I went for a late walk last night around my neighbourhood and couldn’t believe how delicious the air smelled. There are many fragrant trees and bushes around, particularly lilacs! It was so lovely to discover as this is my first Spring/Summer that I’m living in this area. I caught myself daydreaming about it at work today too and thought it was only fitting that I dive into a sweet and floral tea.
Believe it or not, this is the first “Oriental Beauty” oolong I’ve tried. I’ve heard many good things about this cultivar over the years and can finally say that I understand the hype! This particular harvest is very well balanced and really hits all my favourite oolong notes. This is certainly a contender for new favourite oolong!
The liquor is a gorgeous rose tinted caramel kind of colour. Not the thickest, but incredibly smooth and lubricating. The flavour though!!!! Oh man, it’s so yummy. It’s got some honey and sugarcane going on, stone fruits like peach, nectarine, and apricot, and the perfect level of orchid-like floral note. Further infusions bring out more of a wet stone kind of flavour that I’ve more experienced in a Da Hong Pao. The only area that I would say it can improve on is in the number of pots I can brew before the flavour tapers off. I can get it up to about the minute mark before it just sharply drops. I guess that’s pretty good, but compared to the Silver Needle and Sheng I recently bought its life is shorter. Will definitely keep exploring this kind of oolong, I imagine other companies have great examples of it too.
Flavors: Apricot, Honey, Orchids, Peach, Sugarcane, Wet Rocks
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I’ve been drinking OB today too (: it’s a favourite of mine for cozy days curled up with a book.
Excellent! Seems like a good day for it indeed. Which company sells your favourite one? Definitely want to try some from other shops.
Sorry for being so totally unhelpful, but my favourite was from Butiki, so it’s long gone ): I’ve been trying to find a replacement ever since, and none have been quite as good. The one I have at the moment is from Bolland’s, a local tea house here in the UK.
If I find one that stands out I will let you know!
Sounds good right now. That’s one style of tea I’m missing from my cupboard.
@Nattie: no worries, that’s too bad that they closed. I’ll check out Bolland’s next time I visit the UK though. Although it seems like their storefront shop is closed now too??
@Derk: You seem to have a large collection though from what I gather, so I’m sure you have other great oolongs :)
I’ve been drinking OB today too (: it’s a favourite of mine for cozy days curled up with a book.
Excellent! Seems like a good day for it indeed. Which company sells your favourite one? Definitely want to try some from other shops.
Sorry for being so totally unhelpful, but my favourite was from Butiki, so it’s long gone ): I’ve been trying to find a replacement ever since, and none have been quite as good. The one I have at the moment is from Bolland’s, a local tea house here in the UK.
If I find one that stands out I will let you know!
Sounds good right now. That’s one style of tea I’m missing from my cupboard.
@Nattie: no worries, that’s too bad that they closed. I’ll check out Bolland’s next time I visit the UK though. Although it seems like their storefront shop is closed now too??
@Derk: You seem to have a large collection though from what I gather, so I’m sure you have other great oolongs :)