My first MILK OOLONG.
Dun dun dun!
Actually, more of a wheeeee!
I am so super-caffeinated right now. Seriously. BWAHAAAA.
Anyway, I bought this at the Coffee & Tea Festival (for those that didn’t read, I did a huge write-up of the funness: http://steepster.com/teaplz/posts/29743 and yay!) from SerendipiTea on a bit discount. They were so nice at the booth! I didn’t taste this one there, but I couldn’t resist a milk oolong for $9 (special price for the festival) that wasn’t artificially flavored.
Anyway, the leaves are very pretty, green nubby things. Very rolled oolong. The smell coming off of the leaves isn’t very special. A bit green/floral maybe? But nothing super-interesting.
Anyway, the packaging didn’t have any steeping parameters, so I went by what other people have done on other milk oolongs on Steepster. I only did 1 tsp of this in 8 oz. I’ll have to try SerendipiTea’s recommendation on their website when I can… I’ve got 4 oz. of this, so there’s plenty to play around with!
Anyway, the infusion steeps up to a beautiful creamy yellow color that makes me want to eat it all up. And the smell. Homygawd can we talk about the aroma here for a second. Deliciously buttery and creamy and floral and wonderful. Seriously heavenly.
The taste… mmmmm. So light, but packed full of flavor! It’s mostly a floral flavor, very soft but assertive and inviting. Sort of light a tight hug. And then there’s this wonderful milky/creamy note that lingers on the tongue for a bit, enveloped in the floralness. It’s really smooth and nice and mmmmm. It’s definitely more floral than I thought it would be, but not in a rose-like way. More of in a general pollen-y way.
It tastes like spring in a cup, which is awesome, because I’m just about ready to see it coming. I’m sick of this snow.
My mom did not get this tea. She said it smelled like cabbage. WAT. And she said it tasted gross. Whatever, Mom. You are wrong about this.
Anyway, I’m off to make a second steep!
Annnnd the Second Steep (4:00, 190 degrees) was pretty much a success! It was definitely not as wonderful as the first cup, but…
Can I pause for a second to talk about how absolutely gorgeous the leaves are when unfurled? Beautiful. They’re some of the broadest leaves I’ve seen in any tea. SerendipiTea, I love your quality. I love that you’re local. You are awesome.
The color was a bit darker than before, with some rogue sediment on the bottom. At peak, the taste here was kind of “hai, I don’t want to be made into tea anymore.” Once it cooled down a bit, the tea got into more of a happy groove. The milkiness is still there, but it’s a bit subdued. The floral tastes are still very much in the forefront of the flavor. It still tastes pretty damn awesome, and the cup is as fragrant as the first.
YUM! Maybe I’ll do a third steep, we shall see…
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I sympathise on the issue of your mother. Mine thought my Tie Guan Yin, favourite oolong of ALL TIME was stinky…
Oh dear – I am a mom and have a very verbal mother, too, so I can see both points of view! When Mom says something, I am so rolling my eyes, but when I say something, I am right and my kids better listen to me … haha!
But this tea smells nothing like cabbage! :( It smells like creamy buttery notes with flowers! Silly mommeh.
Aww, Angry Body, that stinks. I’m sure it smelled wonderful!
And Lauren, we’ll see what happens when I have kids! Hehe, I’m sure I’ll be just like my mom. Which is sort of a scary thought.
In other news, second steepage is up!
My mom did not get this tea. She said it smelled like cabbage. WAT. And she said it tasted gross. Whatever, Mom. You are wrong about this. LOL Did you show her this?
I sympathise on the issue of your mother. Mine thought my Tie Guan Yin, favourite oolong of ALL TIME was stinky…
Oh dear – I am a mom and have a very verbal mother, too, so I can see both points of view! When Mom says something, I am so rolling my eyes, but when I say something, I am right and my kids better listen to me … haha!
But this tea smells nothing like cabbage! :( It smells like creamy buttery notes with flowers! Silly mommeh.
Aww, Angry Body, that stinks. I’m sure it smelled wonderful!
And Lauren, we’ll see what happens when I have kids! Hehe, I’m sure I’ll be just like my mom. Which is sort of a scary thought.
In other news, second steepage is up!
My mom did not get this tea. She said it smelled like cabbage. WAT. And she said it tasted gross. Whatever, Mom. You are wrong about this. LOL Did you show her this?