J.C. Absolu Oolong

first time i try an oolong with many other things in it, and well it was ok, but i’m not a fan, it’s weird, or maybe it’s the lotus ? I never tasted or scented lotus, so don’t know if that is what is making me not like this too much.
I did gongfu and western at different temperatures, and results were never satisfying.

TTB Review #32: Curious flavors here. I’m getting almost gin vibes. It certainly has this liquor-y taste to it but mixed with juniper berries and/or flowers. Yes, definitely gin. Would have preferred more sweetness to offset the alcohol-ness of this tea.

Ah. This smells of summer. Ripe fruits and fancy florals. Farmers markets. The wet aroma is kind of bland. Not inspiring. Dirty water. The pour after a minute reveals fruity notes, slight minerality, and floral notes but they are all a bit subdued. More time is needed. But as I add more timing the drying on the palate increases. Less time is better. But overall, not one I would buy.

Saved a sample of this from the last TTB. This is an intriguing one. It tastes like white grape juice with floral elements. I don’t usually enjoy oolong, but it’s the perfect base for this flavor profile. I’m drinking this one cold, and I’m almost wishing I’d saved myself more than one serving! In general, I was pretty impressed by the Theodor offerings I got to try in the TTB, and I hope I come across more in the future!

So juicy and fruity! Peach at the forefront, with a bit of pear and goji berry.

Steepster Freeze 2021 #4: 03/05/21

Happy National Day of Unplugging! Today is the Sipdown Challenge day to drink a favorite tea for relaxing; for me, those mostly fall in the tisane category, which I drink after work. During the work day, I drink caffeinated tea. So, I won’t be posting my tea choice until this evening (and once again Steepster is broken on a prompt day… I swear it is a planned effort at this point…).

So now onto… French Friday! This was the tea I randomly grabbed from the sampler bag from Dustin today. Thanks Dustin! The dry leaf has a very alluring smell of juicy pear, stonefruit (I’m getting a bit of the Mirabelle plum aroma that is present in Lupicia’s “Kotobuki”), and a florality that I can’t distinctly pinpoint. I brewed the full 6.4g to 500ml in 205F water for 3.5 minutes.

Brewed tea is a pretty burnt sienna orange. The aroma smells pretty much spot-on for the dry leaf — a floral/perfumy mix of pear and stonefruit. The mouthfeel is giving me a bit of a strong syrupy/coating feeling, which I remember I had from Marco Polo as well; I’m suspecting I may have either used a bit too much leaf for the amount of water or steeped a little longer than necessary, producing a quite strong cup. My personal preferences on this sort of “perfumy/fragrant” French teas seem to be a softer/more gentle brewing than a heavy-handed cup. It’s also just a tad astringent/drying toward the end of the sip, backing up that theory. Ah well, sometimes you just have a bad-steep day…

That aside, the flavor itself it mostly a sweet, succelent pear note. I’m still tasting a bit of the stonefruit, not as strongly as the pear, though; on the tongue it is reading more as apricot or peach than Mirabelle plum, though. The floral note is really strong, but I don’t know how to describe it… my botanical knowledge is not great. It reminds me of jasmine because it is thick, coating, and strong on the nose, but it doesn’t taste like jasmine. Cheating and looking at the flavor notes from the manufacturer, it appears the floral is lotus… which I really have no experience with, so I’m not surprised I couldn’t peg it (I’ve only had one lotus tea before, and it was so old the scenting wasn’t that potent). It’s a very pretty aroma, even if I can’t describe it. I just don’t like the coating/drying feeling that sticky florality is leaving on my tongue.

I think, if I could brew this again using slightly altered parameters, I’d find a cup in my “perfect” zone and be really into this flavor combination.

Advent day 3! Three bags of this tea are in the 3 slot, another plentiful sample. I’m not usually a fan of oolongs, so I’m always surprised when I find one I like and doesn’t have that flat taste I associate with them. When opening this bag I was struck by how fruity and juicy it smelled. It’s just as delightful steeped. The pear and peach are the dominating flavors, but there is a slight sweetness that rounds out the fruit flavors. I’d guess this would be delicious cold steeped and might take a little cream well. This is a tea I’d totally buy!
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5oQeHNgXGz/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

This is a sample bag from a The O Dor order a while back. Their samples are well packaged to keep fresh and almost all of them have given up several good steeps for me. This was no exception.

The oolong is very fresh and green, no rock/dark/mineral oolong here. The goji berry and peach were the dominant notes to me but they were not too strong. I thought they were light enough to let you taste the oolong without covering it completely yet still had plenty of presence. I honestly didn’t detect the pear separately.

The tea was such a pretty color, too, a clear, golden liquor that shone in my little teacup. Very relaxing in the evening.

I love this! The dry leaves has such a dreamy, sweet fragrance! It smells so floral, though I do not think it is the scent of lotus flower… perhaps the fragrance was enhanced by the fruity flavours. The liquor tasted strongly of peach and berries, followed by a note of pear. The only weakness of this tea was that it was too light-bodied. When it was brewed the second time, the tea became rather weak although the fruity flavours were still going strong. Probably it would have worked even better with a black tea base!

From OMGsrsly, who received some from Sil :D

Sometimes I think tea gets passed along across the world just to die in my cupboard. Hopefully I’ll be able to reciprocate by New Years.

This is a good example of an well-flavored oolong, and is what I wish David’s Long Life Oolong was like- fruity, nutty, and vibrantly juicy. The nuttiness may be my imagination, which is where I thank my imagination because it’s a lovely note. It’s also delicious cooled or chilled.