Vanilla Orchid

Holy crap. Clearly my tea tastes are getting more refined. I’m literally drinking this right now, I should be washing dishes but I’m writing my very first tea review instead :)

I think that three years (or so) ago, when Davidstea opened in my city and I dove in head first, I would have turned my nose up at this. I was very much into dessert teas, the more sweet stuff they had crammed into them the better. I still enjoy those, but I am now starting to appreciate the simpler ones and this is a bigggg winner! I need to go buy a tin of it ASAP.

I am not sure how I feel about oolongs, not having tried too many, but this tea is the perfect balance of vanilla and tea, and there’s nothing artificial tasting about it! I steeped it as per the directions on the bag. The second steep was just as good. I can see me drinking this a lot. It’s not too sweet and if all oolongs are this good then I’m a fan! I will have to re-try my other few DT’s oolongs!

Win!

Oh, this was perfect today. Beautiful, light, floral smell, and incredible soft vanilla creaminess. I steeped it twice because I didn’t have time for another cup, but it tastes just as fantastic each time. I do love this tea.

I received this as a sample with my last order. I decided to play with it and do a few steeps. The first one was very rich. The vanilla was creamy but I could still taste the Oolong behind it. It was lovely. The second steep wasn’t as good. It has a slight bitterness to it… But it was still ok. I loved the vanilla in this one though.

This tea is kinda interesting. It smells so good, like fresh vanilla beans, and that scent and flavour carries through brewing. I did a 10 second rinse and a 1 minute steep for the first batch… and unfortunately, I’m not completely sold. I do like it, the tea is very mild and sweet, and the vanilla flavour is true. But I don’t love it, and I don’t think I’ll get more of this tea.

I noticed when I brewed it that there are a lot of tiny broken bits of tea leaves in what I received, and even though I strained it, it’s becoming stronger and a little bitter as it sits.

I have a feeling that I prefer flavour in my black teas, and that I like the taste of the oolongs and puerhs (that I have) better on their own.

Finally, Davidstea! A non-tisane mix I like! I was not impressed by their other oolongs I tried. But this one smells, and tastes like slightly sour vanilla yogurt, and is quite lovely. We’ll see if it will resteep, if so I may be looking to buy more than a sample of this in the future.

When I first smelled this tea prepared it seemed like something really familiar. At first I couldn’t quite figure out what is smelled like and then BAMM! – it hit me – it smells like vanilla yogurt, with an oolong scent underneath it. It’s not like a sugary sweet vanilla that you may smell in baked goods, but there’s a sort of tangy kick to it. It may sound strange but it just smells so darn good.

Now, as for the taste, if you like stronger flavored teas, this may disappoint slightly. For a flavored tea, I thought the vanilla-yogurt (is the yogurt scent from the orchid?) would be more present, but I mainly taste only the oolong.

On the second steeping, the aroma has lost most of the vanilla-yogurtness, and the tea tastes like a weak oolong.

Overall, it is pleasantly clean, but not one that I would go out of my way to repurchase.

First time trying a flavoured oolong. I quite enjoyed it, but then again, I’m a freak for vanilla, especialy if it’s high quality. The oolong tea in this one is mild with a relatively low oxidation, and the liquor is very clear. It smells like heaven in a cup. Very low astringency, and mild on the finish. It tastes just how it smells and is all around delicious. My only complaint is that it doesn’t hold up to multiple steeps well; even the second steeping was significantly lacking in flavour, and the third was very weak despite steeping for nearly 10 minutes. Overall a delicious tea though, and the vanilla and oolong are a fabulous pairing!

Yum yum! I absolutely love this tea! The vanilla and oolong go perfectly together. Tastes just like vanilla ice cream. This tea is better then having dessert :) Steeped it is a light green colour, and the aroma is quite sweet. I actually find that this tea tastes even better then the smell! This is by far my favourite oolong tea so far!!

First reaction to the dry leaf is a delicious vanilla-y sweetness. I can smell the butter creaminess. It’s such a pleasant scent.

I’m new to the world of re-steeping, but am going to give it a go with this. I don’t have a variable temp kettle (Yet! Getting one tonight!) so I have no idea how hot the water was. I let it boil & unplug, put some peanuts out for the birds, dished out my tea, then poured the water. I put a bit extra tea in and let it steep for 1 minute the first go ’round.

First sip is quite vanilla-y with a hint of that delicious butter creaminess. Fairly light flavour, which I expected for a first steep. In terms of vanilla, people were accurate to mention to think vanilla bean ice cream or yogurt, NOT extract! Oh gosh this is just so delicious. Every few minutes my rating slider creeps up a bit. I’m trying not to gobble this up, but I’m so impatient for a second steep! The after taste is pleasant and mild.

Second steep. I totally forgot to time it. 2 minutes? Maybe 3+? Dang.

Anyway. A definite change in taste. Still getting the vanilla, but it’s taken a backseat and now the oolong is coming through. Fascinating! After taste is now more tea-like. (Astringent? I’m not sure on the word I’m looking for, still new to this!)

I feel like a third steep might be too thin. Next time I’ll pay more attention to my second steep time. (plus I’m getting a bit full of liquid and don’t want the leaves to sit out)

Definitely picking up a bigger bag of this.

LOVE this one. I’m usually all about the crazy sugary flavours, but this one is wonderfully simple, while still having a discernible flavour (as opposed to the milk oolong, which didn’t taste like anything in particular). A little bit of vanilla is all I need to have a delicious cup of tea.

Vanilla Orchid, sure has a pleasing smell to it, almost like a yogurt or something, certainly not the typical french vanilla smell most people are used to, this is REAL vanilla. This was my first try on an Oolong tea and I must say it is a pretty nice tea.

Dry the tea looks like dried up rolled up grass almost, very unique looking tea I must say, it has a soft natural vanilla smell to it. While it is steeping the tea retains it’s light vanilla scent and the leaves just explode open, and I mean this stuff will fill up your infuser, use caution if using a tea ball it might explode from the pressure!

The final brew is a light green colour with the same natural vanilla scent to it, the tea has a lovely soft taste to it, if you like flavored teas or real powerful black teas you may not enjoy this one. Would taste great with some of Davids (or other brands) Vanilla or Raspberry agave.

I love this one a lot. The vanilla flavour is strong, but still allows you to taste the flowery notes of the oolong

The smell of the dry leaf is divine. Unfortunately the brewed tea doesn’t quite live up to its smell.

The first steep I had was a bit disappointing. Very bland. I didn’t give up, though, as I know some oolongs are better with the second or third infusion. I could detect more of a creamy vanilla taste in the second cup, which made it much more enjoyable.

Not my favourite, but definitely drinkable. I think I may try it again with a lower water temp and see how that goes.

This one was quite interesting. The smell, although it says natural vanilla flavouring, smells quite artificial…I thought that it smelled like vanilla yogurt (I knew it would be quite creamy). When steeped, it was really creamy (I knew it!) and it had only a light vanilla smell. For me, the vanilla really came out in the aftertaste and not in the actual sip. I like this enough to finish the 15g bag but not enough to go buy more.

Tried this to-go at a David’s today. It was quite smooth but I have to say I’m not usually a fan of flower scented teas, so it was a bit too perfumey (not a word) for my taste. I bought some Vanilla Oolong to make at home tomorrow. If it’s similar just without the flowery aroma, I may just love it!

This is currently my go-to tea. When I’m heading out to class in the mornings I steep a thermos full of this tea and bring it with me. I keep meaning to try it with a little bit of sweetener, just to play around with the flavour a little, but I’m usually too busy drinking it right away to bother with sweeteners.

I think the other teas in my collection might start getting jealous if I don’t start spreading the love.

So I had the vanilla oolong from David’s tea in December, but it was replaced by the vanilla orchid, so I decided to try it out. And it is also part of my goal to expand my knowledge of wulong teas. So I stopped by DT yet again on Monday morning and got this tea.

First Steep: On the bus ride to campus this tea drove me nuts with it’s enchanting and creamy/ vaniilla-y smell. The scent of this tea is so rich and inviting. The taste is light and creamy, kind of ice cream-like. It has a rich dark green, almost light brown colour. The taste is smooth and not too overpowering. It is a very cheerful drink.

Second Steep: My friend was with me at this steeping. She said it smelt like apricots. To me it was very much the same as the first steep in terms of smell and taste.

Now here’s a vanilla done right. I’ve gotten so used to artificial vanilla flavours that it’s a real treat to have something that tastes… real. This is light and creamy and sweet. And delightful. Very delightful.

From the moment I first smelled this tea I was hooked. Oolong teas in general are very smooth and adding vanilla makes for a perfect relaxing tea. Using Huang Jin Gui Oolong as the base of this tea adds a creamy note that just enhances the vanilla flavoring. After the first steep you loose most of the vanilla but its still an enjoyable cup nevertheless.

My favorite tea so far! wonderful and medium taste, the vanilla with the orchid mix goes together perfectly