Bestore

Todd gave me one of the pre-sealed packages of this tea he got from his China trip. It is a sachet-style teabag and smells strongly of the artificial peach found in candy. As it steeps, I start to get some aroma notes of minerals, greens, butter, and baked apple.

The oolong was coming off quite strongly right after removing the teabag, but the peach starts to come forward and the flavors smooth out as the tea cools a bit. The oolong has a leafy vegetal flavor and is slightly buttery. The peach comes in about mid-sip and lingers in the aftertaste. It is definitely that artificial peach candy flavor, but not nearly as sweet. The apple note blinks a bit in the background, but is hard to pick up on.

It reminds me of a poor man’s version of Lupicia’s Momo Oolong Super Grade.

Todd gave me one of the pre-sealed packages of this tea he got from his China trip. It’s… very strange. When you open up the package, rather than having a teabag inside, it’s this solid square that looks like a solidified honey-like substance with one dried lemon slice and one dried kumquat enclosed inside. The instructions say to drop it in cold or room temperature water, though I could find no information on exactly how much water one “cube” is for… I used a liter knowing it might be a bit watered down since I was guessing. The cube dissolves in the cold water very quickly, and leaves the lemon slice and kumquat floating in the water. I couldn’t really find any information on the ingredients… one source said it was instant jasmine green tea? If so, I definitely don’t taste anything remotely like jasmine or green tea in flavor. It just tastes like lemonade, albeit waaaaaaaaay less sweet (which I prefer). It is bright and citrusy, and while I think it tastes fine with the amount of water I used, it would probably be a bit stronger and punchier at a half-liter, instead.

So, it’s basically like an instant cube of dissolvable lemonade. It’s a bit fun, definitely refreshing, but not particularly exciting. This would be incredibly convenient for travel, but obviously not very accessible in this part of the world.

I got this from a Bestore across the street from my hotel in Chengdu. Just opening the pouch it came in, I got a blast of artificial peach smell. The brewed tea smells of it, but not as strongly.

I admit I can’t taste the tea very much. If this were served as an herbal peach, I would believe it. It tastes strongly of peach, with a little sweet.