103 Tasting Notes
I was actually surprised to find this already on the site. I too got this from a friend who visited Malaysia; she toured the tea plantation there and brought a bunch of tea back. I was lucky enough to receive a bag of this. I am bad at describing black teas especially since I always sweeten black teas with a touch of honey and add almond milk, but I really enjoyed this cup! Weird thing I didn’t know was that dye is added to some teas! This tea advertises that no dye is added to it (and is pesticide free)! The dry leaves are cut (reminds me of some Irish breakfast or Kenya teas I’ve had.) All in all a great cup of basic black tea.
I was so excited when I got home and saw my first ever mail order of teas had arrived. I had to brew one of the teas right away! I chose this one and even though I brewed it as a mix between western style with the proper gong fu style the tea is wonderful! I used “more” leaves than i usually use per cup and brewed for 1 to 2 mins and got a nice smokey nutty slightly sweet first brew. The second infusion I actually forgot about so it was infusing for at least 10 mins and this was more like a greener oolong with more floral/orchid note.
This smells decadent! Nice creamy caramel flavour! A really nice Rooibos without any artificial aftertaste:p the tea is a nice after dinner treat. I am really trying to find more non caffeinated teas that will not affect my already weird sleeping/waking cycles. I think this may be a flavour that has the potential to become a permanent item in my cupboard.
I passed by a different David’s tea location and had to check it out. From the outside it looked small but when I stepped in it had way more teas than the other location. Well even though I had more than enough tea at home I had to pick up a few small packages to try different flavours:) this one was one of those ones I have never seen at other stores so I gave it a try and it smells a bit perfumey and like lychee and taste wise is not bad. I taste the black base with lychee after. Not bad for a purchase on the whim! Btw this is the only lychee tea I have ever tried so I have nothing to compare it to.
Preparation
Most of the time I rotate through the same few favourite teas (ok maybe dozen or so) but decided to try this today. I love vanilla and I love oolong. This was a very nice flavoured oolong. Vanilla goes well with the oolong and makes for a nice smelling and a milky creamy cup of tea. It reminds me of a stronger tasting milk oolong. Unfortunately I accidentally left my second steeping in way way too long and it got a bit bitter :( next time I will have to be more careful! I might just have to keep a small package of this on hand for when I am wanting a flavoured light tea!
Tried this one again today. I added more black tea that I have on hand and it was very good, but that’s probably because I like cinnamon, coconut and chocolate! I think I might even get more then add more black tea to it and keep it on hand for something different, although all the talk about flavoured teas by another tea company is making me want to put an order in to try different things as well…wonder if it’s weird to order eggnog tea in the spring…Assuming they have it in stock!
Ok tried a sample of this and the citrus was too strong for me especially when the jasmine fought at times to be the dominant flavour…oolong flavour got a little lost in the mix. I like citrus on its own and I also like a subtle jasmine, but the two mixed didn’t work for me. Haven’t tried it cold yet but won’t be adding this to my collection after I finish the sample. Maybe I am not a huge fan of flavoured oolongs?!? I definitely like oolongs straight though.
