Lupicia

I found a little of this left in the cupboard, a little past its use by date, but it’s such a good tea I really didn’t want to just throw it out. I made it with about half as much again the usual quantity of leaves, and that seems to have worked out pretty well. The colour is much the same as usual, a pale green-ish yellow, while the flavour is perhaps not quite as strong as it is with fresher leaves. However, it’s still an excellent oolong, particularly if you’re in the mood for a tea from the “green” end of the oolong scale.

I’m failing to pick up the promised citrus notes, but since I never noticed them before, either, I don’t think that’s the fault of keeping the leaves too long. I think it’s more a case of the retailer drawing a long bow in their description. I’m really not sure quite how to describe the taste of this tea. It’s not really like anything except itself: a high-grade, very “green” oolong, smooth without being as silky or buttery as some others, and with a distinctive personality.

Time for steeping number three…

The first steeping brewed up quite light, a pale green-ish yellow, so I left the second steeping for two minutes instead of one and it worked out much more the sort of flavour that I was after. The colour of the liquor was still quite light compared with other oolongs, which isn’t surprising considering that baozhong/pouchong is the least oxidised of all oolongs.

The smell of this tea right after you pour the water on the leaves is distinctly vegetal, and yet there isn’t a lot of that in the taste. It’s very smooth to the taste at first, almost bland, but the further you get through the cup the stronger the character of this tea, without ever being astringent. The aftertaste is distinctive, quite strong and a not quite sharp mix of floral notes and… not quite sure how to describe the rest. About the best I can do is: strong (proportionally, considering the light nature of this tea) but not bitter.

I was only going to have two cups of this tonight, but writing this review has really put me in the mood for a third, so now I’m going off to put on the kettle!

A first class Taiwan oolong. Steeped for two minutes in water at 90C. Great tea.

A very good high grade Formosa oolong. I steeped this for only one minute to begin with, as recommended, but the flavour works better – for me, anyway – if it’s infused for several minutes. This tea has a beautiful smooth, almost milky flavour, with some lovely floral notes. It reminds me a lot of my favourite Gin Shan Creme Oolong from teas.com.au, though this one is slightly milder all round.

The honey and pear are mostly in the aroma, and just add an accent to the roasted flavour of the houjicha. This actually works pretty well, and I was really liking this tea by the time I got to the bottom of the cup.

Backlogging from yesterday…

Grabbed this for my morning tea and forgot that it wasn’t as bold as I like (for a morning pick-me-up). It’s a really pleasant blend-light and smooth-but not quite strong enough to really wake me up. I have to remember to pay attention to its name next time!

This is a nice, lighter black tea blend. I really like the taste and I can imagine it would be good with milk as the description says.

I’m not a big fan of Tamaryokucha in general. Carried though with this tea.

I would have preferred a non-bancha base for this tea.

Goes well iced. Not a big fan of this tea hot.

Pretty good, it’s the cheaper of the Yutakamidori options from Lupicia, not much difference in taste between the Chiran and the Ariake, I tend to favor the Ariake on price.

This tea is a bit odd in my opinion. Flavored oolong teas are a bit of a rarity (most that I have seen are from Lupicia). Pretty tasty, well flavored, but a bit expensive.

Prepared this tea hot this time. It’s got a very subtle sweetness now, not too vanilla, but lends a nice light flavor to your standard black tea.

Very sweet as an iced tea. Didn’t taste much of the vanilla. Will have to try this brewed hot.

Had both carbonated and hot, but I think it’s better iced.

This is, I don’t know, the fruit punch of green teas. If you like tropical flavors in your tea, this is the way forward!

Heaven! Oolong and peach are a perfect match.

I have my darjeeling with milk, and this darjeeling maintains its character even with milk added.

I always have this in a teaball with a little sugar and milk. It smells AMAZING and it’s a very delicate flavor for a black tea.

This tea is wonderful! When you smell it, it totally kicks you in the face with lime flavor, but the actual liquor is soft and gentle with subtle lime flavor. Oddly enough, for being a black tea, the leaves unfurl into a pretty green color.

I was kind of craving this today (which doesn’t happen often), so it tasted especially good. I really appreciate the strong banana note with the much more subtle chocolate in the background (I’m not a huge chocolate fan, especially in teas). I think the two flavours work really well together though. Perfect for a not-quite-spring-but-still-could-be-around-the-corner kind of day.

I brewed this for almost 5 minutes but it tastes very watered down. I’m only getting the slightest hint of chocolate and not much flavour overall. My mistake, but quite a disappointment!