Cinnamon Oolong

The TTB has arrived! So big, so many teas… no chance to try them all!
Tea #35

Cozy, enjoable cup of evening tea; full of dark oolong tastes, molasses, brown sugar (I cleaned strainer throughly), thick and toasty. Smooth and highly drinkable, I can imagine this being a staple in my cupboard — if I had an access to DAVIDsTEA.

Aah, my last cup… Well, slapdash gongfu sesh of the remnants.

This’ a really nice Comfort Oolong. I definitely should get more. Also kinda makes me miss the Sticky Rice Oolong.

Advent Calendar from Kaylee: Day 11

Took a sick day today and am enjoying a cup of this lovely brew alongside an orange scone my partner baked last night. I’m hoping that my aggressive resting will help me kick covid relatively quickly!

This one smells absolutely amazing. The cinnamon is somehow both subtle and super-present. It’s such a gentle, light cinnamon, with no edge to it at all — the scent almost reminds me of cinnamon toast. I’m not getting a ton of cinnamon in the cup itself, but what I do get is very pleasant. So smooth, not at all bitter or astringent, with a nice full body and mouthfeel. Mmm, it’s almost honey-like.

I like this a lot and would consider keeping some on hand.

Before I talk about the tea, can I just say how much I love an advent calendar? I wish I could just buy them year-round in different lengths and count down to whatever I wanted. Tiny surprises in the morning are so much fun!

Generally speaking, I am a “let the flavor smack me in the face” tea drinking type. I want an intense scent and a matching flavor, and I don’t want to add anything to my cup to get it. But I’m trying to branch out a bit, and I was very curious to find the Around the World advent from DAVIDsTEA – this seemed like as good a chance as any to try some things I wouldn’t just buy on my own. (I told myself no more from them unless they did something different; point goes to them on this one).

I am not being hit in the face with cinnamon. The scent in the canister was noticeable, the scent after steeping is subtle, and I barely get it at all in the sip (though it increased as I was getting down to the end of the cup). It does come out a bit in the aftertaste, along with a pleasant sweetness, especially as the cup cools.

But I’m also not being overwhelmed by bitterness in the cup. The tea is smooth with some substance and body to it. I had to get out the door this morning pretty quickly, but I can see this as a lovely accompaniment to a slow, cold morning and a slice of toast.

This is a general “I’d be pleased to try it again” score for me.

DAVIDsTEA Around the World Advent Day 1

Sipdown! (26 | 373)

Another frequent steeper redemption. I was intrigued by the concept of scenting tea with something other than flowers, and it’s an oxidized rolled oolong which is one of my favorite types.

I enjoyed this one, it has a nice cinnamon raisin toast vibe to it. It actually does remind me a bit of Deb’s hojicha version, though without the sugar obviously. The oolong has a nice dried fruity sweetness to it, and a comforting, slightly toasty note. Then of course, there’s the cinnamon. It tastes natural and it’s just the right amount to complement the oolong without overpowering it. So it comes out tasting like toasted cinnamon raisin bread, maybe with a tiny drizzle of honey on top.

Quite yummy. I’m not sure whether I’ll reorder this one or not, to be honest I don’t find myself reaching for oolongs at the moment. Plus I have a tin of Deb’s cinnamon raisin hojicha and they are somewhat similar.

Another tea from Cameron :)

This smells amazing! Almost akin to one of those super thin Swedish Anna’s cookies, but in a cinnamon version. The cinnamon is very subtle but complementary here against the lightly roasted oolong base. Overall a very tasty tea, and one I would consider getting for my own cupboard.

The second steep still had plenty of subtle cinnamon flavour and I have a feeling I could’ve gotten a third steep.

Thanks for sharing Cameron!

Iced Tea with Strawberry Cold Foam Sipdown

Finished this off a few days ago with a strawberry cold foam topper. It was awesome and this tea is just a really nice cinnamon tea. I’m grateful for DAVIDsTEA for gifting it to me to try because I think I’ll be ordering more in the future, whereas I likely wouldn’t have tried this without the company sending some my way.

Drank on 1/12/22
Delightful smooth oolong, not as much cinnamon flavor in the beverage as I expected from the scent of the dry leaf. This is highly drinkable and would be a great oolong for newbies. This would be something I would be comfortable sharing with friends who are maybe new to tea or usually only drink one of two blends. Didn’t need sugar or anything added to it. Great just on its own.
This tea was sent to me in a free care package from Davids Tea.

I was grateful to receive a care package from David’s Tea a couple of weeks ago. They gifted me 4-5 teas plus a teapot set, with two massive mugs. I gave the Cinnamon Oolong the first try of the teas…and I was in heaven.

First Session: Western Brewed (195F, 3-4 mins)

I had to take pause to allow the tea to absorb on the palate. It was deeply rich and warming; it also reminded me of Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal. I also thought about my great Aunts who’d boil cinnamon sticks in water to make us “herbal tea.” A flood of memories and good vibes joined me on this tea journey.

Second Session and On: Gongfu’d

I decided to give this a try gongfu’d. I finished the sample with 8g in 120ML gaiwan. I let the first steep run 15-20 seconds. It was very rich and cinnamon-y. It was soothing and really opened the sinuses. I brewed the following steeps at 15 secs (3x), 25 secs (2x), 30 secs (1x), and 60 secs (2x). I lost the flavor after the first 60 second mark, but I wanted to do my best to extract everything from the leaf. I find that this one brews well gongfu cha a lot more than western, but if I were to brew for friends/family, I’d make it in the big glass pot that David’s Tea included with the gift set.

PS. I DID order 100g after I received a mysterious gift card in my work email. I cannot get enough of this tea!

I’m still on a cold kick, so I decided to cold brew this one over night.

Funny enough, it tastes almost exactly how it tastes hot, its just cold. I think the base tea is exceptionally well set for cold brews, but the cinnamon scenting in this adds an extra component that I’m not sure on how I feel about this as cold.

I wish I had an idea on what the base of this actually is. I’d love to give it a try without the cinnamon scenting.