Ball & Chain

I’ve been overly obsessed with Medjool Dates and Almond Butter Lately
http://healthycrush.com/wp-content/uploads/almond-butter-date.png

So when I saw this flavored Oolong – I KNEW I had to try it!

Prior to infusing this smelled like sugary dates underneath a charcoal type oolong. Once infused it smelled more like a toasted/roasted oolong with a bit of sugar dates aroma.

Once I started sipping I could taste a strong toasted/roasted/charcoal type oolong base with a bit of floral and nutty hints as well as a slight rich yet sugary dates type taste. As it cools a bit more I can start tasting the dates a bit more but they are subtle.

I do really like this. I was hoping for more date-flavor but it’s still quite good, regardless. Perhaps I should just make sure there are more Date Chunks in my next cuppa!

PS: Also as it cools a bit – I’m starting to taste some cocoa flavors, too! Now THAT’S interesting!

Another one gone! It’s a nice nutty oolong with sweet date notes. I enjoyed this tea while I had it but I don’t think I’d reorder it

Backlog:

I revisited this tea recently because it was part of December’s Amoda Tea Box. Yeah, that’s right! Amoda is back, baby!

I was thrilled with last month’s box, which included four sample sizes of teas, DIY loose leaf teabags (which are really unnecessary for me but I know that some people like them), tasting notes, a ‘Stellar’ story link which offers you song choices to listen to as you sip on the teas of the month, and a yummy chai infused marshmallow.

I like their new format – I like the size of the samplers, I like that there are four teas and I’ve always appreciated the tea vendors that Amoda chooses to feature in their monthly boxes. I’m not really into the whole Stellar thing mostly because as I say in my full-length review of this tea – http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/12/17/ball-chain-oolong-tea-from-indie-tea/ – I’m more of a Guns N’ Roses kind of girl than an indie music kind of girl. But different strokes for different folks.

This tea is still just as tasty as I remember it being. I love the flavor of the dates: it’s a good, strong flavor. A nice caramel-y note. The dark Oolong brings a touch of roasty-toasty, smoky flavor to the cup. It all comes together in a really lovely way.

Thanks Amoda!

Sipdown (118)!

Thanks VariaTEA for the sample!

I cold brewed mine ‘cause I’ve had some pretty good success with cold brewed date teas in the past; though dry the last thing I smelled was date. It was more burnt toast with a pinch of marigold which I think was probably as unappealing in reality as it sounds in theory. I can immediately see why you passed it along; the oolong is strong with this one!

I’m a bit disappointed because I didn’t taste dates at all in my cold brew. The focus was, instead, very heavily on the oolong base which belted out some seriously ‘in your face’ roasty notes with some support from smoke notes on guitar, mineral notes on drums, and some biting, kind of dry nut notes on bass. There wasn’t a whole lot “sweet” about it, let alone ‘date’ like. However, I felt like I could taste the marigold a little bit underneath all that heavy oolong flavour.

Also; I think if I’m gonna stick with the whole ‘this tea is a band’ metaphor “Ball & Chain” is probably a pretty fitting band name for the kind of ‘music’ this tea would play…

All that said, I kinda liked it even if it was close to the total opposite of what I wanted from it. If I drank it again, it’d probably be hot just to see if that brought out more sweet less dark oolong – but as is I think I can agree with VariaTEA that for me this is probably just fine as a “one and done” sort of tea.

Finally getting around to trying some more of the teas from my December Amoda box. I was actually really excited to see this one, as I’d been eyeing it on Amoda’s website for a while. I love dates, so it was a must-try for me. Luckily, it was included in the box so I don’t have to buy it separately! The base tea is a heavily oxidized oolong (it’s called Se Chung but that doesn’t help me). Dry scent is a nice combination of sweet, roasted, and nutty.

Honestly, I was hoping for more date flavor, but I suppose that was foolish of me considering it’s just the date pieces and not date flavoring. In my experience, dried fruit pieces don’t tend to add much flavor-wise. The oolong itself is nice, it’s roasted but not too harsh (I find some taste almost scratchy to me, like autumn leaves). There’s a subtle sweetness from the dates and a tiny bit of honey-esque flavor. It’s good, but I don’t think the dates add much.

The oolong is strong in this blend but the dates add a caramel and honey element that adds a nice sweetness overall. Still, my distaste for oolong makes this a one-time only tea for me.