Plum Oolong

yum yum yum

It’s true you can’t taste a whole lot of oolong here but I am kind of wondering which oolong of theirs they used here as the base, I am guessing the bai hao but I could be wrong.

Again, more hibiscus what is up, I think someone at Rishi owns stock in a hibiscus plantation. Thankfully this is downplayed quite a LOT so the aftertaste is not really tart at all. Or perhaps the oolong is providing a nice counterpart to the tartness of the fruit. I am getting mostly plum here and it is done very, very well. Happiness!!! bliss! It’s fruit paradise!

please note: your mileage may vary… ;-P

This came in the mail today, on one of the few times a year (or decade) that it snows in Texas. The UPS man was thoughtful enough to prop my doormat on top of the box to shield it from the falling snow. Southerners really are more friendly! I’ve been here for 6 months, but the little things like this continue to amaze me on a daily basis. Granted, I grew up in New Jersey, king of assholes, so the fact that people don’t flip other people off for no reason really blows my mind.

Anyway, about the tea. It steeps to a very pretty color that’s hard to describe. It’s kind of like pink mixed with orange mixed with yellow. If you want to know what it really looks like, check it out here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/47736372@N04/4382845180/

The smell is actually like wine. It’s intoxicating and fruity, inviting you to take a sip. I couldn’t help but oblige. It tastes exactly like it smells. It’s mostly floral with a hint of plum. Upon tasting, it’s obvious that this is a plum tea. It really does taste like plums. And I love plums. For just tasting floral and fruity, it’s surprisingly complicated. This is going to require many cups to get a full idea of what I’m tasting. I’ll let you know!

Wow, I was a little bit worried about the plum being too sweet in this one, but it isn’t. The oolong makes a great complement to this pleasantly subdued fruit tea. This feels cozy, and great as a holiday tea. Too much red fruit tea winds up tasting to me like jello mix, when you first pour the boiling water into it, but this is much more complex than the jello-tea genre. Perhaps if I’d steeped it too long it would have gone in a bad direction. I think the key to letting the oolong shine through in this tea is not to brew it with boiling water, and to stick to under 5 minutes. Glad to have some more of this ’round the house.

Still trying to figure this one out. I am new to oolongs, so I’m not sure what I’m supposed to taste on that front, but I do know that I taste a lot of the other juicy stuff that’s in here (hibiscus, rose hips, and ‘dried schizandra berries’… which I guess is the plum part?), and not much else. In the first steep, I get this kind of smoky, tea-like aftertaste when the tea is piping hot… must be the oolong! But as it cools it mellows out into this juicy pink brew that tastes… dare I say it? Like an HERBAL. The second steep (even at 8 minutes long!) fails to taste like anything but a hibiscus herbal.

I’m not too big on a lot of hibiscus, but unlike other teas that actually bill themselves as a juicy pink herbal, I like that this hibiscus is a lot more subdued. The liquor is more blushing pink than drag queen magenta. This tea is nice, simply nice. Do I think it’s a good example of an oolong? Not sure… can’t say I know much about oolongs at this point.

Delicious! Fruity but with tartness rather than much sweetness. This just rocketed to the top of my new favorite teas list.

Rishi describes the flavor of this oolong “succulent” and I must agree. The plum flavor is so robust it’s juicy. The other ingredients add an exotic tart flavor. The oolong is very mellow. It brings joyousness and energy. “The stash” didn’t last long. This cup proved to me, a loose-leaf plum oolong is a welcome friend.
Ingredients: Organic oolong tea, Organic schizandra berries, Organic rosehips, Organic Fair Trade Certified™ hibiscus, natural plum flavor and Organic osthmanthus flowers.

Tastes very strongly of plum and hibiscus. It pretty much stomps all over the oolong. I think I’ll try giving this a shorter steeping time next to see if the flavors don’t fight each other as much.

So light! Even after a 10 minutes steep. I can barely taste some floral and fruitiness.

Tried this out at the local Whole Foods. Very tasty and fruity – just what I’m in the mood for! Went well with the Indian food I was eating.