It has been a long day at the office. No particular reason, just very very long and I am ready to go home. To accompany me on this long slow Monday there has been this Oolong in my cup. Also, throughout the day I have been greeted by chocolate chip cookies, edamame, sushi , and graham crackers. I am sure they are all having a great party in my stomach right now… Wish I could join them.
This tea is very good, but it isn’t quite great. Please do note that this is only my opinion. I tend to judge my oolongs by the sweet aftertaste that lingers after each sip. That tends to be my favorite part of drinking an Oolong.
The dry leaves of the tea are marvelous. They are large and emerald green. The scent is mouth watering, bit of mineral and a bit of sweet, the perfect mix for an oolong in my opinion. For some reason (and don’t get me wrong, I love Oolongs!) the smell of Oolongs has started to remind me vaguely of the smell of balloons and surgical gloves. Strangely, this isn´t a bad thing… Odd…
The first steep of was golden and delicious looking, also delicious tasting. The flavor consisted of a strong mineral component and a bit of pear and edamame. The aftertaste was a bit more sour than I would have liked and the sweet was a little more subtle than I usually want in an oolong. Still, delicious.
The second steep was a bit milder. The mineral played down and the pear stood out. The sweet aftertaste I enjoy so much was much more evident. It rolled across my tongue with every sip. By far my favorite of the three steeps.
The third steep was a bit too vegetable like for my mood in the late afternoon. Sadly, the sweet aftertaste was more of a faint memory than actually there in this cup. It was not bad at all, but it wasn´t quite what I wanted at that particular point of time. I feel like it could have benefited from a slightly longer steeping time (I only steeped it for 2 minutes).
Overall, I enjoyed it. I like having it handy at the office to accompany on “one of those Mondays”. Yum… Definitely worth a try.
