Long Life Oolong

Today's post is Long Life Oolong by DavidsTea (Organic Shui Xian oolong tea, peach pieces, apricot pieces, almond slices, orange peel, safflower petals, natural and artificial flavouring)

I'm steeping this little bugger how all Oolongs should! NUMEROUS TIMES.

So, I started off boiling the water on my tea kettles 'oolong' setting (190F), then into my pot I scooped two spoonfuls with my David's Perfect Spoon (because this tea has just as much fruit/nut in it as tea leaf itself) straight into the pot I use specifically for Oolongs (it has a mini strainer in it, so it catches most of the tea). No other pot will do!

On the first steep the Oolong sticks out the most, with a slightly peachy aftertaste. The almonds are lost in the first steep. It smells fantastic. Like dried peaches. Looking forward to the next steep! It can only get better!

The second steep is so much better. The Oolong is much lighter and less imposing, which allows the peaches to poke through a bit more. If the first steep could be exactly like the second steep, then it would be perfect.

But, in my opinion, the point of a good Oolong is to not only enjoy many cups, but to enjoy many cups with friends. You don't make a quick cup to go, you make a pot over conversation, then another pot.

I never got to a third steep because I don't think I physically could drink 12 cups of tea in one sitting.

All in all, I say if you like peaches, you may be a bit underwhelmed on peachy flavor, but...just add a few extra dried peach bits to your tin?

Overall, a pleasurable experience that was brought to me by Zachs family for Christmas.


-Laura

Salted Caramel

Salted Caramel had me super excited.

Super. Super excited.

ALLERGY WARNING: ALMONDS

I love caramel. I mean love it. I'd eat it alone if I had the chance not that I've done that before.

I steeped the 1.25 tsp to 1 cup of boiling water for 6 minutes per directions. I JUST WANTED IT TO BE PERFECT CARAMELLY

It smelled exactly like caramel when I opened it up, with a slight hint of black tea behind it. I was very excited! Can you tell how much I love caramel yet?

But when I tasted it, it was bitter. Let me know if you guys have had the same experience? So, to offset the bitter, I added milk. A quick fix!
Once I added milk, it had a light caramel flavor, and was a little creamy, and you could still taste some of the black tea! Overall, the balance wasn't bad at all, nor was the flavor...but it just wasn't caramelly enough for me!



If I am drinking something called Salted Caramel, I want to drink it and think "this reminds me of salted caramel!" not "Well, I guess this kinda sorta might make me think a little bit about caramel..."

Good, but not the best. So, I'm not getting it again. I'll stick to my caramel apples!

Enjoy your teas, everyone!

-Laura

Brazillionair

My next few reviews are all going to be from my collection of free samples! Wooohooo!
Today's tea is Brazillionair!

ALLERGY WARNING: TREE NUTS

When brewing it, it smelled almost chocolatey, almost creamy. It is yummy, but it is also overbearing, and a little musty. So I was fairly undecided at this point. I honestly couldn't even tell if I liked how it smelled.

The sample was 1.5 tsp, for 1 cup, and steeped for 6 minutes. Because I'm a square who follows directions! 

It basically tasted how it smelled. Creamy, chocolatey, musty, a little nutty, the faintest of tea note in the background. It had a more complex flavor than I thought it would, yet I honestly can't say it was my favorite tea at all. The fact that everything was so BAM IN YOUR FACE was more of a turn off than I thought it would be.

To me, this tea seemed to be lacking balance. It could have been the fact that this was just a sample, and I just got a poor blend up of everything (if so, then that is really unfortunate, since a sample is supposed to get you hooked), but either way, it just wasn't quite right.

Tone down some of the coconut and maybe less tree nut, bring out some of the black tea more, and add more raisins, then it would probably taste a lot better. But as it was in the sample? It is absolutely a no-go for me.

Toodles poodles!

-L