The Mermaid's Kiss

Holy unfurling leaves, Batman! I’m brand new to Oolongs, this is only my third, and each of them have been a unique experience… and I haven’t even gotten into the “good stuff” yet.

Being new to Oolong, I never really have any idea what the descriptions mean, so I’m often flying blind. I understand “scented” easily enough, but I have to ask… scented with what?

The dry leaves, rolled more tightly than anything I’ve ever steeped before, smelled very floral. Jasmine, maybe. It smells wonderful. After steeping, the scent mellows out a bit, and the flavor is kind of nectary. A bit fruity. It’s smooth and soft, and while I am under the impression that Oolongs can be creamier, this is one of the creamiest teas I’ve ever had.

I’ve never kissed a mermaid (merman?) but if the opportunity ever presents itself, I hope it’s like this. (Yeah, I said it.)

First comment – un-tea-related: WOW that was fast shipping. I only ordered on what? Thursday? Sweet!

Now, the tea. As always, lovely, pretty packaging. The tea leaf smells wonderful. Not creamy, but almost fruity. I keep thinking of pear flowers. While brewing, it’s a similar type of aroma, only milder.

I can’t comment to the color of the brew, as I’m breaking my rule of no tea after 6pm to try this, and I’m brewing a cup directly in my favorite cup – which is blue. It looks very light however.

Ooo.. floral, but not quite perfume-y. I am getting a dry-fruit-ish aftertaste, or maybe just a hint of sweet. I’m also burning my tongue a little, since I can’t wait to drink it. I’ll post this now, and come back with a rating a little later tonight.

Ooo.. floral, but not quite perfume-y. I am getting a dry-fruit-ish aftertaste, or maybe just a hint of sweet. I’m also burning my tongue a little, since I can’t wait to drink it. I’ll post this now, and come back with a rating a little later tonight.I am liking this however!!!

LOVE!

I love jasmine whites and greens (not had a lot of experience with jasmine Oolongs, but I’ve liked what I’ve tasted thus far), but my favorite scented Oolong thus far is Magnolia!

I love this. I brewed in my gaiwan and not according to the suggested parameters, but, I’m happy with my result, and I guess that’s what matters. The flavor is sweet and the texture is soft and supple. A beautiful floral note that entices the nose and envelops the palate with deliciousness.

OK… so does this mean I’ve kissed a girl and I liked it?

Putting in a Nothing But Tea order for £cough! is definitely something that requires some celebration. It’s always wonderful to spend cough! of any currency on something nice.

Originally the idea this morning was to just resteep last night’s sencha. This is a normal strategy for me because frankly I’m a lazy bugger. Especially in the morning. Sencha, though. Green tea. Cooler water. Right. I think I boiled four times, left it to cool and then forgot about it for the next half hour or so at which point I could start over. Eventually I gave up on this idea. Too expensive in electricity in the long run and not resulting in any tea.

So I thought I still had an untried A&D. Awesome! I put on the kettle, rinsed out the pot and added new leaves and then looked at the tin. Cooler water recommended. This time I left the water to cool and set a timer so that I would remember to actually go and actually make the actual tea.

And result! Here it is! The Mermaid’s Kiss. It only took 1½ hours or something like that to get a cup of tea this morning.

So magnolia eh? I don’t know what that tastes like. I had a magnolia oolong once, back before the dawn of time (and certainly before the dawn of Steepster) that someone I once knew in Tennessee had sent to me. While I can’t remember what it tasted like, I remember being a little saddened when it ran out. I had received I think 50g or so of three or four different things and the magnolia oolong was the one I finished the quickest by far. It’s also the only one of the lot that I can actually remember. I can just remember that they came in dark red foil bags.

It smells floral and it reminds me of jasmine. I can’t tell floral smells apart most of the time, and jasmine is the flower I’m most familiar with in scented tea, so everything ends up smelling like jasmine.

There’s definitely something floral in the flavour as well. A sort of dusty perfume-y sensation on the back of the tongue, which may be simply oolongness or may be magnolia but is likely a combination of the two. Apart from this I can’t really tell a lot about the oolong. There is a fairly large nutty note, but more or less, this seems to be a one note deal.

For me the magnolia seems to have very little flavour on it’s own, but is simply enhancing the oolongness of the tea. It does taste very pleasant, but I’m not sure why I found it to be so memorably. I will happily drink it while I’ve got it, I may even purchase a second set later on, but I don’t really see myself bemoaning the loss all that much when the tin is empty.

Another oolong from Alphakitty! In an oolong mood tonight, and heading to bed shortly. I’m very tired.

The aroma of this one is definitely not what I expected – it’s almost jasmine-like. I suppose that is the magnolia? The taste follows, being floral and jasminey, but not quite like jasmine. I’m not getting a great deal of oolong in the aftertaste, which is disappointing, although I do like the lingering floral notes.

This tea’s not bad, but I think for a similar flavour, I’d more likely just pick out a jasmine tea. I’m sure there are more than just subtle differences, but I’m not tasting them now. It’s good though, but again, lacking in oolong flavour, which precludes it from seeming “different/unique” to me.

This tea should get a 100 just for the name alone. I wish I were able to name some teas.

The Mermaid’s Kiss is a delightful magnolia oolong from start to finish. (And what a lovely finish it is!)

The aroma of the dry leaves is gentle, like jasmine. They’re a pretty deep emerald green in the tin.

After steeping, they release the most glorious magnolia fragrance from the golden liquor. It’s so beautiful in so many ways. The taste is wonderful. On the forefront is the magnolia, which is quite strong for those who enjoy teas scented with flowers. However, the oolong itself is very present, with a hint of a roasted flavor that couples nicely with the oolong. This tea, like so many wonderful oolongs, sweetens as it cools, which I find so pleasant as I rarely drink an entire cup of tea hot.

Andrews & Dunham are ruining all other teas for me. I’m so torn with the desire to just alternate between their teas everyday, and the need to stretch it out because I don’t want to run out.

I can’t give this a proper review. I’ve had a dreadful day, and about half way through, I realized I was starting to get sick. I’ve got that burning sinus that just won’t clear nonsense going on, which always happens before I get cold like symptoms. As a result, I’m not fully capable of picking up flavor notes on this. Yes, the floral magnolia is there, but no overpoweringly so. I think I might hate Jasmine (I need to give their Jasmine green a second chance before I give it away), but this is more subdued and enjoyable. I keep thinking I’m tasting Pez, which is arguably my favorite candy. It’s that after taste of Pez that I’m getting. That lingering beauty. Seriously though, my taste buds are out of whack, so I don’t think they can be trusted. Either way, I just crushed this cup, and I’m almost leaping out of my chair for a second.

This was another tea that I got from the recent giveaway! This smells so very excellent. I really love oolongs, so I’m pretty exciting to try it! I had an awful, crummy day and I just need to relax.
This smells very, very floral and the leaves are beautiful. It is hard for me to distinguish this as magnolia. It smells quite similar to jasmine tea. This is very nice and much lighter than I first expected. The vegetal notes are there in the background.

Brewing a pot of this fine tea.

Jason doesn’t like the jasmine aspect of this tea.

^{Brewed in Huge Glass Teapot}

I was super excited to break open this tin! The artwork is fascinating and beautiful. I love the grungier colors. Definitely a plus! When I saw all the dried, murky green curled up balls of oolong, I got even more excited! woo! It smelled SO good. It was floral and sweet.

Steeped, the color of the liquor was a nice orange-yellow color. Again, the smell was delightful. I’m not sure what kind of tea this is exactly. It is a scented oolong tea. The taste is so floral, but the first thing I thought of after my first sip was “BERRIES!” There is definitely a light, fluffy berry or fruity taste to it. It is barely noticeable but it adds such a nice touch to this tea. I have to give this tea 100. My favorite right now!

I was able to steep this 3 times via gaiwan but I wanted to write all about it so I stopped steeping! I bet this can go on for more steeps. It is absolutely SO good! It got even better the more I steeped it.

I really like this tea! it is a beautiful medium/dark green color in the dried leaves. The dry tea also smells very lightly floral, and is not overpowering. I admire this about the tea, because personally, I do not usually enjoy Jasmine Teas, for they can either be too Floral, or taste fake and flavored. This tea is neither of those things. It smells lightly floral and sweet.

read a more expansive review on my blog!! http://bit.ly/aIINsN

I felt like doing something different this morning, so I tossed some of these leaves into my Lock & Lock bottle. Too many leaves! After I brewed my first cup, I pulled some of them out.

I like the light floral scent of this tea. It’s soothing. It doesn’t blow me away like the other tea in this set – Captain Assam – does. There is an aftertaste to it that just doesn’t hit me right, but I think it’s a personal taste foible, not a fault of the tea.

The last time I tried to resteep and drink this through the day, it did not deal well with sitting in its own leaves. This morning I poured it out into a cup, but the second steeping will have to sit in the leaves until I drink the first one, so I am not sure how this is going to go.

what a beauty. i am smitter with fragrant teas and this one is beautiful. It is scented with Magnolia of all things and having tried a per-uh with the same proclaimed scent, i was a bit fearful. i was overcome. The scent lingers for hours… if you can let tea set for hours… and i can when on watch but then i drink tea cold too. at any rate, i haven’t tried a re-steep to see how far the frangrance lasts but it is pleasing and pronounced. i don’t think it tastes perfumey but it teeters on the edge and that is why i think a re-steep might fair better. No matter, this is yet another enjoyable tea!

1TB for 500mL water, bare.

Dry, like a dry white wine. Floral, but a welcome change from jasmine (which I love). Dry again. A bit sweet, a bit ‘green,’ but not grassy-green. Clean. Lighter all round than many oolongs I’ve tried. Relaxing. Helps me focus.

My first sip of my A&D Christmas present to me. I’m not sure how I feel about this tea yet, I can’t quite make out what this scented oolong is scented with. It seems to have a sort of floral taste with maybe a hint of some kind of fruit.

EDIT: I looked it up and it’s scented with magnolia blossoms!

I tried this tea for the first time this morning and it made me wish for a bigger travel mug! Fortunately, I have already ordered a bigger travel mug and will therefore soon have a bigger travel mug. As for the tea, I do love me some oolong and I quite enjoyed the magnolia blossom scentedness of this one. I’m a big jasmine fan, but this was rather nice in a floral-scented-but-not-jasmine sort of way. The tea wasn’t terribly dark after steeping for five minutes, so I’ll be sure to experiment with a longer steep in the future. I’m looking forward to resteeping when I get back home.

The scent and taste of this fine tea is inundated with florals, which I had known beforehand was magnolia, but probably wouldn’t have been able to identify on my own. Once these magical oolong pellets unfurled they brought with them the first glimpses of spring. This fragrant tea is a delight and already has me dreaming of that initial thaw and the onset of spring!!!!

Yum! At first I though I was tasting jasmine, but it turns out this is a magnolia tea (my first). The mild oolong-ness is a nice combination with the sweet flower. The flower flavor is similar to a jasmine, but there’s a sort of burst at the end that reminds me vaguely of a kind of pastel Easter candy. Definitely a must-buy.

this is perhaps my favourite oolong i’ve ever tried. the dry leaves are really nicely curled, bold, well made with a good twist.

smelling the dry leaves, i get LOTS of jasmine and floral tones, which translates well to the actual liquor. the wet leaves open beautifully, are very even, strong and definitely quality.

the liquor is bright and brisk, a gorgeous yellow-amber colour. i love that it’s scented and not flavoured. this tea does not need any sweetener added, it’s a lovely oolong with a lovely floral flavour/scent.

I’ve only got two oolong teas in my cupboard—this one and the Tea Spot’s Milky Coconut Oolong—but I definitely enjoyed this tea. It’s light but not insubstantial, with a sweet accent that doesn’t take away from the flavor of the oolong. I didn’t go for the suggested five-minute steep time, however, since that seemed a little excessive. Three minutes thirty seconds, and I’m able to get two delightful cups out of one serving.