Vanilla Orchid

Not sure where I’m going wrong with this one. When I had it at the store, it was FRENCH VANILLA/VANILLA BEAN ICE CREAM IN YOUR FACE and it was creamy and delicious. After one sip, I exclaimed “WOW! I’ll take 50g!”

But no matter how I prepare it at home, I can’t get it to taste like vanilla at all. I’ve tried following the instructions on the package, I’ve tried doubling and tripling (not recommended to triple, wow that infuser nearly exploded!) the leaf. In a last ditch effort, I even tried loading it with sugar. (not that I wanted to drink it that way, just wondering if that was how they did it so I could put the issue to rest) Even that unsavory means didn’t do it. Just tasted like sugared oolong. Which isn’t a good thing. =/ Just plain oolong, thanks.

If this is what I’d tasted when I bought it, this wouldn’t be a problem. You see, normally when a flavored tea ONLY tastes like the flavor and not like tea at all, that’s usually a huge negative with me. But I bought this under the impression that it’s SUPER vanilla with the hopes that this could be a dessert busting tea, and when I want to drink tea I’ll just reach for something else in the cupboard.

But as it stands, this isn’t making a dessert buster, nor a really good tea either.

I just can’t for the life of me figure out what the girl did at the store to make it taste so different. It’s like it’s two entirely different beverages.

So I feel really disappointed. I feel like my first impression at the store was an entirely wrong impression and now I feel like I’m missing out on a tea that everyone else seems to be enjoying, which I can’t because of a misconception. Not really sure what to make of this.

Dry Leaf Nose: Oolong tea underpins a prevalent vanilla aroma. The orchid is very much in the background.

Liquor: Light green liquor with a sweet vanilla aroma, and hints of orchid in the background.

Flavour: Quality jade oolong flavour shows a bit of carefully controlled oxidation and many rollings that have exposed much of the precious tea oil to the water. The orchid character has been drawn from the leaf and is in balance with the vanilla.

Aroma is very creamy vanilla

1st steep: creamy, vanilla with floral notes. Nice and smooth green oolong. I wasn’t expecting to like this blend this much. It caught me off guard a little bit. Very relaxing and it feels like you are indulging in a sweet treat!

2nd steep: 5minutes. Still creamy and dreamy, just slightly lighter tasting.

I had been hoarding the last little bit of this I had left until an intense craving hit, but Courtney sent me some more to add to my stash. Vanilla sounded like an excellent choice for this afternoon, light but still comforting. I have my windows open and there is fresh air in my apartment! Eeeeee!

EDIT: I’m still drinking this, and on my fourth infusion I added a teeny-tiny bit of Peppermint Amour. GAH. That is lovely.

So, I poured out my little sample bag into my Ingenuitea, and kinda went “Oh these are really tiny”. I poured my water, set the timer, and walked away. Came back three minutes later and went “WHOA!” because I the entire thing was full of beautiful tea leaves. Also it smells fantastic.

The taste is great, nice vanilla flavor but it’s totally not artificial with the lovely oolong flavor underneath. Nom nom.

Tea: my sampler baggie, I think about 5g
Water: filtered, around 12/14 oz
Additives:None
Brewing method: Ingenuitea

tea 3 out of four… variations on a vanilla theme.

thus far this is the purest vanilla of them all (i know… i’m very surprised myself!).

must admit i scoffed a bit internally when the woman behind the counter said ‘this is a straight vanilla placed opposite a beautiful tieguanyin’… all i could think in my head was ‘verdant teas makes the best tieguanyin (with amazing lychee overtones among other things) on the planet, this was not a good idea.’ except…

it’s pretty good. i think credit is due here. very, but not overpoweringly vanilla, light nuances of lychee, nice light coloured steep…. lovely with cream and sugar.

david’s teas: i am amending my opinion. i don’t know that i will ever fully trust your ingredients list, but the onus for that lies equally with the consumer. very nice. (and to be honest i wasn’t expecting it to be nearly as nice as it was).

yes, i’ll buy this again… clear, light, comforting.

Tasting this new addition to my tea collection thanks to HistoryLaced! The girl has a genuine aversion to oolongs. I suspect this aversion stems from the very quality that I and many others adore about them- the nutty creamy taste that comes with a good oolong! She hates nuts, tell her there’s nuts in something and she make that little red face on the end of the tea rating scale.

My boyfriend made a whole teapot for me to sip and think over.

So far, I am on my second cup. I’m not sure if I really like it the way it is yet, I will have to sit down and play with it a bit to figure out how best to drink it. The nutty flavors of the oolong seem to be more prominent when had without sugar. I definitely taste the vanilla, but overall the flavor seems a tad bit weak, and we steeped this for the maximum time recommended. This tea will definitely take some serious re-tastes and contemplation.

On other notes, I am completely done with antibiotics and painkillers! I only have one medication left and that one is a 3x a week medication that I haven’t even picked up yet. Everything is nearly healed, I dont have to sleep sitting up to be comfortable and best of all, as proven by this log, I am back to being able to consume caffeine! Almost back to normal, almost. :)

This is something that I really wanted to try, but could justify shelling out the dough on a 50 gram bag that would most likely take me forever to get through. Thanks to DT for the sample in my order that came today!

Brewed it tastes like a vegetal green oolong with a clear vanilla finish. I enjoyed my cup, but am glad I didn’t purchase a bag. I haven’t gotten to a point in my tea journey where I reach for a simpler, natural flavor profile.

This tea is amazing, but I keep losing track of time and oversteeping it. While it doesn’t get bitter, some of the more delicate aspects of the flavor are lost. Still good, but setting a timer from now on.

Sipdown! I’ve reviewed this tea several times, but it has vanilla pudding-esque notes and is pretty tasty for a flavored Huang Jin Gui. It comes across with the floral aftertaste that gives it a creamy flowers vibe, but some sips were still a touch artificial. While I don’t think I’d repurchase because it took me forever to finish 50g, I’m glad I was able to try it.