Spiced Mandarin Oolong Tea

Meh. I like spiced teas, I like mandarin teas. But I wasn’t overwhelmed by this one. It needs more spice, or more orange. Even maybe more oolong flavour. I feel like they sacrificed quality to try and please everyone. Meh.

This blend has a nice balance between citrus and spice. It’s not my most favorite from the new teas, but it is one I’ll probably have around just in case I’m in the mod for it.

First Sniff – Smells sweet and you can definitely tell it has cinnamon in it. It has a slight bitter smell to it as well, I can’t quite figure it out… it’s an interesting first sniff.

Preparation – Added a bit of honey.

First Sip – Tastes a bit like constant comment, just with a thicker pallet. It’s almost a little syrupy. It’s an odd combination of citrus and cinnamon. This is an oolong based tea, but the oolong was not present at all. I don’t know what to make of this tea. It’s good, just not as good as other teas like it. I’d give it a 5/10.

It took me a while to place this as it was steeping, but I finally figured it out – it tastes like apple cider. The homemade kind, where you plug an orange full of cloves, toss in some cinnamon sticks, and simmer it in apple juice for half the day.

There’s not a hint of oolong – I couldn’t even recognize the leaves as I was measuring it out. I don’t think I’m going to be keeping this one on hand. It’s tasty, but when I want apple cider, I want real apple cider!

I think this tea is a fine oolong for having a citrus taste. I don’t care for citrusy types, but I like the spicey hint of this tea. I would buy it again, but not a necessity. I tried it with and w/o honey and it was good both ways.

This tea is an unusual one, there is a spicy, almost curry like flavour to this tea. A heavy citrus taste and quite the acidic bite that isn’t too pleasant! Overall this oolong is intriguing, but not my favourite!

22 down – 478 to go!

A very interesting tea indeed. This one was a request from my husband. I’m not honestly sure that I would have picked it up but I’m finding myself liking it more then I thought.

Although I have to be honest I think the best part of this tea is the dry smell. When you open the tin the smell over powers everything else, but in a good way. A good Christmas tea. The smell when steeped is quite a bit more toned down but still lovely. If I hadn’t read the other tasting notes I wouldn’t have guessed there was hibiscus. I don’t think it’s that over powering of a flavor but it’s definitely there. I’ve added a bit of honey and oddly enough I don’t feel like it’s changed the flavor at all!

For those of you who are wondering what my husband thinks: he enjoys it. Says its quite good.

Teavana salesperson told us that this was similar to Bigelow’s Constant Comment. This is more like hot apple cider.

Sipdown. 3min 190F
This didn’t smell off – hopefully this is okay. Purchased at least 4 years ago.
Overall impression – very orange (mandarin), warming spices. True to name. Pretty oily and a very heavy tea.

It’s the coldest, darkest, snowiest time of year here in Calgary. It’s cliche to complain about the weather, but these days I hardly want to do anything other than drink tea while wrapped in my favourite blanket.

I once again reached the bottom of my tin of this tea today. Oh, how I love this one. I was hesitant to try it after reading some mixed reviews, but for the last two winters it’s been right up my alley. I even splurged and bought a fancy tin with a black dragonfly on the lid. I find the mixture or orange and spices warms me right up. The distinct fruitiness makes me think of tropical vacations while the spices taste like Christmas at home. It’s also got just enough of a caffeine boost to get me through the afternoon once my morning coffee has worn off. I will be buying more.

After hearing so many negative things about their business practices, I’ve been trying to move away from Teavana as one of my personal tea sources. It’s made much harder, however, by the fact that they carry this gem and that I’ve never experienced anything less than friendly and helpful customer service at my local store. Calgary Teavana seems to be doing something right.

Now, excuse me while I enjoy my last cup and mourn the emptiness of my tin (since this one is admittedly fairly expensive).