Fortunately the family members I visited F&M with were very happy with my tea-enthusiasm and were so kind as to let me try all their teas as well!! I didn’t order this one, though I suggested it.
The very first tea I ever tried with ‘orchid’ in the name was a Mighty Leaf ‘orchid oolong’ years ago that tasted absolutely foul to me. It had artificial orchid flavouring AND malt in it after close inspection, horribly artificially sweet and over-rich, so I was skeptical of this even though I was so excited to try a single estate tea of such high quality. Thankfully the scent confirmed the taste and my goodness, what a pleasure to drink.
This brew came out light amber in the cup with an unmistakeable scent of roast chestnuts. Now I have an oolong flavoured with roast chestnuts that doesn’t even match up to this! The flavours were nuts: literally, nuts. Pecans, more roast chestnuts, with a honeyed tinge, like the name, although I couldn’t possibly say where the orchid came from. The liquor was impeccably smooth and rich but the end was so astringent and left my mouth so dry that it seemed to beg me to drink more. I hadn’t expected such strong astringency with the light body of the tea, to be honest. This was an absolute treat.
