The first sip of this completely threw me off guard. One moment I was enjoying the lovely flavours that green oolong seems to have, the next moment it felt like I had very sweet smushed bananas pressed against the back of my mouth. I thought it was some kind of weird not-sugar splenda thing but as I continued sipping it became clear that it was all bananas. It’s a little disconcerting how dramatic the bananas are, to be honest. They taste more “real” than the oolong- which makes the transition between the two slightly awkward.
I picked up one of the banana cubes in the wet leaves and they taste like one would expect, although a tad sweeter. Maybe I should steep it longer to bring out more oolong.
Second Steep at six minutes: The liquid smells so good! I have a hard time describing oolong but the aroma is a mixture of that and fresh banana. This is a vast improvement; the banana and oolong flavours no longer feel like their divided by a Pink Floyd-esque wall of social contact. Smooth transition is achieved. The oolong is milky and buttery; the banana is creamy sweet and the liveliest I’ve ever tasted it in tea.
Third steep is my ideal cup. Mostly creamy green oolong with the light banana sweetness faded mostly to the background.
I don’t know what gives with my first steep. If I had based my judgement on that I would have given something around a “70”. As it turns out, repeated steeps make this something I want to keep around.
