Three Treasures Oolong

A Berry Frui-tea July! This was a free sampler I got with my order from Strand Tea, but it is quite old now (ya, my procrastination knows no bounds). Hopefully it is still okay? I’m actually shocked at how much tea was in this sampler though! I wanted to make a quart of iced tea, then noticed I still had quite a bit of leaf left, so I put some in my infuser to make a warm cuppa (and being an oolong, I’m sure I’ll get several good steeps from it), and still had a bit left over. I didn’t want to leave a random teaspoon around, so I just dumped it into my iced tea mason jar and figured my iced tea batch would be a little extra flavorful. The sampler has been sitting around long enough now, I’d rather use it up!

This is a Hairy Crab Oolong base (not an oolong I’ve had a chance to try yet, I admit) with pineapple and coconut flavorings. Steeped up, I’m already quite excited, because it has that smooth, buttery smell that I get from milk oolong, which is one of my favorite teas, and if that is all I get from this, then I’ll be happy! The flavor is really nice! It has a very silky, smooth, somewhat creamy mouthfeel, that is quite buttery, especially on the back of the tongue. There are some light vegetal notes, but they aren’t pronounced, mostly because of the fruity notes to the tea, as you really do get this wash of a sweet pina colada toward the finish of the sip, which really adds to the creaminess and the butteriness. I’d say the coconut is a little more dominant, and it reminds me a bit of a coconut pouchong (another of my favorite teas), but there is a slight fruit tanginess to the sip that reads as pineapple even if it isn’t a strong flavor note.

This is definitely the kind of tea that plays to my particular tastes, and one that I plan to pick up on my next Strand order.