The first time I tried this sample from Nuvola Tea, I made a few mistakes. I tried it when I was really on a more green oolong kick (I really prefer greener oolongs, to be honest). I made it for a one time steep. I really just wasn’t catering to the tea itself. I was pretty meh on it, and decided not to leave a tasting note, since I thought I should give it another try later down the line.
So here I am, craving a slightly darker oolong. And I have it.
The dry leaves are wonderfully elegant. In the first 30 second steep, they barely unfurl at all. This demonstrates that they were lovingly rolled. Over the next few, they slowly reveal their true beauty.
There is definitely a floral aroma coming from this tea. The smell sort of calls to mind a forest right at the brink of fall. Each steep makes this aroma slide a little closer to fruity.
I was kind of surprised to find that there was a good bit of smokey flavor under all of the floral tones. It’s a good surprise, though. It complements very well. It definitely reminds me of fall, when you take sweet flavors out of their natural elements, and introduce them to spices and such.
Altogether, I enjoyed this tea a lot more the second time around. I will probably order a batch to have when I’m wanting an oolong that tastes more like…well, oolong!
