Golden Oolong

Today is apparently the day of the Golden Teas. Well, at least this one and the last one that I had … but it wasn’t really intentional. I just grabbed tea from my seemingly endless supply of samples that I have yet to taste and this is what I came up with.

And I’m glad that I did, because this is awesome. It’s a bit different from a typical ‘green’ Oolong in that it has more focus to it … the floral tones are sharper. This is not a soft, delicate Oolong, the flavors here are well defined and really pleasant. Honey-esque tones bring sweetness to the cup. It is remarkably smooth from start to finish, and the astringency works together with the floral notes to provide a sort of tangy, tingly sensation at the finish. The aftertaste is sweet and flowery.

A very nice Oolong, I like it when I get a nice surprise like this from an Oolong!

While infusing I’m picking up an aroma combo of Veggies, Flowers, and Mushrooms! I went the suggested 45 seconds.

On the tongue – it’s floral and vegetal but also slightly sweet. I can pick up honey-notes but they are more of the malty-side of honey and not-so-much the sweeter-side of honey, if that makes sense.

It certainly DOES have a unique taste/flavor. I appreciate that very much! I can’t really compare it to anything else I have tasted…and I LOVE that about it, too!

It has certain traits of an oolong but also certain traits of greens and blacks, too! I think that is why I am pondering this one so much! It’s really neat!

As it cools at room temp I can taste it morphing into more of a greener oolong.

Excellent Oolong to Stew over :)

Thanks to Derek at Peony Tea S. for a free sample of this tea during their shipping times test!

Although the instructions indicated 4g of tea for 100mL of water, I went with 5g of tea for ~200mL water (though I kind of regret it now, so will probably try the recommended infusion method later). I also left the tea in for twice the recommended infusion time, as after 45 seconds, I didn’t think the tea would have much flavour. And sipped it, and burnt my tongue :( Anyways…

The aroma from the tea is of a light sweet oolong, but I have to note that I also took a sniff of the wet leaves, and got this crazy sweet seaweed aroma! Absolutely delicious! Kind of like those sweet, seaweed-wrapped crunchy snacks. Delish. I wish the tea smelled/tasted like that, but I suspect it won’t.

Sure enough, the tea doesn’t taste quite like that, but there is an absolutely delicious, mouth-enveloping sweetness. I want to call it rock sugar, but it’s much more complex than that. It’s a familiar flavour; I assume I’ve tasted it before with other oolongs. It’s one I could sip for days, though (until it got to be too sweet). The sip finishes with a nice oolong aftertaste, which is absolutely divine. There’s a bit of a vegetal flavour interspersed in here, but it’s not prominent, as the sweetness really takes over. I suspect subsequent infusions to become more vegetal and less sweet, however.

This tea is definitely a winner! I think I was quite pleased with all the selections I was sent as part of this testing process, so hopefully I will have the funds to make a purchase from Peony Tea S. sometime in the near future!

ETA: Second infusion (2 min/90C) still smells rather sweet and delicious. The cup’s a bit stronger this time, perhaps a touch oversteeped (it’s a little metallic), but other than that, is still quite sweet and pleasant, and not as vegetal as I was expecting.

This was a free sample sent as part of the test posting by Peony Teas. Thank you, Peony Tea.

I opened this by mistake, would you believe! It was early and I was still half asleep. I had intended picking up Peony’s Fengqing but this jumped into my hands and I am pleased it did.

Little nuggets of gold and green in my teapot. The liquor is golden and the aroma is orchids and honeysuckle. Tasting it, it is creamy with a light honeysuckle flavour. I used to love sucking the nectar out of honeysuckle as a kid. This tea is perfect for a Sunday morning as it revives me gently with its delicate sweetness. Now to get on with my work.