a good pick! There is a strong scent of peach and apricot together and something a little bit like pastry in the background. It’s not exactly like puff pastry… but resembles something like a sweet bread.

This tea is a nice balance of flavors. I do taste the apricot and the peach (neither one by itself) as well as the oolong base. The oolong works so well with these flavors. There is a flavor in the background that I can’t really identify and I think it belongs to the almond slivers. The finish is tangy and bright.

I’m trying to drink all of the tea I have to make room for new ones I have ordered this past weekend (Oh, the sales!). It seems like the perfect time to try new teas that I’ve had for a while.

Tea of the afternoon….

And tea 19 of 24. Man, the numbers are getting bigger and that means there is sooooo much to do! This sample is from DaisyChubb. Thank you very much!

I really like this. I do get the peach and a hint of almond. It is almost the perfect flavoring for this tea base. The flavor is light so that it does not overpower the base, and really does not need any additions. Would I buy more? Yes. The next time I order from David’s, this will be in my cart!

Mug method at 190 for 5 minutes.