Mountain Organic Indonesian Oolong Tea

Home at last after hot hot dry and then damp and full of pollen and an endless drive (the usual 3-4 hours became 6-7) then we have this weird weather with hot and humid and rain?? Rain in so cal in summer? So I’m having more of this wonderful tea that tastes higher drier and cooler than the climate here. I will have to look for tea drops for next time as I could barely get hot water (never boiling) on this trip. And horrors, my electric tea kettle seems to be leaking from somewhere!

Now, honestly i was a bit disappointed by this tea. I opened the packaging, i was very impressed by the tight rolled leaves and the bright green fresh leaves. However, after the initial brew which often seems to be the most powerful, i really didn’t get much. Almost to the point of just warmed water with a very subtle flavor. I chalked it up to maybe a bit over temp. I tried a second steeping, but to little avail. I am not sure if it was supposed to be as mellow and subtle as it was but i definitely noticed a lighter color but a more pronounced taste. It was very very subtle. I still have more for another try, but i honestly just wasn’t impressed. Maybe after another try i might get a different result, but i am happy i tried it nonetheless.

DELICIOUS. It brews golden green and smells like sweet buttery honey cream. I tried it with and without cream and preferred it without. The taste is light, there’s a bit of a… nutty almost(?) and honey taste at the beginning then it fades to a light, creamy marine taste. Being organic is just a bonus! Wonderful! I highly recommend!

It’s fitting to drink Tea at Sea teas with my whale mug! :O Yep, I’m happy with it – can’t you tell?

And I’m happy with this tea as well. The instructions said to steep around 100C, but not for how long, so I went with 2 minutes. I don’t taste the promised honey milk aroma, but I do get floral notes. I re-steeped it for 4, and it’s a little roastier, but still very floral. I can tell that this is a good oolong, but because of the floral notes, it’s not one I would reach for often.

I still am happy I had the chance to sample it. Thanks Tea At Sea!
sipdown (184)

Thanks to Tea At Sea for sending out samples! I like this oolong, it’s got that floral taste but it’s not too strong for me. It was a really light yellow color when steeped the first time.. maybe it wasn’t long enough but I liked the mild taste and could taste a little sweetness. I steeped it a couple more times and it was good.

After half a week of scurry-and-scream (work) and half a week of scurry-fret-panic-no-sleep (parent care), today is a blessing: weather rotten enough to justify staying in and time enough to make a cuppa something to enjoy slowly.

The vendor description calls this oolong " light creamy taste with a hint of marine." I get that, definitely the creamy part; however, my first taste association was sweet white grape juice. It’s not drying in the mouth at all.

Because I failed to completly read the label, I pulled the leaves out well ahead of the 5-8 minute recommended steep time (that’s definitely maritime tea!) but even so, it has a velvety, buttery-rich, texture and is plenty flavorful. Looking forward to the second submersion, cap’n.

This is my second brewing of this tea, and it’s also a sipdown!

First infusion was still fairly nutty. I changed the brewing vessel, though, so instead of using a small glass teapot for the oolong, I just put it all into a big mug. The tea’s continually steeping as I drink.

Because of this, I’m getting kind of a seaweedy taste, but it’s not unpleasant. That said, the nutty savouriness of this tea is still the most strongest element to me. Not astringent at all.

This is a good tea. I have been drinking almost exclusively black teas for awhile now, so this oolong was a bit of a change. This is the kind of oolong I tend to like less than roasted oolongs, and this does have the properties I kind a bit less suited to me, which doesn’t mean I didn’t like this tea. The first steeping was bright! It had a thin sharpness which is ideal to me for this kind of oolong. It’s mildly floral, and it manages to be vegetable without being grassy—and I dislike vegetable tasting teas quite a bit. Drinking it was kind of like drinking the experience of spending a bright sunny may afternoon in a very well cultivated park. I know that sounds crazy, but that was the experience I thought of when I first sipped this tea.

The leaves unfolded beautifully when it steeped, and were wide and green in appearance, rolled and bundled before brewed.

The second seeping was also good, and the second steeping definitely held on to the floral qualities. The more vegetable qualities disappeared some, but so did the sharpness of the cup. The second steeping mellowed the tea out. I haven’t yet tried for a third.

Overall, this is a solid oolong, and I would add this to my cupboard in a heartbeat. It’s very tasty, even though it’s different from what I usually drink.

Thanks to Tea at Sea for the free sample! A month ago, this probably would have been a contender for one of my favorites, but I have had many many oolongs since, so I’ve become a bit pickier. This one was floral and smooth, which was very nice. However, the flavor was a bit mild for me. Perhaps I should have used more leaf. Also, there was nothing particularly special about it that made me instantly want to order more. I definitely enjoyed it, though, and I would recommend it as a nice oolong, just not the best I’ve had.

internet dropping like flies in summer… i’ll try and write a proper review of this tomorrow if it comes back up. This is not as oolongy as other oolongs i dislike, but nothing here wows me. prefer the green tea from tea @ sea