Grape Oolong

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Grape Oolong
This was a Sample from Stacy at Butiki Tea and it isYummy!!, it smells like grape bubble gum and taste like grape Dum-Dum pops,I really like this one Lance like it and it is very hard to get him to drink an Oolong with me so I’m glad to get this sample.We Will buy more of this tea :)
Sorry so short but thats about it, it’s jusy grapey :)

Photos on blog
http://toadsteablog.blogspot.com/2012/11/grape-oolong-by-butiki-tea.html

Thank you Butiki Teas for this sample!

Bonnie is getting brave, coming out of her shell and trying new tea’s. Gyokuro on ice, and two Oolongs all in one day. Who would have thunk it! You can teach old folks new things! (I also had a lovely black tea from Teavivre today also but I’ve logged it twice already). The luxury of tea and discovery of new flavors and brewing methods appeals to me. I am so greatful for today and all my days!

At first when I read the steep time of 4 minutes I was surprised because my earlier Oolong this morning was only a 1 minute steep. However, I leave all this to the tea companies and obey their instructions (at least for the first time I brew the tea!). Like all Oolongs, please don’t use a teaball. The leaves need room to expand. Even if you pour water over the leaves in a bowl it’s better and let them expand then strain into your cup or a pot.

1. Gold shimmering liquor! Then, a grape/lilac-orchid aroma. The flavor is not overly orchid and there is a little tannin along with big, bold creaminess. I don’t find the grape overdone. This is, after all, a grape oolong so there should be grape flavor. It is sweet with rock sugar and slightly mineral.

2. Second steeping I kept with the same 4 minute time. The liquor is still the color of spun gold.
The mouth-feel is juicy, mineral, floral but less creamy with more tannin on the tongue. My addition of sweetening kills the tannin and enhances the floral note and slight grape flavor. I recommend doing this. It is true that the more this tea cools, the more the grape flavor increases which is pleasant.

3. I’m having fun now! Still steeping 4 minutes. The liquor is a great color and fragrant.
Not expecting much flavor, I am very surprised at how juicy the tea has become, and that the tannin is gone. There is rock sugar, mineral flavor with a faint floral orchid taste. It is sweet enough to drink straight up and a bit salty, pecan nutty. Of course as the tea becomes cooler…more grape flavor pops up!

During the last tasting I was thinking about the grape flavor…and how I would like to purchase this tea to Pair with Hard, Salty Greek Goat Cheese like a Kesseri (which is good flamed) or Cypriot Halloumi Cheese (which can be fried)!

I finished my tasting this way…some cheese…some grape oolong tea…some cheese….

This is really tasty. The list of oolongs from Butiki Teas that I like most in order are: Peach, Grape then Strawberry :D Peach is still reigning supreme :D Dry this one smells like really good grape juice :D

Mmmm, yum, grape! thanks for the sample Krystaleyn! I’ve been wanting to try some Butiki oolongs for a while. This one tastes just like grape bubble gum. I love grape bubble gum! I love this light oolong base lending its fresh greenness to a candy-like grape flavor that would otherwise be cloying.

This is really tasty! I cold brewed it over night, of course. It’s almost 100 here today! Green oolongs take really well to cold brewing. So do green teas. and white. not sure about dark oolongs. I think I’ll try it out on my mi lan dan cong. :)

Tomorrow’s gonna be another hot day so I’m sticking a few more teas into the fridge. I love my refrigerator. Do we ever really stop to think about how awesome it is? You can take away my electric lights, my clothes dryer, my microwave, even the computer… but not my refrigerator.

0.5 tablespoons for 124 ml

Buttery oolong scent from brewed tea. Grape flavour has a deepness to it that makes it taste less artificial- it reminds me of the grape-like tones I was getting from the Kenya Purple Tea from Butiki Teas. Crisp, fruity taste supported by the floral/buttery oolong flavour.

Second infusion at 5 minutes. Still very flavourful.

Thanks to Kittenna for passing this on to me!

Ok hopefully steepster stops hiccuping right now so I can write this.

I don’t think I had enough of this for the size cup I made. I steeped it half a minute longer because of it but I don’t think that was enough to help.

It smelled super strongly of grape, that’s for sure. I wasn’t even drinking it and my boyfriend walked by the mug and asked if I was drinking grape flavored tea.

I really am kind of particular about grape flavored stuff…nothing really beats actual grapes if that’s the flavor you want and really, I don’t often find myself wanting grapes.

In scent, it seemed more like sweet grape bubblegum/koolaid type of grape to me, I didn’t sweeten it so because of that I am really unsure if that would have helped or hurt it for me. It wasn’t too strong flavored because of probably using too much water to tea, thankfully. I just think maybe grape doesn’t work for me at all hot, I should have tried it cold, but alas what can you do.

Thanks Kittenna!

So guess what greeted me when I came downstairs this morning…… my huge Butiki order had arrived bright and early!! It’s seriously some sort of miracle – she sent it out on Friday, there was a national holiday in Canada on Monday, yet I still managed to get it on Wednesday. Unbelievable (well…. except that I’m totally drinking this tea right now!)

So on with the review!

The brewed tea smells like a delightful combination of buttery oolong and sweet concord grape juice, although the grape is fairly subtle. Taste-wise it’s subtly grapey with a lovely oolong aftertaste. Upon a few sips, both flavours strengthen quite nicely. The grape definitely does not overpower the delicate flavour of the oolong, which is exactly the way I like it! Not sure I’ve ever met a tea that so accurately tastes like it is supposed to (except perhaps for Cantaloupe & Cream) – my problem with most flavoured oolongs is a lack of oolong flavour, or at least aftertaste, which kind of defeats the purpose of using an oolong base, for me. So big, big points for that, and now I’m super excited to try the Strawberry Oolong as well! That will have to wait for a while though – so many other things!

(Side note: as I have been swallowing this tea, I noticed that my throat is sore! Not scratchy-sore, but lump-in-throat sore, which is sometimes a precursor to sickness (or the result of crying, but no tears yet for me today, so it isn’t that). Really hoping I’m not headed for a cold…)

ETA: Second infusion (175F/4:15) is pretty much the same. Yum. Glad the grape flavour is lingering through this infusion.

ETA again: Third infusion (175-180/~4min) still has grape flavour!! And oolong, but that’s perhaps disappearing a bit more. I used about half the water for this infusion.

ETA: Fourth infusion (175-180/infinite) is grapey and has some astringency (not surprising). I think this one can get to four good infusions, as long as the leaves are removed a touch sooner… they have been floating around in my cup for about an hour – oops! Oolonginess very limited in this infusion, sadly.

I’m sick, so forgive me if my notes aren’t exactly spot on. I have this really bizarre issue. I hate grapes. Hate them. I can’t recall the last time I ate one, and I don’t even like looking at them. But grape is probably my favorite artificial fruit flavor, haha. So whatever. The dry leaf smells exactly like that grape candy flavor I so adore. I was sort of hoping that it would brew up purple, but nope, just a pretty gold. Also, I love watching the leaves unfurl. Anyway, brewed up, most of that super sweet grape smell was lost to me…it had transformed into something else, which initially reminded me of spaghetti sauce (don’t ask me why…) but eventually I realized it was a flowery smell. Sorta reminded me of this plumeria lotion they sold at a store I worked at in high school. I’m not getting much of a strong flavor at all in this first brew…I put sugar in it and it’s tasty, but I’m not getting any specific flavor notes. I’ll report back after a couple more infusions.

Thanks to Jenn for sending me a sample of this – I was a bit wary of this from the get-go and I’ve been steering away more from flavored oolongs lately so this is sort of a biased review.

To me, this is very grape. When I open up the package I smell grape bubble yum. I brewed this for around 2 minutes with 180F water. The grape is not as strong in the flavor but it is still very prominent. I’m not really a fan of this but it’s drinkable , for my own personal taste it is too sweet and too grape-y. Some other people here seemed to like it a lot more so it probably depends on your personal preferences.

I bought this because I recall that I liked grape sencha from Den’s tea.
The smell is intense but I LOVE the smell of concord grapes. In fact I could just smell this tea and then daydream a bit and then smell it again.
The taste is light and less grape-y than I expected but I like it that way. It’s a nice and refreshing blend.

Backlogging:
This is a genuinely silly oolong. It smells like Grape Crush steeped and in the bag. That alone put a smile on my face. (I don’t actually like Grape Crush, btw.)

That said, it’s very grape-y, very yummy and not remotely artificial tasting. The grapeness is rounded out nicely with the earthy oolong. It’s good with a little rock sugar and is definitely good for more than one steeping.

I’ll be keeping this on my oolong list.

Noo, my internet has been hiccuping so I lost the tealog I wrote! And I don’t want to retype the whole thing!

I tried Grape Oolong for 3 infusions, the 2nd being the best. Very nice floral oolong with a twang of grape that got better on the 2nd infusion. There was a bit of astringency on the first infusion but worked with the grape taste. 3rd infusion was good but not as grape flavored.

Very yummy (thanx for the sample Kittena!) I might have to get more of this!

Sample from Butiki! I’m trying to drink all my samples/almost finished teas in order to make room for a flood of tea orders I have coming next week. This afternoon seemed like the perfect time to try this one out! I’m going to preface this whole review by saying that I am usually not a fan of grape flavored things (candies, juices, popsicles…), but I wanted to give this a shot. It was too interesting sounding to pass up. A grape tea!? I was there.

The dry leaf of this tea smells more floral than grape-like, but I am definitely smelling grape (almost like grape bubble-gum. Oh no!). Once brewed, the tea, while still floral smelling (orchid? lilac?), takes on a stronger grape-like character (again – grape bubble gum).

Taste: Luckily, the grape bubble-gum smell has not translated into the taste. It’s shinning through quite nicely. It’s not that overpowering, overly sweet, cloying grape that I find so unappealing in most grape flavored things. It’s lighter, possibly balanced out by the floral aspects. It also tastes closer to what a red (purple?) grape would taste like in real life than most grape flavored things. I’m surprised to find the floral flavor and the grape flavor working together so well in this! It’s almost as if they are the same flavor! The floral highlights, and for me enhances, the grape flavor. It should also be noted that the oolong is not obscured or completely covered up. There are notes of light earthiness in here. This tea is very nice. Smooth and subtly sweet.

Conclusion: Grape flavored tea? A must try! So happy that I decided to sample this one. Finally! A grape flavored drink that I enjoy! I’ll have to pick some more up and share it with my younger sister (she loves everything grape).

NOTE: I did not add any sugar, as I liked the way it tasted right off the bat. I think it’s grape-y enough without it.

I received this and my other samples from Butiki Teas a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, I hadn’t had the time until now to properly sit down, steep and review them so I forced myself to put them to the side until they could be paid attention to. I’d like to thank Stacy right away for sending these teas to me – They are all exciting smelling! When I first unpacked the teas, they all smelled strongly of mint, so I separated them to avoid any contamination in smell or flavour. Since I’ve taken so long to get to them, they are all cleared up, and now the only smells I get from this dry leaf are sweet grape and oolong. Its reminiscent of David’s Tea’s Through The Grapevine in grape smell – Surprisingly strong, but you still know you are smelling a tea. The grape flavour is more of a ripe purple grape, if you can picture that.

For steeping, I used all of my two cup sample, since the beau wanted to try it alongside me. I ended up using my new glasses, so it was approximately 1 tsp tea to an 11 oz glass, but I figure that is close enough. I am terrible at water temps, so we boiled it and then let it cool for about 5 minutes. The instructions suggested a steep time of 4 minutes, so that’s what we went with for the first steep.

The leaves expanded very rapidly…they’ve taken up the better part of the pot in only a few minutes. It looks like someone threw a bunch of spinach in my tea! The liquor is a warm yellow with a hint of green, and the smell is lightly grape with a strong oolong/vegetal tea smell. I smell a sweetness as well, but definitely a vegetal odor. Goes well with the spinach association! : )

First sips provide a hint of a spicy sweet taste, reminiscent almost of a mild cinnamon sugar, with grape in there somewhere. I might be saying grape because I know it’s there.. The vegetal smell is there in taste, but it’s sort of hiding. I notice it, but it seems to move around on the tongue, so it’s never strongly vegetal. It is balanced nicely with the sweet grape flavour. The initial taste is unusual, not something I’ve encountered before. I definitely enjoy it, but it’s a little confusing.

I’ve saved the leaves for further steeps, I will try to update this post with my thoughts on further steeps as I have them later on. As the cup cools, the strange cinnamon sugar grape smell becomes stronger at the beginning of the sip. It is almost floral…but I am terrible with identifying floral flavours. We have a flowering tea that was a semi sweet/spicy flavour that is similar to this. Maybe jasmine-esque? Don’t get me wrong, the grape is still the dominant taste in this, it just isn’t like eating a bunch of grapes straight up, it’s as if they’ve been sweetened or are maybe a bit over-ripe. Really yummy, if you’re interested in sweeter teas. I’m sad that my sample is gone, but looking forward to future steeps!

EDIT: Second steep retained the depth of flavour…Really enjoyable, thoguh the grape has muted slightly, it is still there in all of it’s sweet glory. I gave this steep about 4 minutes as well.

The third steep sat for about 7 or 8 minutes and still had some of that sweet grape flavour, but had lost most of the distinctive flavours. I could probably keep going on with smaller cups, but I think I’ve pushed this to it’s lovely end. Thanks again, Butiki Teas!

Ooo this one smells like grape bubblegum. The flavor is pretty sweet. It’s a candy like grape but it has a nice floral-ish note from the oolong. It’s sweet and the grape adds a nice twist to the oolong.

Steeped, this smells almost exactly like lilac flowers to me. I am not a fan of floral teas, but I love the smell of lilac… so it’s working for me.

The taste is very fresh, and I enjoy the subtlety of the grape flavor. I’m looking forward to my second infusion of this tea.

This one is pretty tasty. The grape flavour is quite minimal underneath the oolong. It tastes like a grape popsicle to me. The oolong base is delicious.

As it cools, the grape flavour comes out more. I’m excited to see what the resteep brings.

This is definitely grape, all right. Make no mistake about that — the scent is strong in the bag, even before it is opened. Steeped, it produces a yellow liquor. A little bit of sweetener is needed. The oolong flavor is present, but is greatly overshadowed by the grape flavoring. This is grape not like biting into a grape, but like grape Kool-Aid or grape jelly. Not that that’s a bad thing. I have two young daughters with whom I sometimes have tea parties — this flavored tea would be perfect for a child. It would also be good iced on a hot day, or maybe even blended with a mild green or white tea. I might consider getting this just for the novelty of it.

This is my second to last free sample from butiki teas thank you. Backlogging This is a pretty good natural with abit of tartness and really does taste like green this oolong is just too green like and vegatal to me to be perfect. I do think this is a good tea and I really like the grape in this.

The dry leaf of this tea is really pretty cute. Small, tightly curled leaves and a very overwhelming scent of grape. This grape reminds me of the grape in some candies (and even some medicines). As it steeps, the oolong steps to the front and mingles with the grape scent. Sipping.. I’m very impressed with the flavor. A nice sweet grape (I’m thinking purple grapes) wrapped around oolong. Delicious! No one flavor, to me at least, overpowers the other. I am really enjoying the earthy flavor of the oolong and the smooth sweetness of the grape. Thank you Stacy for a very tasty drink!