74

I was really excited when I saw this tea online. TTC once carried a pomelo flower scented oolong that was out of this world good. It’s still one of my top 10 Taiwanese oolongs of all time. I was hoping this could match the TTC tea but sadly it pales in comparison. The pomelo fragrance is just barely there and tastes like it faded a long time ago. Some unexpected bitterness was encountered when cold brewed and grandpa steeped. It was a little better when gongfued but still had a very faint pomelo flavor. The underlying Jin Xuan is thin-bodied and doesn’t contribute much to taste either.

I just saw that this tea was discounted on Mountain Stream’s website with a note explaining that it was now past its shelf life. That’s a little surprising considering it was harvested only a few months and sealed but would explain my experience. I do appreciate the vendor’s honesty though. May consider trying it again in the future if I can get my hands on a fresh batch.

Flavors: Orange Blossom

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 1 min, 0 sec 3 g 4 OZ / 120 ML
Daylon R Thomas

I need to try it again because it did not scream at me either.

derk

Heh, the pomelo fragrance screamed at me loud and clear only a month or so ago. I’m surprised it would have faded so quickly being sealed. The base tea seemed high enough quality, though my experience with jin xuan is no more than 5-6 different teas. The only thing I took issue with was a strong numbing of the first half of my tongue.

derk

5-6 green jin xuans

Arby

Since we are discussing pomelo teas, has anyone tried the pomelo fragrance Dan Cong oolong that Yunnan Sourcing sells?

LuckyMe

Arby, the YS pomelo fragrance dan cong is a good, but is a different animal from this tea. This one is produced by scenting a green oolong with flowers in the manner of jasmine tea. Tthe dan cong OTOH has no added flavoring. It’s processed in such a way that it naturally develops a pomelo flower like taste & aroma.

LuckyMe

@derk, i’m also surprised the flavor evaporated so quickly. my TTC pomelo scented tea lasted for a long time before there was any noticeable drop in flavor. could be improper packaging (no oxygen absorbers in this package or skill of the producer.

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Daylon R Thomas

I need to try it again because it did not scream at me either.

derk

Heh, the pomelo fragrance screamed at me loud and clear only a month or so ago. I’m surprised it would have faded so quickly being sealed. The base tea seemed high enough quality, though my experience with jin xuan is no more than 5-6 different teas. The only thing I took issue with was a strong numbing of the first half of my tongue.

derk

5-6 green jin xuans

Arby

Since we are discussing pomelo teas, has anyone tried the pomelo fragrance Dan Cong oolong that Yunnan Sourcing sells?

LuckyMe

Arby, the YS pomelo fragrance dan cong is a good, but is a different animal from this tea. This one is produced by scenting a green oolong with flowers in the manner of jasmine tea. Tthe dan cong OTOH has no added flavoring. It’s processed in such a way that it naturally develops a pomelo flower like taste & aroma.

LuckyMe

@derk, i’m also surprised the flavor evaporated so quickly. my TTC pomelo scented tea lasted for a long time before there was any noticeable drop in flavor. could be improper packaging (no oxygen absorbers in this package or skill of the producer.

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Bio

My Rating Criteria:

95 to 100: Top shelf stuff. Loved this tea and highly recommend it

90 to 94: Excellent. Enjoyed this tea and would likely repurchase

80 to 89: Good but not great. I liked it though it may be lacking in some aspects. I’ll finish it but probably won’t buy again

70 to 79: Average at best. Not terrible but wouldn’t willingly drink again

60 to 69: Sub-par. Low quality tea, barely palatable

59 and below: Bleh

Fell into tea many years ago and for a long time my experience was limited to Japanese greens and flavored Teavana teas. My tea epiphany happened when I discovered jade oolongs. That was my gateway drug to the world of high quality tea and teaware.

For the most part, I drink straight tea but do appreciate a good flavored tea on occasion. I love fresh green and floral flavors and as such, green tea and Taiwanese oolongs will always have a place in my cupboard. After avoiding black tea forever, Chinese blacks have started to grow on me. I’m less enthusiastic about puerh though. I also enjoy white tea and tisanes but reach for them less frequently.

Other non-tea interests include: cooking, reading, nature, philosophy, MMA, traveling when I can, and of course putzing around on the interwebs.

IG: https://www.instagram.com/melucky

Location

around Chicago

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