There is something about honey at the moment that I am really loving, especially something that is tea based. A new strange craving it would seem.
In raw form the Oolong balls are mixed in size (from roughly 2mm – 5mm) and consist of dark green, dark brown and medium green colours. They have a wonderful gleam to them. They have a mildly sweet and green floral peony scent, not quite as honeyed as I imagined but there is a hint of it in there.
Preparation –
Water: 8 oz – Roughly 200ml
Serving Size: 7 grams
Steep Time: First Steep – 2 minute 30 seconds, Second Steep – 1 minute, Third Steep – 1 minute 30 seconds
First Steep – The tea is light yellow with a mildly sweet, floral and vegetal aroma. Very nice but still not really recognisable as being honeyed. Flavour is smooth and buttered with essences of mild sweet honey, peony, mineral green kale and light fruit. Almost like kale toasted in butter and honey and served with fresh sweet flowers and chunks of peach and apricot. Overall strength is very pleasing but perhaps a little dry in the after taste and somewhat perfumed.
Second Steep – This steep is more honeyed and light than the first one. It’s also much less mineral but the smooth butteryness is still present. This is more of what I was expecting from this tea, it’s completely changed. Also more peachy like too. Super delicious!
Third Steep – Sweeter and more floral for this steep. Still smooth and honeyed with good amounts of butter left. It’s perhaps not as sweet or smooth as the second steep but it has matched it in beauty.
Overall – This Oolong blossoms from being a lovely duckling into a beautiful swan before your very taste buds. It may have not appeared to contain honey at first but it gets sweeter and lighter the more you steep it almost as if to say “Hello here I am”. If honey is not your thing then this also has elements of fruit, flowers, mineral veg and butter which should please any Oolong drinker.
I would love to have more of this in my collection for those special warm evenings. :)
