Summer Vacation! Going to try some oolong tonight, and a little earlier in the evening, hopefully I won’t get too much of an energy spike. This is a Chinese oolong that I picked up at Snake River Tea in Boise during my Anime Oasis trip last May, and since I don’t know their wholesale source for it, I’m just logging it under them. I recently picked up a Se Chung from Upton from the generous Meowster, and I’m curious to compare if their flavors are pretty much the same, or if they have any notable differences.
This tea was very bubbly right after dispensing it from my infuser, with a deep yellow color and roasty, nutty aroma, with a touch of subtle honeysuckle to the scent as well. The flavor has a mild roastiness, with a strong roasted nut flavor, and a background vegetal note. A slight floral and somewhat honeyed sweetness comes out towards the end of the sip. I’m a fan of both dark roasted flavor profiles like houjicha and also light, vegetal/floral green oolongs, and at first this seemed a bit of an odd juxtaposition of flavors, striking this strange place between the two flavor profiles, but the more I sip on the cup, the more I find that it is growing on me. It’s like, at first my tongue wants more of the roasted/nutty qualities to come out or be stronger, but then it just sort of settles into that softer/delicate vegetal/floral finish and is fine with it. I’m actually finding this quite warm and soothing as I watch the latest episode of Penn and Teller’s Fool Us.
Will have to try my other Se Chung from Upton soonish while this one is still fresh in my memory for comparison.
Flavors: Floral, Honey, Honeysuckle, Nutty, Roasted, Roasted Nuts, Smooth, Vegetal
Ah, a good one for Lucky #17, as far as I’m concerned. I miss this oolong. One day I’ll restock it… I always found it super toasty, like roasted nuts, with that floral honeysuckle sweetness. It was also amaze-balls cold-steeped, I think I went through it fast because I kept making it as iced tea.