“Will try to get this done before child number one takes my tea from me. She is excited to play with the marbles. This is an interesting blend. A tribute to a ta garden in India mixed with two...” Read full tasting note
“AJRimmer Advent Day 8 What a fun, unique tea! I’d never heard of Singbulli Oolong before, so it was definitely interesting to try an oolong that had such a similar flavor profile to a black tea....” Read full tasting note
“I mostly just taste oolong, which isn’t my preferred tea base. After refrigerating this, more fruit flavor comes out, and I like it a little more. I’m not sure it’s distinctly cranberry, but it’s...” Read full tasting note
“2022 Spring Tea Swap – Day 3 From Emilie! Interestingly enough, the first thing I noticed when I opened the pouch is that it smells like cacao shells. But I don’t think there’s any chocolate in...” Read full tasting note
This blend starts with a Singbulli Oolong. Those of you who are a little more knowledgeable about tea gardens may recognize that Singbulli is the name of a tea garden in the Darjeeling region of West Bengal, India. In other words, a Darjeeling tea estate. There are some tea drinkers that may argue that a Darjeeling is not an Oolong – or vice versa. As for me, when I first tried this Singbulli “Darjeeling Oolong” – it was love at first sip.
So whether you consider this to be an Oolong or just a very fine Darjeeling, hey, that’s cool with me. I love this tea & I’m happy to be sipping it – so whatever you choose to call it, I’m OK with that.
When I drink it without flavoring or other additions, it has a taste that is crisp, sweet & fruity with a lovely nutty undertone. A really pleasant sip. This tea went through several taste tests before I even started to blend it, with me trying to determine the best flavor profiles to add to it. I tasted the nutty tones & I knew that a nutty flavoring would bring those lovely notes forward. The crisp, fruity notes would benefit greatly from a fruit addition, but not a heavily or overly sweet fruit. So, from those various tests, I decided that this should be either a cranberry tea … or a chestnut tea – but which?
Finally I thought – why not both?
So here it is: a blend of cranberry & chestnut flavors, featuring the exquisite Singbulli Oolong tea blended with lots of freeze-dried cranberries & chestnut essence (don’t worry, it’s nut free!). The tea is tart & tangy from the cranberries, sweet & slightly buttery from the chestnuts . . . & crisp & refreshing from the Oolong base! It’s a delightful sip! It’s also organic, vegan, gluten-free, allergen-free & all natural!
organic ingredients: oolong tea, cranberries, calendula petals & natural flavors
to brew: shake the blend gently to make sure the crushed cranberry pieces are distributed throughout the leaf. measure 2 ½ grams of leaf to 12oz of very hot water (180°) & steep for 3 ½ minutes. strain. allow to cool for at least 5 minutes.
This blend absolutely benefits from the 5 minute cool time, so I highly recommend waiting for it – your patience will be rewarded. I didn’t add any sweetener to most of my taste tests & enjoyed it a lot that way. With one of my taste tests, I did add a little bit of raw sugar (less than ½ a teaspoon) & I found that this addition brought out more of the sweeter chestnut notes.
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