85
drank Lychee (Lichee) Oolong by Lupicia
303 tasting notes

Rome is at its very worst in June; I’ve always left in summer and it’s always taken a couple of years for me to even consider going back. All because of June. There’s something about the light, maybe. Or the dust in the air, the loudsweaty tourists, the desperate groping in the parks. This season turns everyone into an animal, but June, for some reason, is always the worst of it. In June you still remember delicate, sheer May – what it was like not to be sickwrong and itchy. In July you’ve adapted and just learned to live with the illness.

A ripe, dark, fruity oolong is just right on a day like this. I’m never disappointed in Lupicia’s oolongs – they never let me down, they never make me reconsider. What more could you possibly expect from anything?

Preparation
Boiling 1 min, 30 sec
Doug F

Very poetic!

yyz

I understand, though Rome tends to absorb tourists a little better than some other major tourist centres I’ve been to. Florence was the worse. Firenze is a completely different city between the renaissance Disneyland of high tourist season and the rest of the year.

donkeyteaarrrraugh

my niece will be there in a week….adding to the chaos that is your environment!

Anna

Haha, thanks, Doug!

yyz – I agree Rome (not least, as the vastly larger city) absorbs tourists better than Florence, but sadly that doesn’t make the glaring difference between the off season and now any less obvious. It should probably be added that I live in an area of Rome that more often than not makes it necessary for me to choose one of the Ripetta/Corso/Babuino options, which are all near impossible to navigate efficiently right now.

donkeytiara – Ooh, I hope she has a very lovely time!

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Comments

Doug F

Very poetic!

yyz

I understand, though Rome tends to absorb tourists a little better than some other major tourist centres I’ve been to. Florence was the worse. Firenze is a completely different city between the renaissance Disneyland of high tourist season and the rest of the year.

donkeyteaarrrraugh

my niece will be there in a week….adding to the chaos that is your environment!

Anna

Haha, thanks, Doug!

yyz – I agree Rome (not least, as the vastly larger city) absorbs tourists better than Florence, but sadly that doesn’t make the glaring difference between the off season and now any less obvious. It should probably be added that I live in an area of Rome that more often than not makes it necessary for me to choose one of the Ripetta/Corso/Babuino options, which are all near impossible to navigate efficiently right now.

donkeytiara – Ooh, I hope she has a very lovely time!

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Bio

I’m going to try all the teas.

Then I will choose a lucky few perfect specimens, and we will live happily together in my tea cupboard.

Forever.

* *

2015

This will be a year of in-betweenness and logistics. Where to put the teas. How to arrange the teas. Which teas to replenish – which ones to say goodbye to.

Still doing Project Green.
Still doing Project Jasmine.
Still doing Project Peach.

Dr. Tea is the name, I’m ahead of my game
still, steeping my leafs, still f*ck with the temps
still not loving Assam (uh-huh)
still rock my Bosch kettle with its high-pitched shriek
still got love for the greens, repping Lupicia
still the cup steams, still doing my thang
since I left, ain’t too much changed, still

(With apologies to Mr. Young.)

2014

This year, all bets are off. I am going to drink both peppermint and chamomile and possibly suffer a little. But it’s okay – it’s for science.

I’m doing Project Jasmine, Project Peach and Project Unflavoured Green.

In terms of flavoured teas, Lupicia and Mariage Frères have become my massive favourites, and I have learned that Dammann Frères/Fauchon/Hédiard and Butiki aren’t really for me.

The O Dor, Adagio and Comptoir des thés et des épices are all on this year’s I’d like to get to know you better list.

2013

Getting back into tea drinking last fall, I was all about rooibos. This past spring has been all green tea, all the time, with some white additions over the summer. Currently attempting a slow, autumnal graduation to black teas. Oolongs are always appropriate.

The constant for me, flavour wise, is the strong presence of fruity and floral notes. Vanilla is lush, as long as it’s not artificial. Peach, berries, mango. Cornflower, rose, lavender.

No peppermint.

No chamomile.

No cinnamon.

Ever.

* *

My ratings don’t reflect the ‘What does this tea do for me?’ standard, but rather my own ‘What would I do for this tea?’ scale.

100-90
My absolute favourites. Teas I would travel for – or, in any case, pay exuberant postage for, because they simply have to be in my cupboard. Generally multi-faceted teas with complex scents and flavours. Teas with personality. Tricky teas.

89-80
Teas I wouldn’t hesitate to buy again if and when I came across them. Tea purchases I would surreptitiously weave into a travel itinerary (Oh! A Lupicia store! Here?! My word!).

79-70
Teas I enjoyed, but don’t necessarily need to make any kind of effort to buy again.

69-0
Varying degrees of disinterest and contempt.

Location

Rome, Italy

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