Bossa Nova

This tea is a meeting between hazelnuts, French vanilla, and light roast oolong. Absolutly delicious. It tastes like I added milk or cream to my tea, but that’s just the flavour of the brewed tea itself. Additionally, the natural sweetness of the oolong brings everything together. Dessert in a cup!

GCTTB DAY 6

Back to sampling GCTTB teas this afternoon. This is one I had brought with me to work, and it is just lovely! It reminds me of Harney and Sons’ Florence tea, à la oolong. Hazelnut and vanilla are dominant flavour notes, smoothly mixing with the familiar slightly earthy oolong tea base. Well-balanced and smooth tea – delicious! Another keeper. :)

Wow…Evol Ving Ness, I will be covered for a while. Thank you so much!!!

So I had to tag along the club and try this. The smell is great. Being impatient, I gong fu’d this entire sample. The first steep was really lovely: vanilla and strong hazelnut in the first steep with a roasted caramel oolong body. The second had more oolong and hazelnut. The oolong was definitely on the greener side but high on the roast. Farily vegetal. I wonder if this was a formosa-it was curled up like one.

The third cup is mostly nutty and vegetal losing out on some flavor. Anyway, “Pleasant” is the word to describe this tea. Not something I mind having every once in a while, but not something I’d reach for.

GCTTB V1

- Commute to work tea!
- Very smooth, creamy mouthfeel
- Very distinct and rich flavour of hazelnuts
- I ADORE the fact this is a hazlenut flavour without chocolate pairing
- The hazelnut is the perfect balance of sweet, nutty and umami
- Softer, bordering on sensual, notes of vanilla/cream cut through delicately
- Kind of custardy? Is hazelnut custard a thing? If not, can we make it a thing?
- A little bit of a floral background; and some nuttyness from the base as well
- Has a sort of mineral note

I woke up feeling great. You know that conquer the world feeling?

Yeah, that one. Since I’ve been ill the past few years, I don’t get that feeling very often. The first year or two, almost never, so waking up feeling that everything is magnificent and all things are possible is just wow for me. Really wow. Such immense gratitude for these moments.

One of the first things on my agenda today is to spread the joy and that means to initiate a surprise for someone. I love surprises, big or small. And because it is a surprise, that’s all I am going to say about that.

I have always loved the idea of this tea: hazelnut brittle, caramel. Truly, what is not to love?

That said, it is a tricky one. I find I need to be careful to not add too much leaf or the mineral element overwhelms.

This cup is all hazelnut brittle and mineral. Really enjoying my first steep today. I wonder what the next one will bring.

I hope everyone’s day and tea is glorious.
Spread the joy, people.

I had this today at work and it reminded me of the worst artificially tasting hazelnut creamer for coffee. I couldn’t finish it and decided to get rid of the rest. The flavor doesn’t work. Unfortunately, I bought a lot of this tea. I can’t see myself finishing anymore though. Dropping my rating since it’s become undrinkable.

I had this yesterday so this is from memory, but I definitely liked it. Roasty toasty oolong base, nutty hazelnut and creamy vanilla flavour. Hard to go wrong with that combination, really. :) I’ve been craving roasted oolongs since the weather got cold, and the flavouring transforms this one into a lovely desserty tea. I can see why this is popular.

Zen Tea kindly included this sample with my order. The oolong is definitely on the darker side — it tastes slightly reminiscent of a formosa oolong, even though I’m pretty sure that’s not what this is. Though the hazelnut and vanilla flavors come through, they don’t stand out — this tea is much more about the blend of flavors, and no ingredient in particular gets a starring role. My general impression is of something dark and rich.
I’m glad I got to try this tea, because it does have a really interesting flavor profile, but I don’t think it’s something I would have chosen for myself, mainly just because I prefer my oolongs on the greener side.

Here’s Hoping TTB (round 5)

I do like me some hazelnut
Add that to a roasty oolong and I’m set. This cup did not let down a single expectation that I had as I went to drink it down before bed. The mouth feel is quite nice with the nutty notes bouncing off the roof of my mouth from my tongue.

HHTB

I have never really gotten into oolongs. I can appreciate some, but they aren’t something I seek out, so my opinion might be biased. This a little floral… I taste some nuttiness… a little vanilla, but I’m not getting any depth to the flavors. It feels too light and bland for me. :(