71 Tasting Notes
This was a sample that came with my order and It took me so long to get to it.I prefer lighter oolongs which is why I put off trying this dark roasted oolong for so long.
Harvest: May 2019.
The washed tea leaves smelled malty and a lot like stewed or steam banana leaf. There was a faint smell of brown sugar as well. I brewed this gongfu style.
1st infusion ~25 sec
Creamy and smooth. Honey and stone fruit flavor
2nd infusion ~ 20 sec
floral notes came out and over took the foreground. Very smooth.
3rd infusion ~20 sec
The fruit notes started to take over this infusion starting to get sweeter
4th infusion ~20 sec
similar notes
5th infusion ~ 25 sec
more astringent and drying mouth feel. The honey like taste starting to go away
6th infusion ~ 30 sec
7th infusion ~35 sec
More of the floral notes staying
8th infusion ~ 40 sec
9th infusion ~ 1 minute
- astringent and floral
10th infusion – let it sit there for a while.
The sweetness of this tea really started to come out after the second infusion and it really improved from there.
Flavors: Floral, Honey, Nutty, Stonefruit
Smells and tastes like orange. I love orange flavored teas and end up a little disappointed a lot because the flavor of the orange does not always come through or it overpowers the base tea. This one is a good balance of the orange and the oolong. The light notes of orange mix with the lightly toasted oolong.
Flavors: Orange, Orange Blossom
Dry: It smells nutty almost like candied brittle that you get around Christmas.
Liquor : smooth and smells a bit like pancake syrup! It has a slightly bitter notes at the end. I had it with a bit of oat milk which brought out the taste of syrup . Tasted a bit like walnut pancakes.
Cold Steep!
I was intrigued by this tea as cereal milk used to one of my favorite things. I would run home from school and get a bowl of frosted flakes, special K ,pops and pour in more milk than necessary. It was like I was having cereal with milk. I would wait for the flavor to infused with the milk and get thicker then I would quickly finish off the cereal and slowly spoon the cereal milk. It is weird thinking back to those days. I still cannot believe I ate that much sugary cereal or drank that much milk. The idea of those cereals or even milk is disgusting to me now so I have not had it in a long time. This tea transported me back to the old days and now I remember why I changed :)
I tried it hot and it was watery to me. I could taste the cereal but it was weird. I experimented with hot brewing and making it iced, still it was watery. I then decided to cold brew it and I forgot about it for a few days. I tried it without any milk and it was good. I decided to add some oat milk and it was just like cereal milk. The disgustingly sweet and thick milk. I cannot drink more than half a cup of this as it is too sweet! I wish I could make the decision on the sweetness I prefer.
This is the last of this tea and while it brought back memories, it was nauseatingly sweet .
Flavors: Sweet
Preparation
The smell of this tea is so enticing. I wish I could smell it every second of the day.
While brewing, the tea fills the room with a sweet maple scent that is so inviting. The brewed tea is very black tea forward and the maple scent is gone from the tea. I get a slight maple note at the back end but its all black tea forward.
I have yet to try it with milk. Maybe that will bring out other flavors from the tea?
Preparation
I have been looking forward to try this tea after I saw people raving about for a while on different platforms. Brewed 2 tsp hot for 5 mins.
The tea is beautiful light purple. It smells very much of citrus but the taste is disappointing. The tea tastes bland to me. There is a floral aftertaste but nothing other than that. Going to try to brew this longer to see if that makes a difference. I also want to see if cold brewed, it tastes different as well.
