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Formosa Oolong from Kally Tea

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Formosa Oolong

Oolong Tea by Kally Tea

Portuguese explorers once named the island of Taiwan “Formosa” which in Latin means “Beautifully Shaped”. What a fitting name for this classic Oolong tea. This exquisite presentation is generally grown in elevations below 500 feet on the northern part of the island. We think you will agree that this is a formidable example of high quality Formosa Oolong.

2 Tasting Notes

Bonnie
Bonnie 2 tasting notes

For anyone who read my notes yesterday about how I was searching for my CANE (I need to name her, she’s 3 years old with silver, blue and black little squiggle flowers and a black wood handle), and I’m reporting that I found her at Old Navy. She was shopping.

Usually I find my CANE having tea at Happy Lucky’s.

I went looking for her after my hair appointment.
There was an odd ad on the radio for a Viagra type product that you had to ‘qualify’ for (huh?) and the first 200 men who called would receive a free stop watch to time the effects of the product (really?!). I certainly got some good puns out of that ad.

When I got home I finished some tea from earlier and roasted some root veggies for dinner. I set some tea aside for the morning, hoping the weather would brighten so that I could take some Fall Photo’s.

This morning was what I hoped for, shimmering light and blue sky.
I’m going to Douglas Lake behind my daughter’s house to get a sweeping view of the Rocky Mountains. I’ll post later pictures from my shoot.

I had to have the tea I set aside first.

When this tea was ordered I had a long conversation with the owner of Kally Tea and enjoyed the down-to-earth friendly conversation about tea and life.
He lives in the small high desert town of Hemet, California.
In my whole life as a consumer, I can’t think of any product besides tea where you can get to know the owner of the company providing the product.
I’m 64 and unless I walk into a physical store in my town and confront an owner and get to know them, it isn’t going to happen. TEA IS DIFFERENT!
(It’s a miracle really)

The tea
The dry Oolong was loose, not tight little pebbles of leaves
that would unfurl during steeping.
They looked like Black tea leaves and smelled sweet.

I used 1.5 tsp dry to 8oz. water at 160F and steeped 3 minutes.

The liquor was light honey brown, and tasted lighter than I expected for a first steeping. (I will try a little more leaf next time.)

The flavor was soft clover honey melting away on my tongue like water. There was a roastiness so light and savory that it kept drawing me back for more.

I sipped and sipped the smooth, gentle Oolong, thinking how nice
it was to have a tea that wasn’t requiring much of me.
could just relax, not going into ecstacy over it’s wonders or
into disappointment by some flaw.

As the tea cooled, it didn’t blink. Everything stayed as it was.
“Well now, an Oolong for anytime drinking,” I thought.

This type of Oolong is harder to find and one that I’m glad to have. By the way, I think this is one that’s good pared with food.

Here’s a picture from the LAKE http://flic.kr/p/diVvp6

I smoked my own tea! (In the culinary sense of the word smoked)

I had tasted some smoked oolong recently and when my Camerons Stovetop Smoker arrived (a present from my brother) along with 5 types of wood chips, I made a plan to smoke some tea.

There were no instructions for smoking tea of course. I had been unable to find anything online other than Lapsang Souchong smoked with Pine.
That’s all, and of course no ‘how to’ included.

I chose Alder wood because it’s mild, and placed a half ounce of tea on some foil that I had poked holes in so that the smoke could freely come up through the leaves. One quick sprinkle of water and I began the smoking process.
8 minutes later, I was done.

Today, I took my packet of regular Kally Formosa Oolong and the Alder Smoked version for a tasting at Happy Lucky’s Tea House.

Joe set up 2 Gaiwans and a row of white (regular oolong) cups and a row of brown (smoked oolong) cups for tasting.

The consensus was that the smoked tea was pretty good for a first attempt, not harsh like many Lapsang Souchongs and not like anything anyone had tasted before (not in a bad way or great way but something in between). George (the owner) liked it, and we went over how to make the flavor better and which tea’s to pair with the wood chips (cherry, oak, hickory, apple, pecan, bourbon, mesquite).

Why would I do this in the first place?

I tried to find some culinary smoked tea and couldn’t find any.
Now I’m making my own. I make rubs and steaming potions out of tea and herbs but the Lapsang Souchong was a bit strong. Now I’ll have some options. When I’m finished with this project, I might have some samples to send out!

I’ve started to roll with this….and I’m having some fun!

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