109 Tasting Notes
Amongst the other popular Lupicia oolongs, I feel like this one is criminally underrated.
The customer service in Japan is usually second to none, and it was no different in their Lupicia stores. I had Queen’s Muscat Oolong (and a few others) brewed up especially for me and we sat down together for an informal tea ceremony.
What caught me first was the scent of the dry leaf when I was making my rounds sniffing almost every tea available in the shop. I knew I just had to try it.
Sometimes tasting a tea can actually put me off buying it because it doesn’t live up to the scent. Not so with this one. One sip and I was sold.
Not only is it delicious and juicy like a muscat grape, but it also had some creaminess underneath – the kind you get with high quality oolongs.
Argh. So good. Bet it would be addictive as hell as an iced tea.
Sipdown!
Towards the end of the packet, I noticed the leaves weren’t as soft and fuzzy anymore. They became a little more dry and spindly.
To be fair, I have had this in my cupboard for a fairly long time and they still tasted pretty much as good as they were.
These are absolutely delicious, but it does become weak by the third steep so perhaps I won’t be buying this a third time.
I still highly recommend this however.
Oh my goshhhh.
This is my first tasting of this tea and I am blown away. At the same time, I am also listening to alpha brainwave music that has been influenced by traditional Buddhist meditation music and the combination of these two.. really transport..me..somewhere…
Ooh zoned out nicely for a sec there.
I have no idea what aloeswood is, but my favourite thing about this oolong is definitely the aromas of incense. Warm and solemn, it brings back the memory of my time in the temples of China and Japan.
For all of the oolongs I have tried from Verdant, every one of them has been absolutely on point with their tasting notes. This one lists vanilla, jasmine, whipped cream, brioche, aloeswood incense and a hint of tamarind.
I am also unsure what tamarind is, but this oolong is every bit as beautiful as written.
Brewing this Western style as per website instructions. The other thing I love about Verdant oolongs is just how quickly the leaf seems to give flavour into the water. As in, the moment I pour the water into my glass teapot, the colour of the tea is already so pretty. And yet, the leaf keeps giving through multiple infusions.
Only really on a second steep of this one, but if it’s anything like my cherished Laoshan Roasted Oolong, these leaves will last me all day long.
This might just be my highest rated tea on Steepster…
Tamarind is this really cool tree-fruit that grows in Africa in these pod things. I think it flavors Worchestershire sauce and lots of Indian food. I really want to try out this Buddhist music. Is there any on Spotify? Artists you can recommend?
It’s also common in Thai food. It’s got a sweet and sour flavor that probably most noticeable in pad Thai. You can buy bricks of the pulp and seeds in Asian groceries that you then need to soak in hot water to get the pulp.
It’s not quite Buddhist music although it does draw from the influence. I listen to YellowBrickCinema on Youtube; they say it promotes alpha brainwaves and helps with focus as well as relaxation. Works for me!
Ever had Strawberry Pocky? Or those Yan Yan sticks you dip into strawberry-flavoured cream? Or basically anything strawberry-flavoured in an Asian dessert or snack? Add some milk and this tastes exactly like that stuff. The creamy kind of strawberry, not the tangy kind.
Oversteeped this slightly at 6 minutes and the roasted barley taste overtook the strawberry flavour ever so slightly, but still delicious with milk. At 4.5 minutes in boiling water like I usually do, you’d get a sweeter strawberry note.
This takes well to a second steeping but of course, it’s a bit lighter and I sometimes drink the second round plain.
I liked the Caramel & Honey Orzo but this one is even better in my opinion!
Sipdown. And also, Steepster ate my note again.
2 years from opening the packet and it’s still very caramel-y and rum-y. I normally hate rooibos but this was actually nice.
As I’m running low on non-caffeinated teas, I would repurchase if near a Lupicia. Still surprised I liked this at all.
Sipdown. Lol. It’s been three years since I first opened this.
Herbal fruit tea. Tastes like the dessert. Liking the cinnamon. A little tart when brewed for more than a few minutes, but I can see some people liking that.
Flavour didn’t diminish with time, which is rare. Not rebuying, but rating stays the same.
Bought this from the international site.
Strong. I get a big vanilla note and a big roasty note with some floral aroma. The minerality is subtle.
I did this Western style in yixing 87C, 1 tblesp, 150ml for 2min, 3min, 3min, 4min, 5min. Strength carries through the first four infusions.
5th steep is getting lighter with a soft fruit note and slight woodsiness.
I’m a little wary of brewing this in the same yixing that I use for Whispering Pines’ Wildcrafted Da Hong Pao. I wonder if the medium-strong roasty note in this tea will overwhelm the fruity flavour of the clay absorbed from the WP version. Or is that getting a little pedantic? It’s not like I can afford the WP version on a continuous basis anyway.
Can’t feel any qi with this one but I do feel rather relaxed.
Still on the hunt for a fruity DHP. I really enjoyed it though and it’s at such a great price point. If I had the budget, I honestly would order one of every DHP listed on the Yunnan Sourcing website.
Okay. This makes the list of one of my top teas ever.
I wrote an extensive note about it some time ago and my laptop shut down by itself when it was almost complete. So here it goes again, albeit a little less detailed.
The vanilla note is one of my favourite things in Da Hong Pao. Vanilla isn’t listed as a note on the website, and it’s definitely not an ingredient either but it is what I taste. A light vanilla, with a fair amount of oak and lots of pure minerality. Throw a little bit of white wine in the mix. But what makes this particular DHP stand out to me is just how juicy it is. That, and the qi.
So juicy. Like stonefruit nectar. And the qi. It’s a calm, happy qi.
It is a little on the light side though, and so the flavour does start to peter out by perhaps the fourth steep Western style. I follow the website directions for Western ( yixing, 87C, 1tblsp, 150ml for 2min, 2min, 3min, 4min, 6min and then I rest the leaves for a few hours in the yixing and try for 7mins and 10mins).
I have purchased this twice and simply can’t afford to purchase anymore due to the cost of shipping to Australia. It ends up being $AU4 per session which is pretty damn high.
As Brendan hasn’t answered my question on the future availability of this product, I assume it’s a limited offering.
Go on guys. Buy the last six ounces left on the website. I’ll just have to hoard what I have left.
Western style – 2 tsp – 350ml – 90C – 2mins
Dry leaf – I smell salted caramel, baked bread and stonefruit. Pretty standard for a good quality black BUT also a kind of a boozy aroma which makes this one stand out to me in particular.
Infused – I taste all of the things I smell but a little less of the caramel. Texture has a pleasant thickness to it. Very smooth.
Teavivre is so consistent with their quality!! Happy customer
