Nilgiri Frost Oolong

This sample comes to me thanks to Azzrian! Thanks!

I am not the biggest fan of roasted/dark oolongs, so I never felt a need to seek this one out to try. But that doesn’t mean that I’m not happy to try it now that a sample has been provided! If there’s one thing I’ve learned about pure, high quality, unflavored teas, it’s that my tastes can and do change, so I never know when I’m going to try one and decide that I love it.

I followed the exact instructions when brewing this one. The steeped tea smells intriguingly sweet and fruity, with the expected roasted note over the top. The scent is fairly light, and the flavor is pretty light too. I feel like I should have brewed this one hotter, against recommendation, because it just seems under-steeped. The flavors that are there are pretty decent… definitely edging toward a black tea, though with fruity oolong characteristics. There are definitely oak notes in there, too. But man, I wish this had more flavor. I will try it at a hotter temp before I rate this one.

Just had this and its surprising!
Its like a black and oolong had a baby!
Great for those mornings that I am not sure which I want to grab first!
I love oolong and I love black tea but this is interesting!
There are many different flavor notes here including peach, pecan, woodsy, oak, and more!
Its deep, dark and robust!
A great one to have in the perma stash!
A full review will be on http://sororiteasisters.com/

i don’t know what i expected from this tea…. but is is most certainly not what i got.

as a rule, things that are are harvested in canada in fall like the grapes for ice wine and winter like maple syrup are viscous and have an intense potential for sweet. playing off the word ‘frost’ i think that, paired with the colder weather, had me expecting something with an element of sweetness. i was entirely wrong.

while i smelled a light floral from the dry, the strangest thing i have ever encountered happened with the water added: nothing. well, almost.

i have an autoimmune disease that impacts my nervous system primarily. i have some abilities that could be called rather rare, though certainly not unheard of— like being able to smell the metal UNDERNEATH the plating metal. weird. i know.

this tea is cold. it smells like ice. yes, for me temperature can have a smell. screaming hot, steaming away, scalds my tongue….. and it is ice. pure ice. i have never encountered such a thing!

i don’t know if i like it… i don’t DISlike it, but i want a repeat performance. thinking that i might be having an early moment of dementia i wrenched the top off my tea cup in class today and shoved it under my lab partner’s nose. (she’s used to this by now)
‘what do you smell?’
‘i….nothing?’ (perplexed look) she grabbed the cup and took a more serious sniff. ‘how can it smell like nothing?’
‘it smells like ice to me.’
‘james, ice doesn’t have a smell!’
‘yes it does.’

you know what is a great idea, distracting yourself from a pile of work with a little compulsive shopping on etsy!
i ordered two vintage tea cups & saucers this morning.
https://www.etsy.com/transaction/132627082
https://www.etsy.com/transaction/132627319
(one for john and one for sherlock) (i’m totally making fun of myself there)

gently dark and sweet and subtle.
i will say i think the second steep worked out WAY better for me than the first. i didn’t even time the second one. but man this is delicious.
i definitely get the peachy oak in this second go. mmm

thank you again Shelley_Lorraine

1/2 tbsp in 12 oz

This is a great oolong that’s a bit lighter and drier than a Bai Hao. Just as last time, I really love it. It isn’t astringent (now that I have a good thermometer!), and has a very pleasant, soothing flavor. (Not really floral like many other oolongs I’ve tasted.) It’s perfect for me when I want tea in the late afternoon and have already had a few stronger teas earlier in the day. This is probably the “lightest” tea I’ve had that I really like. I’m embracing the fact that I’m not a green tea person (at least for now).

This is awesome!

I noticed the fruit tones immediately – peach with hints of citrus. Sweet with a slight sour note that arrives just before mid-sip, and disappears almost as quickly as it appears. Nutty with hints of roasted flavor. A deep, delicious tasting Oolong – this is the Oolong for those who don’t really like the floral tones of the typical green Oolong – this one has no real discernible floral tones, but instead more woody, almost masculine kind of flavors that are a little reminiscent of a Darjeeling, but with a smoother, thicker mouthfeel and flavor.

Very lovely.

thanks to JustJames for sharing this Oolong with me.

I am a fan of Oolongs and I love this one as basis for the maple pecan Oolong tea.Drinking it as a plain tea I am a little less seduced.

It’s a fruity Oolong, mellow as Oolong are often and for the best but there is an aftertaste I am not very fond of.
This is a very correct tea but it is not for me I think because of that aftertaste which is less sweet than the first sip.I can get a very light but long touch of acridness at the end of the sip and I think this is the point for me.

Thanks Courtney for the sample of this.
This is just ok for me. It’s not oolong enough. It’s light and fruity, I prefer bold and woody. It’s fine, but not really special to my tastes.
Really appreciate the opportunity to try it, but this reconfirms that I’ve found my PERFECT oolong.

Hooray! I have time to try some of my new teas today! This is a sample sent by Liberteas and is my second Butiki tea ever.

I made a 22 ounce pot to share with hubby. I was surprised to see a recommended temp of 170F for an oolong but I obeyed, and took it to about 2 1/2 minutes on the steep. I served it with lunch, which may have kept me from picking up all the nuances of this tea, but I can say it was very good. It had a nice level of complexity, it was sweet and smooth, and my first sip made me actually think of frost! I kept feeling like I was picking up a hint of some spice, perhaps a mild Ceylon cinnamon, but it was awfully hard to put my finger on. There was a nice baked stone fruit flavor.

I wish I had tried it by itself first. The food had a good bit of seasoning – we had asparagus with lemon pepper, small red potatoes that had been boiled, then smashed on a pan and baked at 450F for twenty-five minutes with coarse salt, pepper, and rosemary until they were a bit crispy, and black bean soup with a lot of chili powder in it. All this seasoning kept me from picking up all I wanted, but fortunately I have enough leaf to do a little gong fu serving later!

Overall, a delicious oolong!

Made this earlier today and it was tasty. Roasty (but a lighter roasted flavor) and kinda almost nutty. And fruity, which was nice. Added just a bare smidge of sugar which made it delicious (for me at least because I can’t seem to have a tea without sugar in it yet. But I’m working on it.) No astringency that I can tell, or just a little bit if I think about it.
I wasn’t able to finish it because I had to go help my Mom bring her Christmas stuff down from the attic. But when I got back home, though it was stone cold, it was still drinkable. But I definitely prefer it hot.
I also gave steeping the leaves another shot. About 175* for 6 min with just a little more than 8oz (Originally I had measured 2 tsp-ish for 12oz of water). I vaguely remember that the first time I had made this, the second steep wasn’t really drinkable (to me) and that I poured it out. This time it was definitely drinkable. Overall a bit more toned down from the first steep, with more of an emphasis on the roasty-ness and now with a woody note to it. But it’s definitely drinkable.
Actually I may just be moving this to my ‘occasionally reorder’ list rather than have it on my ‘finish off’ list, I’m enjoying it alot more than I did the first time.