The first infusion I made of this was very weak – the ginseng powder coating didn’t dissolve enough to let the leaves unfurl much. I tend to do short steeps of a small volume of oolong, but for this tea I think a much longer steep is required just to give the ginseng time to dissolve.
Because the infusion was so weak, the oolong flavour couldn’t really shine through, which was quite disappointing, but I was pleasantly surprised by the aftertaste (Angrboda calls it licorice-y and I think this is an accurate description).
The second infusion was much better, having a really nice orange-brown colour and smelling sweet with an odd woody note that I can’t quite place. The taste is slightly earthy, and the licorice aftertaste is more subdued with this infusion, but it balances out the slight astringency of the oolong nicely. I ended up with lots of bits of ginseng at the bottom of my teacup though, so the last few sips were a bit powdery.
I bought this as a sample, and I’m not sure that I would buy more. It’s not bad, but it’s not the level of awesome that makes me want more. The difficulty in getting the first infusion right isn’t helping either: perhaps if it was oolong with separate ginseng pellets, rather than oolong coated in ginseng, it would be easier to get the flavour balance right.
