Very Velvet Oolong

Yeah, this is better. Floral, strawberry, green oolong.

I prefer Butiki’s and Teavivre’s to this one, but this is pretty darn good.

Last little bit is cold steeping in the fridge.

Thanks!

Thank you Fusion Teas for this sample!

The dry leaves have a strong artificial smell. It’s almost like a strawberry car air freshener. Thank goodness, this is not what you get from the tea. The liquid is not as synthetic in the sip. It taste more like a light strawberry soda. I’m pretty sure this would be an excellent cold brewing tea. Even chilled on that note.

There is other nice flavors that emerge with this cup as well. You almost can taste a touch of peaches, with a little extra tanginess. Also, a hint of something that reminds me of jasmine. One thing is for sure – this tea leaves a very refreshing taste to the mouth. Not a bad drink for a long humid summer day.

So I got a bunch of samples from Fusion Teas and so far I have been on the fence about most of them, but I tried this one this morning and I really like it! I am usually not a huge strawberry fan, but this is balanced perfectly for my tastes. Eventually I am going to get around to getting a big bag of this! Love!

I finished off my Caramel Chai Pu’erh sampler from Fusion Teas this morning, and since Dethlefsen & Balk has stopped producing it and that was where they were wholesaling it from, they have stopped carrying it; I’m a bit sad about that sipdown since I really enjoyed that particular chai.

I also have brewed up the entire sampler of this tea from Fusion Teas in a few cold brew mason jars, but despite my best efforts I couldn’t hunt down the wholesale source (I could find many strawberry oolongs, but they were all using infused flavor and didn’t include strawberry pieces or blue cornflower petals). So either Fusion is making some additions, or they have just managed to elude me on their sourcing… touche, Fusion, touche! You win this round.

I do have to say that compared to the Strawberry Oolong I get from TeaSource, I am not crazy about this one. It has a much stronger aroma, so one would think this would be quite flavorful, but there is just something about that flavor that just… doesn’t really appeal to me. It tastes too artificial to me, I think… or maybe there is just something about the natural notes of the oolong that is clashing with whatever flavoring has been added to the tea? I’m not sure exactly what the case may be, but something about the taste isn’t meshing for me. I’m getting a slightly acrid peach flavor mixed with a really artificial strawberry flavor, minus the sweetness you’d expect to accompany that sort of strawberry flavor; the vegetal smoothness of the base oolong at least holds through, and it would probably be a good, quality oolong, if this flavoring just wasn’t working for me.

There is a review by Pureleaf on this and I think I’m getting the same sort of flavor experience from this, only finding it a bit more unpleasant, personally. I’ll finish what I’ve steeped up in my water bottles, but am not going to miss it. And may even make a brew of my TeaSource Strawberry Oolong which has a softer but natural and tasty strawberry note added to a green oolong to wash this away.

Of course this one is still available for ordering, and it’s the one that won’t be missed. C’est la vie.

Green oolong and blue corn flower petals … I had to try this because it looked so beautiful, plus the word velvet sounds lovely. This is what I would call a mid level oolong tea that is on it’s way to being viewed as high grade. While it taste good, I believe that pomegranate flavoring would accent this tea better than the strawberry. The tea can be mildly described as velvet tasting which is somewhat of a let down, but the fact that there is a velvet taste with this oolong is quite enjoyable.

How have I not reviewed this tea? My bag is almost empty, but somehow this is my first time logging this tea.

I really like this one. The strawberry flavor is a tiny bit artificial, but the oolong flavor is great. So incredibly buttery with a slight floral sweetness. It’s light with a nice clean finish. Really, it’s a great spring tea. Subsequent steeps lose the strawberry flavor, but all the great oolong notes remain.

This is one I will reorder, but I’ll get it in a small quantity because it’s not something I’ll reach for during cooler weather.

I wanted berries! Time to try this one! (Better this one than the last couple of teaspoons of my Vicky’s Cake from Bluebird before I place an order at the end of the year!) I used a teaspoon and a half. Fusion suggests 180 for four minutes.

Steep #1 // 28 minutes after boiling // 3 min steep
Brewed, this one actually has a scent like it could be shampoo? In a good way? The slight strawberry flavor and whatever makes it seem like a flowery shampoo combines really well with the buttery oolong. I think this is the first oolong I’ve tried from Fusion and I like it. The flavor just lingers. I bet this one is really niced iced. Niced iced. hah.

Steep #2 // 25 min after boiling // 4 min
This steep seemed a bit harsh – tough – oversteeped. There was still some strawberry flavor left. But I think I should have steeped it like the first cup. The leaves were too unraveled for such a steep. I’ll enjoy the rest of my sample of this one!