Formosa Amber Oolong (TT55)

I think this is my favorite tea, I enjoy drinking different teas for different moods and reasons ect and this one in particular for me is good for all those moods and such if that makes sense to anybody. It is toasty, slightly nutty, earthy and rich while still being greenish and kinda grassy to me. I want to try the Formosa Amber Oolong Select but I’m not sure, I like this one so much I already have a bag of it but I still order more samples of it with each order for just in case lol. I guess that would be a Tea Crush.
Oolongs are great, may eventually replace Puers as my favorite type of tea.

Tommy The Toad sent me some of this and I am very grateful! Thanks!

This is semi earthy and a little sweet with a gentle roasted nut type flavor, too. It’s like a cross between a greener oolong and a wuyi/rock-ish type oolong taste-wise. I do like the combo/contrast. YUM!

Beautiful, curly greenish brown leaves!

First steep: Woody and nutty. I don’t taste sweetness or bitterness (and I didn’t add anything to this tea) – very even. So enjoyable to sip. I could see this being great with a meal.

Second steep (4min): Sweeter and just as nutty.

Third steep (5 min): Tastes very similar to the 2nd steep!

Fourth steep: (6 min): Just a tad lighter tasting. Incredible! I’ve had enough for this afternoon, but maybe on another day I’ll find myself going for a fifth, sixth, seventh!

I need to take this home with me because I could really see steeping this all day on a day off – how pleasurable!

Sigh. I’m out of this tea now. I seem to be finishing up a lot of samples recently, but I have WAY too much tea, so even with finishing things up I still can’t get any more. Sigh.

Anyway, this tea is still lovely. I got this sample from the lovely JacquelineM a long time ago, and I’ve been savoring it ever since. Dark, nutty, almost a little woody.

Goodbye fair tea, I will miss you.

Sipdown no. 4 of September 2019 (no. 95 of 2019 total, no. 583 grand total). A sample.

Wow, this was one of the very first loose leaf tea samples I acquired about 10 years ago! I am not sure how I never got around to drinking it all before, particularly since the tin is so small. My only explanation is that I likely hoarded it because I thought it was good.

Believe it or not, it was still good. I took it to work a couple of days last week, brewed Western, and that was enough to polish it off. It was toastier than my initial description seems to indicate, but nutty was still an apt adjective.

Feels nice to clear the decks, even though I’m nostalgic about this one.

Wonderful toasty, nutty, almost an undertone of brown rice. It has a lot of depth and personality. This is definitely a winner.

Today, I drank the last of this that I had in my stash. I did 2 teaspoons in 500 mL water at 190 for 3:30, which is more tea than I normally use. This is a light oolong with good floral/grassy flavors, and it brews up to a light golden color. I like this one a lot, and will probably get some more at another point in time.

Backlog:

This Oolong reminds me of the very first Oolong I ever tasted. Sweet, peach-like, earthy, nutty with a nice roasted note, and buttery. Later infusions allowed for the peach notes to emerge stronger and the flavor was smoother. Less earthy as I continued to steep. Some citrus notes also began to emerge in the later infusions.

Overall, a really pleasant Oolong.

Trying this hot on the heels of the last oolong (China se chung) to see how they compare. (They’re both from the Upton oolong sampler . ) The flavors have a lot in common – they are both darker and seem more oxidized than the oolongs I’ve had before – but this one smells and tastes a bit sweeter. It has a bit of a honey tang, and overall tastes a little more complex than the se chung (wish I knew a better way to describe it). Overall, a robust but non-astringent oolong.

First infusion a bit too astringent for me and second infusion was much better. I am on a quest for a more oxidized oolong (50-70%) with little to no astringency. If you are reading this and know of any, let me know!