I participated in a tea tasting with the staff at the Uptown (Victoria BC) store (I consider them to be my friends now, really), yesterday evening to try the three new teas they received. I can’t wait to try the other new ones when they come in too!!
Being an avid oolong fan, and having a great love of the Quangzhou Milk Oolong, I was extremely excited to see a new straight oolong! This is even more special as it is the first tea they’ve received from Vietnam!
We did both a gongfu and western style brew to taste it, each brew style bringing out slightly different notes of the flavour. The gongfu brew brought out more of the delicate floral notes (reminds me of orchid? Magnolia? It’s definitely more floral than piney), and the western style brew brought out a rich sweetness reminiscent of the Quangzhou.
I went home with 100g and will likely need to get more before the month is up!
Comments
How lucky you got to taste them with the staff there. I know some of the Johnson Street staff, but not well enough for a tasting, though I did have an impromptu tasting with them and the Quangzhou. I felt this one is a little more floral than the milk, and a little less creamy, but still quite tasty. Nice to see another oolong fan in Victoria.
I absolutely adore the Uptown folks, and find myself there almost daily to say hi to everyone. (my entire social life as of late has been to go to the tea shop and have tea/hang out with my staff friends).
They’ve always been pleasant to me when I’m there, but I’m not at Uptown a lot, to be honest. I live in James Bay, so downtown is easier to get to.
Touché. I’ve been to the Johnson Street store twice, but didn’t have a great experience with the staff there. Been to Hillside a few times and got to know one of the girls there quite well when she did a stint at Uptown. But I’ll go out of my way to go to Uptown just because I adore the folks that work there (and I have pretty severe social anxiety, but it’s nonexistent while I’m in that store, so that’s a big part of it too I think)
How lucky you got to taste them with the staff there. I know some of the Johnson Street staff, but not well enough for a tasting, though I did have an impromptu tasting with them and the Quangzhou. I felt this one is a little more floral than the milk, and a little less creamy, but still quite tasty. Nice to see another oolong fan in Victoria.
I absolutely adore the Uptown folks, and find myself there almost daily to say hi to everyone. (my entire social life as of late has been to go to the tea shop and have tea/hang out with my staff friends).
They’ve always been pleasant to me when I’m there, but I’m not at Uptown a lot, to be honest. I live in James Bay, so downtown is easier to get to.
Touché. I’ve been to the Johnson Street store twice, but didn’t have a great experience with the staff there. Been to Hillside a few times and got to know one of the girls there quite well when she did a stint at Uptown. But I’ll go out of my way to go to Uptown just because I adore the folks that work there (and I have pretty severe social anxiety, but it’s nonexistent while I’m in that store, so that’s a big part of it too I think)
Hillside is pretty relaxed (more relaxed than Johnson Street). I like it there, perhaps as it was the first, and fell in love with it. I’ll have to try to make it to Uptown again. Last time was a few weeks ago.