Bossa Nova (No. 993)

This was my free tea of the day since I am still Mayor of TeaGschwendner. It is creamy, rich, smooth, and has a buttery nutty flavor. I think this makes for a great tea in winter, it would warm you up and make you feel nice and cozy. Delicious, I will have to buy this one. I also think it will be great iced but would have to try it first.

I’ve never actually had a tea from this tea company despite the fact that I walked past their storefront fairly often when I lived in Chicago. Oh, the days before tea-obsession. I have looked at their offerings since then and this one always interested me because I love love hazelnut. Almost as much as almond, heh. A while ago I had a LivingSocial deal to the TeaGschwendner in NYC, but it closed before I got a chance to use it! Lame! I got a chance to swap with Infusin_Susan for this tea, so I’m excited to try it now!

The dry leaf smells kind of like Florence (by Harney) even though this one doesn’t have any chocolate in it. Must be that roasted oolong. I followed TeaGschwendner’s steeping directions even though I normally wouldn’t use boiling water for an oolong. Steeped, the scent is very roasty-toasty and nutty, but the hazelnut really takes a back seat to that strongly roasted oolong smell. The flavor of this one is interesting… the main part of the sip doesn’t really stand out to me, but then the creamy hazelnut comes out and leaves a nice aftertaste. I can’t help wondering how this would taste brewed at a lower temp for a slightly longer time; fortunately I have plenty to experiment with. Thanks again for the swap, Infusin_Susan!

Thanks Rachel!
Hazelnut and vanilla…I have the say the vanilla gives it that extra something! I can taste some floral notes but mostly I am enjoying the brittle-like tendencies! Pretty good, indeed!

Just had the last of my supply of this tea.

I am feeling slighly anxious now. See, there are teas that I am not too sad when I finish the tin. They are good while they last, but that’s it. Then there are those teas that I immediately make a mental note to re-order as soon as the tea-budget allows.

Then there are a different class of teas. Those that make me a bit nervous not to have any on-hand. That I sometimes order more of even before they have run out, just so that I will not be without. Funnily enough, I don’t drink them daily. Sometimes not even weekly. But I get anxious when there is none at all, and I have been known to order them even sans-budget and against my better judgement, just to have some at home.

Yeah, I am, as stated before, clinically insane :)

So what teas are on this elite list? Orange Rooibos. A hearty Assam (haven’t yet found a specific type that I prefer, so just any Assam that I can have for breakfast). A dark Oolong (Shui Xian, for example). A ripe pu-erh. Harney’s Florence. Something vanilla (black or rooibos). A roasted Mate (currently having Fusion’s Good Morning Mate). 52teas Coconut Cream Pie.

AND TeaGschwendner’s Bossa Nova Oolong.

I had received this in two different swaps, first of all, so I have two people to apologize to because I didn’t write down who sent them to me. Sorry, awesome people!

I brewed this one with a little trepidation. The only other oolong I have tried smelled and tasted like manure. It kind of ruined me for oolong. However, I LOVE hazelnut anything so I thought if I’d like any oolong, this would be the one. And it was!

When brewed, it smelled of yummy hazelnut and vanilla and slightly of hay. I’m OK with hay, when the alternative is manure. It had the smooth taste combination of hazelnut and vanilla, no hay to be found. I enjoyed it very much. As to the future of this one, I’ll happily drink up the oz. I have left, and I might swap for more in the future, but it’s not necessarily one I’d worry about keeping in my cupboard.

Another gift from Doulton – thank you so much!

I really like this Oolong. The flavor is so decadent and creamy. Sweet. Nutty, smooth, creamy, with hints of earth and even a touch of smoke. Yummy!

Hmm, I’d somehow missed out on the fact that this was an oolong, so all the while drinking it I thought it was a flavored black tea.:P Great breakfast tea (and then later again, for 3 o’ clock). It smelled wooonderful while brewing. Very nutty and smoky and caramelly sweet. I can see how this might be great served iced, with sugar. I didn’t add sugar to this cup today. After the first sip, there was a bit of an aftertaste that registered as “artificial”. And I don’t recall any of that “hui gan”/“hui tian” that I love in oolong. But as long as I think of it as a black tea instead, it’s all good. When I had another batch again for afternoon tea time, it complemented a few butter cookies nicely.

Also: quite cheap! I got this for QAR25/100grams. (around 7 USD) I spent four times that amount on a Formosa oolong from TeaGeschwender. So this is a nice one-step-up from the usual daily Lipton.

I tried to go for a second steeping with the same leaves. It still smelled nice, and some of the flavor was still there but very weak, so this oolong is probably best brewed once, Western style.

I got a cup of this, very excited because the tea shop I got it from knew how to brew properly. And it was a good cup! It actually reminded me a bit of burnt sugar, but it was in the background of the tea. I think I’d get a cup again, but I’m not sure I’d buy a large quantity of loose leaf.

I got this iced at the store, and wow! It’s so nutty and tasty. I would adore this warm, too. This is a tea for converts from coffee world that miss their amaretto lattes. I think I will need to buy some loose next time I’m at the shop. It has a strong note I couldn’t pin the flavor done, but all and all, a lovely tea.