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“Another new tea! One I’ve been wanting to try for a while. A Japanese oolong… intriguing! So I really had no idea what to expect with this tea. Some sort of oolongy flavour, obviously, but that’s...” Read full tasting note
“Floral alert!! yikes. Not in a bad way. I kinda like it. But I need to be in the mood, methinks. This is definitely an oolong in that specifically oolong way with that puckery dry sensation after...” Read full tasting note
“A light a fresh tasting green oolong. Mildly vegetal and floral in flavour.” Read full tasting note
“It’s so funny how the weather affects people’s lives. No matter where you live around the globe, the one thing we all have in common is weather talk. And it seems we are never happy about it… It...” Read full tasting note
RARE, RARE… NEVER BEFORE ON CANADIAN TEA MARKET
Exclusively from Tealux
JAPANESE OOLONG TEA
Enjoy an extraordinary unique tea that is available in very limited quantities to our customers. Organically grown on Kyushu Island in Miyazaki, this kamairi-style Japanese oolong tea was the first harvest of the spring and produced with the utmost attention to its quality, allowing us to preserve it’s special appearance and unique flavor. The blend of the Takachiho and Minami Sayaka tea bushes produce a remarkable tea that is alive with flavor!
With a gardenia-like fragrance, your senses are awakened in anticipation of that very first sip. That fragrance is then transferred to your taste buds, awakening them to the sweet undertones of fragrant traditional Japanese pan-fired tea. Rich in color and rich in flavor; the Miyazaki Takachiho Japanese Oolong tea is a taste to be treasured. Order while supplies last, this tea has a very limited supply!!
It’s a lightly oxidized oolong that has also been pan-fired lightly. The curly leaf therefore maintains much of its green appearance, the liquor is a strong yellow, and the taste retains much of it’s fresh lively appeal without any roasted notes.
The most notable and amazing aspect of this oolong is its extraordinary floral fragrance which is incredibly gardenia-like (Kuchinashi in Japanese), hence the name of this Japanese oolong tea is Kuchinashi! If you are familiar with fragrances of flowers such as gardenia you’ll not fail to notice the resemblance. The fragrance is accompanied by a wonderful fragrant taste that spreads gently throughout the mouth!
Origin: Gokase Town, Miyazaki, Kyushu, Japan
Harvest: Late May
Organic Certification: JAS
Company description not available.
Another new tea! One I’ve been wanting to try for a while. A Japanese oolong… intriguing!
So I really had no idea what to expect with this tea. Some sort of oolongy flavour, obviously, but that’s about it. However, this tea is absolutely delicious. The aroma is light and sweet, and so is the flavour. Lightly caramelly, a bit oolongy… enough that I would probably describe it as an oolong in a blind taste test, anyway. No astringency whatsoever, just very smooth. It’s also not particularly floral.
What’s bugging me the most about this tea is that it seems quite familiar, but I have no idea what it’s reminding me of. My best guess, based honestly entirely on memory, is that it’s like Butiki’s Sparrow Tongue Oolong. I suppose the best way to test out that theory would be to make Sil try a cup of it :D Anyways, this is pretty freaking tasty, and I’m very happy to have at least a few more cups left in this sample packet. Indigobloom – I think you picked some of this up too, and I’m kind of glad we didn’t split a packet! More for me!
Additional infusions to come :)
ETA: Second infusion, with the same parameters, is pretty good, but doesn’t beat the first. A bit more tea flavour, perhaps, but some of the delicious sweetness is gone.
Floral alert!! yikes.
Not in a bad way. I kinda like it. But I need to be in the mood, methinks.
This is definitely an oolong in that specifically oolong way with that puckery dry sensation after taking a sip. It’s almost like eating a gourmet flower. Or how you would think perfume would taste, if you didn’t already know that perfume is really nasty tasting. Sighs. Only I could think that description makes sense.
Anyhow. I’m at the bottom of my cuppa now and its getting a touch salty in the aftertaste. and refreshing.
Overall? A highly enjoyable cup but not one I’d go out of my way to order a pound of. If I could, I’d keep a small sample size on hand
It’s so funny how the weather affects people’s lives. No matter where you live around the globe, the one thing we all have in common is weather talk. And it seems we are never happy about it…
It rained everyday here last week. I love, love the rain, but a full week was getting depressing and I complained a little about it. This week, we got 4 days of hot sun in a row, and I couldn’t handle it anymore, I am beyond happy to find miss Rain this morning. Rainy days make my trees lush and pollen free, to quote a friend :-)
So it’s tea day today, cause I want to make up for yesterday.
I wanted to get outside old habits and start my day with something unusual instead of my typical strong black of the morning. I chose one I’ve never drank before, a Japanese Oolong.
This looks like Pouchong Baozhong, the greenest type of oolong. The colour of the dry leaf is beautiful, a nice silver teal.
First steep (using gaiwan) is very interesting. It’s almost a traditional Japanese green tea, vegetal and grassy.
The distinction comes from its floral body, it’s not orchid or lilac like most Chinese or Taiwanese oolong, but a different variety that I can’t really name. The end of the sip is nutmeg, a note I often find in greener oolong.
The second and third steeps are evolving into a sweet and soft mineral taste, it has an almost syrupy texture. Strong florals lingers for a long time after I swallow.
Later steeps bring some sweet cherry notes, I know it sounds silly, and it’s probably the fruit of my imagination (no pun intended) but it reminds me of Bath & Body Works hand cream Japanese Cherry Blossom fragrance. You’re probably going yikes, hand cream, right? What can I say, tea has a strange way of bringing olfactory hallucinations to life :-)
Bottom line, if you like a good Wenshan Baozhong, you will adore this tea.
It was only a sample I purchased from Tealux, but it will be on my shopping list, that’s for sure.
That sounds really good. I’m going to add it to my wish list.
Also, weather talk. It cloudy and dreary looking but quite humid when I went into the grocery store to pick up lunch today. (I love their salad bar. Really reasonably priced at $4.99/lb and full of things that I don’t want to have to buy a whole one of that I like on a salad occasionally, like cauliflower.) When I came back out, it had rained hard and was still sprinkling, but the sun was shining brightly.
Mmmm, cauliflower, I made a cauliflower almond curry last night, so good! Enjoy your salad :-)
I hate cauliflower cooked, but I love it raw. Go figure. But the salad was awesome.
Ooh, this sounds lovely. And MAN, it’s annoyingly hot here. And humid. I’ve got bean salad marinating in the fridge.
Sami, I know it’s easy to say once summer has arrived, but I’ll take minus 20 celsius of cold over any overly hot and humid temperature!
Lol, it’s salad day among Steepterites, enjoy yours! I’m having tomato, basil, pine nuts and fresh mozzarella salad.
I can always put more layers on. There comes a point when I can’t take off any more layers.
Cheri, exactly!!!
Ooooh japanese oolong? How neat!
Completely, completely. There’s only so much you can take off, and if you’re still hot, you’re still hot. Boo. I wilt like an arctic lily.
This sounds really good.
OoooOooo!
Tealux is quickly becoming one of my favorite companies.
Kittenna, I’m not even half through my last order with them but I’m still contemplating the idea of taking advantage of their 25% off sale this week end. Please, can someone stop me?? In desperate needs of arguments to help resist…
@TheTeaFairy Chill! It’s not like they can’t grow more of it. The tea isn’t going anywhere. There will be other sales. There will always be tea.
Best argument? Their teas are not really limited edition, and they seem to have sales quite frequently. Wait until your stash is smaller, and then keep your eye out for a sale. I’ve seen 20-25% off sales with enough frequency that I wouldn’t be too worried about missing this one!
Haha! Thank you guys, great arguments, I really feel the urge dissipating now, I’m chillin… (NOT!)
I just bought 12 samples. So excited to try them out. :)
Have to ask before I jump on the bandwagon (in June)….how is their shipping costs for a bunch of samples. I know they advertise free shipping over 60 dollars (I think)
Mmmm I’m drinking this now. Though my packet doesn’t say takachiho,so I wonder if its the exact same? Hmmmm.
It is. The packets just aren’t well-labeled.