Almond Oolong

Since I have an almond theme going, I thought I’d revisit this one.

This time I tried it in the gaiwan with steeps starting at 30 seconds, going up to 1:30. Also shared with the BF. Both kids are out on play dates so it’s unnaturally quiet around here. Too bad I still have a headache or it would be a lovely little bit of adult free time.

This is much more enjoyable with this preparation compared to my first jaunt with it. The almond flavor hangs on pretty continually with only a little weakening across multiple steeps. The oolong base is, for some reason, more prevalent, too. I can taste an underlying toastiness, though without any sort of winy tang that would really let me know I’m tasting oolong.

It’s much more enjoyable than the Adagio Vanilla Oolong in my book. The flavoring agent doesn’t come across as bakey fakey in the way the vanilla did.

I’m bumping this a couple of points. I still like the idea of almond oolong better than this particular almond oolong itself, and I wonder whether I should, perhaps, try the Zen Tea Oolong Almond which has about a ten point higher average rating?

Leif & I also shared a pot of this Almond Oolong, which we sweetened with stevia. It’s rather like an almond cookie, although the flavor is a little too ‘almond extract’, but still tasty. It also really tasted almost like it had cinnamon in it, which is probably just my imagination. The formosan oolong base on both this & the Vanilla oolong is nice. Nothing fancy, but pleasant tasting.
Leif & I both preferred the vanilla oolong, however we agreed that this week we should do a sipdown on both, combining them into one teapot to share.

Sandy thank you SO much for not only a generous sample but the cutest tin hand painted!!! Your such the artist – I can’t draw a stick figure so am always so happy to get something hand crafted from a friend! Thank you for the note cards as well your the best!
So onto the tea … I actually like it and I say that as I have become disenchanted with Adagio lately so this was a nice surprise!
Excellent ALMOND flavoring not cherry and I too sometimes can’t tell the difference lol but this one is almond all the way. :)
Pretty good oolong base as well.
Have had one of those days where I can’t really fully ENJOY a cup of tea so I have let this get cold (room temp) and still enjoyed it very much, then have re-heated it which does not work well with all teas but with this one it does, and very very yummy hot and freshly brewed!
For a chaotic day this has been keeping me sane!
Thank you again Sandy this was totally unexpected!
I will get ya back :)

I am still dealing with my nasal infection, and it feels like my tongue has been wrapped in cotton… it feels buffered, and my taste buds are having a hard time (for the most part) discerning flavor. I think that this might just be worse than the other symptoms of the infection – because I MISS being able to drink tea. Yes, I can still drink tea, but, part of me feels like “what’s the point?” because I can’t really enjoy it.

So, I have still been drinking teas, but, I am drinking ones that I’ve already tasted before… so that I don’t miss out on some interesting flavor that my taste buds wouldn’t pick up on right now.

With my nasal infection this doesn’t really taste much like an Oolong. But, it is still alright… at least I know it does taste better than I’m tasting right now…

There’s a great story about this tea. My boss is absolutely in love with it, and since her bushel of this came in recently, she gave Missy and I a sample (in a cute little hand painted tin as well). Thanks Sandy!

After she had ordered it the first time, she brought it over to my desk and we were chatting about it. My olfactory sense is not what one would consider superhuman. Considering it subhuman would be graceful, and probably more than it deserves. One of the places that this becomes really, really apparent is with cherry or almond flavoring. As far as I can tell, they are the exact same. So a lot of things that are supposed to be almond taste really fruity and weird to me.

While we were discussing this, another coworker (who we shall call Bob for as to protect his anonymity) walks by. Never one to allow a guinea pig to walk by untested, I stop Bob, and ask him if he has ever had an issue differentiating these two should-be-less-similar-than-they-are scents.

Bob’s answer? Of course not! So we hand him the tea, and he confidently responds that it smells like cherries… and I burst into laughter. Totally made my day.

Anyway, this is a nice, dark oolong with a light fruity/nutty flavor from the almond/cherry flavoring. It really has a good compliment of flavors, without either being overpowering. A nice, flavorful tea.

I had most of this note written and then my browser crashed, boo. Anyway, this tea comes courtesy of Jillian, thanks! I’ve been interested in flavored oolongs since although I haven’t had a lot of them, I’ve enjoyed the ones I’ve tried so far. And this one is almond, so I’m definitely excited to try it because I love almond-flavored anything.

The scent of the dry tea isn’t very strong, but I definitely catch an almond aroma; nutty, not quite sweet marzipan-type almond. The brewed tea smells really nice. Almondy, yes (though again in more of an actual-nut kind of way), but also distinctly appley. It reminds me of apple-almond pastries.

The flavor is light, but tasty. I wish I had brewed it for a little longer, I think. The main flavor of the sip is really the oolong: a little bit fruity/floral, a little bit roasted (just a tad!) from the darker oolong. The taste isn’t as appley as the aroma, but I do get hints of it, which must just be coming from the oolong. The almond blooms at the tail of the sip and lingers primarily in the aftertaste, and its slightly more sweet-almond marzipan than in the aroma. All in all, a tasty tea and I look forward to trying it a couple more times with different steeping parameters.

This is a sample from Sandy. She painted the coolest little tin up too to convey it. Thank you!

I’m one of those people who have a hard time with almond smelling like cherry. Almond flavoring always reminds me of cherries. This tastes like almonds and a dark oolong. The roasted quality compliments the almond flavor well. It’s very smooth and ends with a light mineral note. Very nice cup of tea.

This is a sample I received a long time ago from Sare I think but I’m not sure.
Anyway, I really like nutty teas, so I was expecting to like this, and I thought it was delicious. I used 2 tsp for this cuppa and I found it to be quite flavourful. Nutty and smooth oolong.

I have no idea why I’m drinking this. I’m reorganizing into more spreadsheets and also making room for all my tea to look better. I have to stop for the night soon but I made this while grabbing the stuff around the kitchen counters, this being one of them.

It should say something that for someone who can’t stand almond flavoring, that I am okay with drinking this. Except I broke into my hoarded bag of Mini Eggs (I made it what, 4-5 months? Score!) and now the sweetness lingering in my mouth makes it actually taste like that almondy flavor I can’t stand. Blah. I’ll probably put the rest of the bag into one of the traveling boxes for someone who likes almond. This is one of the few Adagio teas that doesn’t taste half bad for a flavored tea.

Last month my husband went to Chicago on business. Being the opportunist I am, I looked at the hotel where he was staying – it was 4 blocks away from an Adagio store. So I sent him packing with a list of teas to get while he was there. :)

I had originally requested a sample of their Almond black tea, but they didn’t have any in store. The girl helping my husband with the order gave him a sample of this, saying that it tastes better than the one I initially wanted.

I’m finding that I need to use a lot of leaf to get the desired result. The first time I tried this I used 2 tsp. of leaf for 8 ounces. It was alright, but very light tasting. I really prefer my teas stronger. For the next cup, the amount of leaf was doubled. Better, but still lacking.

I really don’t have much experience with oolongs, so maybe it should be a lighter tasting almond flavor. While it makes an okay cup, it’s probably not going to be something I reach for in the mornings…