Kotobuki

Sipdown no. 115 of 2018 (no. 471 total).

I took this to work with me during days 3 and 4 of the offsite, and Friday (which was no longer officially the offsite but was a slow day because everyone was traveling back to their respective locations).

It remains not a favorite though it was serviceable enough as a take it to work tea.

One day I’ll have to try a Mirabelle plum to see whether this really does taste like them.

This is by far my favourite flavoured oolong. It’s beautiful. It smells like absolute heaven, and it tastes like it smells. Now I don’t know exactly what kind of fruit mirabelle is, but it’s almost otherworldly. It’s sweet and fragrant and pairs perfectly with the florals in this tea.
If I could only have 5 teas on my shelf ever. This would be one of them. It’s just so beautiful.

Sipdown (119)!

Finishing this one off tonight in my little cloud pot that I got today. My birthday present from my incredible tea twin VariaTEA! Check it out:

http://www.jadescha.com/collections/brewing-tea-pot/products/celadon-clay-tea-pot?variant=1036226116

It’s so fun and whimsical; it reminds me greatly of LoZ. Not entirely sure why, but that’s definitely what I’m going to be associating it with mentally. Now to cross my fingers that VariaTEA’s present makes it to her tomorrow – ‘cause I just realized her actual birthday is Sunday; and no bloody post on Sundays! I really, really hope you’ll like it as much as I’m loving this pot.

I only did a couple infusions of this one; and they pretty much tasted the same – like my first experience with this one (Western style) but with a little bit more of an apparent base. It was so good! This one is immediately going back onto my wishlist; it’s probably the best plum tea I’ve ever had!

And the cloud pot is perfect; really easy to pour out of and easy to handle! I’m glad I got a chance to use it today – even if I didn’t take the time to do a ‘proper’ session with it.

I wanted an oolong this afternoon and this one won out. I decided to try it gong fu-style, which was fun, but I think I like it better brewed western style. Western style brings out the fruit flavor, whereas, gong fu brings out the floral. So, if you’re a lover of floral, take note!

The Cookie Lady sent this along in the Cooking TTB for me. =)

Oolong. Plums. Floral.

I love it when I can tell the type of tea when it’s a flavored tea. This tea’s plum note is not really candied, or salted or even fresh plums. It’s reminiscent of plums, but the overall is very floral. I really like it! The oolong base is smooth, and although light, is still evident in the sip. It’s not at all drying or astringent. This one is definitely going on my shopping list.

So I took a look at the recipe list so far, and most all of my tea recipes are already listed! Looks like I should probably do some experimenting.

Finally getting around to trying the last few samples that The Cookie Lady sent me a while back. I believe this is the first tea I’ve tried from Lupicia and I am seriously impressed! This is quite possibly the most flavorful oolong tea I’ve ever tried…lots of rich fruity plum flavor balanced by just a touch of floral. And then there’s that wonderful silky oolong texture…So glad I got to try this one!

From the Cooking TTB

I’ve been so impressed with all of the Lupicia teas I’ve tried so far, and this one is no exception. The oolong flavour and the plum and floral mingle perfectly. The fragrance is a little cloyingly floral, but in a way that I’m finding quite pleasant. Like being in an orchard in full bloom rather than floral perfume. I know there’s rose in here but the floral comes out almost more like lilac or cherry blossom. The plum note is lovely.

On the finish some grassy vegetal and coconut notes from the oolong base linger.

The second cup is pretty good with a nice, long steep, but not as nice as the first.

Sipdown! (14 | 211)

Picked up a bag of this one a couple of orders ago, just because I hadn’t tried it in a long time and I love plums.

It’s a nice enough oolong – silky smooth with a gentle grassiness and sparkling mineral quality. I wish I was tasting more of the plum though (and I remember having similar feelings about their plum mugicha). It’s there but very subtle, almost like a natural note of the tea.

Sadly not a favorite of mine among their oolongs, but it was nice to revisit it and see if my opinion had changed. :)

This is one of the two teas I decided to buy at Lupicia today, with the other being Neptune (tasting note to come). I asked the employee for a hot sample of this because it smelled phenomenal to me and I had remembered reading good things in others’ notes. After tasting it, I was so glad that I remembered. I am very fond, at least as of late, of oolongs and find myself gravitating towards them anyway. But, this one is setting the bar for fruit-flavored oolongs right now. I took one sip and was like…“Yeeeeeeesssssss. This is happening.” I feel this will be good cold, too. I definitely tasted plum alongside a very light peach flavor. So good. This is one I think I will need to keep around.

While I was walking around the Lupicia store I noticed the tin for this tea and thought to myself, “boy I hope this tea is good cause I love the label on the tin.” I know you shouldn’t buy tea solely based on smell, or tins, but I figured because it had a wonderful smell too that it would be alright. Boy, am I glad I bought this tea! So good! The scent, dry and wet, is lovely. And the flavor is so mellow and pure!

On a side note, I must give my thanks to the ladies who were working that day. My lil one was crying as I walked into the store so I went back out to calm her down. When I came back in, stroller and all, they were so helpful. It really touched me because too many stores look at you like your crazy for walking around with a stroller.