91
drank Caramel Oolong by The Jade Leaf
676 tasting notes

Man, it’s already June and the weather in Chicago is still wonky. Seems like we never quite recovered from the brutal -50 F windchills this past winter. It’s supposed to be summer now but here I am with the furnace on and wearing a sweater. WTH?

The unexpectedly cool weather calls for a roasty tea so I pulled out this sample I received with my recent Jade Leaf teaware order. I grandpa steeped 1.2g in an 8oz glass using 195 F water. The dry leaf had an appetizing smell of chocolate, toffee, and butterscotch. Wet leaf though didn’t have much aroma, kind of had the standard roasted oolong smell.

I got busy with other stuff which gave this a chance to steep good and long. The leaves unfurled to release an incredibly smooth texture and taste of flowers and caramel. Roast was gentle without any char and lent a sweet fruitiness to the tea. It was a tad lighter than I like but that’s likely because I slightly underleafed.

An excellent medium roast oolong, perfectly roasted to give it a nice warmth and sweetness. Eager to try this gongfu next time.

Flavors: Caramel, Flowers, Heavy, Honey

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 1 g 0 OZ / 7 ML
Ubacat

I had the heat going yesterday too (in the Toronto area). It was a cold day for June.

Kittenna

^^Was just going to comment that the weather in southern Ontario is wonky too. I believe I held out without turning on the heat this time, but it’s rare in summer that the temp in the house dips below what I have the air conditioner set to (I believe it was 20 degrees in the house; a/c was at 22 at the time).

Kittenna

I’m obviously including June in summer. Haha.

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Ubacat

I had the heat going yesterday too (in the Toronto area). It was a cold day for June.

Kittenna

^^Was just going to comment that the weather in southern Ontario is wonky too. I believe I held out without turning on the heat this time, but it’s rare in summer that the temp in the house dips below what I have the air conditioner set to (I believe it was 20 degrees in the house; a/c was at 22 at the time).

Kittenna

I’m obviously including June in summer. Haha.

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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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