Oolong

I may be able to source this one later; a work friend brought it to me and said she’d snap a phone picture of the box. She was disappointed because, and I quote, “I paid $15 for it and it smells like fish and paint thinner.”

(No, it doesn’t.)

Steeped, it has that characteristic, upper-end, fruity oolong fragrance. Nice yellow-orange color. Silky texture. Flavor is on the toasty end of the spectrum. Lick-lippy astringency.

This one comes courtesy of Gmathis. She says this is her favorite Cheapster Steepster oolong at an incredible $0.31/oz! Did I read that right?!? That’s $5/lb. This looks like mulch. ha. There are all kinds of different sizes, shapes, and colors in this bag. I steeped about 4 minutes.

This is a prime candidate for a Finum basket. Some of this is very fine and is clinging to the mesh on my press. The way I brewed this it makes a light bodied cup. The taste is similar to Foojoy but lighter. The roasted notes of Foojoy are more toasted here. Actually, it is somewhere in the middle between Foojoy and a genmaicha. It doesn’t have that strong rice flavor but the toastiness is very similar.

After having the strawberry tea just before this one. I am thinking this would make a great base to add some fruit or mint and see what happens. A good bargain everyday tea.

This is the free tea we have at work, so of course I drink it on the daily! I wish I knew which company it’s from. I should ask my boss. I do know that it comes from a giant teabag that just steeps in the tea machine all day, waiting to dispense the deliciousness. (I should clarify that I work in a restaurant.)

Anyway, I can taste burnt cocoa notes and baked bread. It’s a very good tea. Keeps me functioning throughout my shifts, and the customers seem to enjoy it, too!