Finally trying the last of Tea Ave’s line up of scented teas, and only now do I stop to ponder… Does the name mean Tea Avenue? Or are we talking “welcome tea” and “goodbye tea”… the latin ave, as in Ave Maria?
I imagine it’s the prior but I have fun imagining it’s the latter, as it sums up my thoughts when drinking tea.
The scent of rose oolong is a bit more mild than the other tea ave teas I’ve tried. Of course there is rose, and a creamy scent from the Jin Xuan cultivar oolong. In a way, this sweet and mild combination reminds me of fruit loops breakfast cereal when smelling the leaves dry in the warm gaiwan.
The rose petals become a gorgeous magenta and float to the top while most of the tea leaves sink as I fill the gaiwan with water. The aroma of the wet leaves is really creamy with subtle rose notes. As with the other more subtle scented teas from Tea Ave, I’m not getting much fragrance from the Taiwanese aroma cup set I’m using to enjoy this tea.
The taste of this tea is very light, and has a nice subtle rose taste. I’m enjoying it more than I thought I would. Most times I’ve had roses in tea, they’ve been really strong, and while I love rose, too much can sort of taste cloying. I have a horrendous headache as I’m writing this, so luckily this isn’t too fragrant or I’d be tossing it out the window!
The second infusion has quite a bit more flavor, more rosey, but still not overpowering. I really enjoy it. By the third, I’m mostly tasting the creamy Jin Xuan and not the roses. On the fourth infusion, I’m getting mild notes of high mountain foliage, the kind of taste you’d expect from great Taiwanese oolong.
I would say this tea would be ideal for someone who likes a little bit of flowers but maybe not a lot of them, because you really only taste the rose in this for a couple of infusions, and after that it’s all creamy smooth high mountain oolong. It’s a nice transition and a very subtle, relaxing comfort tea. Has helped my headache a bit.
In fact I’d say that I liked this more than some of the scented teas from Tea Ave I thought I’d love.
Here are my rankings, now that I’ve tried them all. The first two are stellar. The rest are ones I enjoy, but they didn’t leave a strong impression, as they tend to be rather subtle and require a lot of leaf if you want more than subtle.
1. Magnolia
2. Osmanthus
3. Ginger Lily
4. Rose
5. Jasmine
6. Cape Jasmine
Flavors: Milk, Rose
