Let’s be frank here: This is a cheap blended tea. The base oolong is a low-grade Formosa (cheap), the intermittent orange peels are aided by “flavoring” (cheap), and you’ll barely spend more than a tenner on 100 grams. Smell the stuff and it’s both orange and little bit TOO orange for the amount of peel blended in. Cheap, cheap, cheap.
But after enjoying three pots of tea with my current companion, I was ready for cheap, clean, and a little bright. Especially since I’d just shared a lapsang with him. Anything expensive and nuanced would be lost to the smoldering campfire that had taken up residence on my palate.
The orange oolong hit the spot. Bright, crisp, and clean. It’s not remotely nuanced, but it still beats the heck out of almost any of the bagged and broken options on a grocer’s shelf. It’s a perfect palate cleanser and an undemanding sipper. Even as my sense of taste returned, the flavors on display here could really be boiled down to “orange” and “snap pea”. Fresh, satisfying, simple. Resteep? Didn’t try. It probably wouldn’t stand up, and it’s cheap as hell anyway.
This would be a perfect breakfast tea for those lazy mornings. Don’t want to measure your tea? Don’t want to obsess about temperature? Want to be fuzzy with the steep time? Throw some water over some orange oolong and go to town. It’ll probably be pleasantly drinkable anyway.
Flavors: Orange
