Fig Formosa

I have Teh Guilt. Autumn_Aewyd sent me a lovely package full of a whole little Green Tea Education, and I haven’t tried a single one of them yet. I haven’t even felt the desire to try one yet.

It will come though. Just as soon as my left ear stops being stupid (I asked our ear, nose and throat specialist at work and she seems to think it’s a mild inner ear infection). It feels like it’s full of water, but it’s more irritating than actually painful. Still, I’m not feeling ill, I’m just not feeling 100% well either.

On top of that, it’s really waaaaaarm outside. I’m sitting here in a thin summer dress and I still feel like it must be at least forty degrees in here. I can’t brain!

Clearly Autumn_Aelwyd’s careful selection would be wasted under these circumstances, so I’m cold brewing and drinking down the stash with some well-known flavoured greens, regular greens and greener oolongs. Things that I can actually finish off, or things I’ve been avoiding for a while, so I can remove them if my fear proves grounded. Black and dark oolong doesn’t really sound very appealing at the moment.

This one is one of those that I’ve been scared of. I’m ambivalent at best about figs. I like them processed but I’m not crazy about them on their own. I have the same problem with dates. More so with dates, actually, I absolutely dislike dates.

What we’ve got here is a cup of something that smells heavily of soap and something I can only describe as wet dog. I really don’t think this will be something for me, but I am, regardless of what it may look like, trying to keep an open mind about it.

It tastes of soap and perfume as well. A very alkaline sort of side note to it. I can’t tell if this is due to the flavouring or if it has something to do with the blend seemingly being two thirds flowers.

There’s a smooth oolong base underneath, so slippery it almost slides off the tongue, but that sensation in addition to above soapy aspect is just not a good idea. It puts me in mind of something kinda slimy and gives me all sorts of nasty associations.

That said, though, it’s not completely undrinkable. I could probably finish a whole cup of this IF there was nothing else to choose from, or if the alternative was something totally unacceptable, like for example a hibiscus-y blend. As there actually is something else to choose from, I’m going to go with that, and put this one in the box of things to go out to a new home. (Two other people have posted that they enjoyed it very much, so be not afraid. Simply a bad match in this house.)

I love figs, I love Formosa Oolong, so I knew I had to try this flavor when I noticed it the last time I shopped with Teas Etc, and fortunately they were nice enough to send this as a sample along with my order. I held off on trying it for a bit, not because I didn’t think I would like it, but because I knew I would so I wanted to save it for a day when maybe I had a less than memorable tea (See my tasting note of the Jane Austen Mafia tea), so that I could have a really good tea and make up for it.

And this tea definitely makes up for it. I got only the sample package, but this is definitely one I will be reordering. I don’t think I’ve ever tasted a truer fig flavor than with this tea. It is amazing.

This brews to a most unusual color. It is extraordinarily dark, almost black, with a plum-ish/purple/reddish hue to it, and it reminds me of the color of the exterior of the figs that I often find in the grocery store.

This tastes SO MUCH like the figs from my childhood (I lived for a short time on a farm that had a fig orchard). I love this tea. It is so good.

We are in the full swing of Harvest here.
Running constantly the last week or more,and never sure what day it is.
I have been drinking staple teas such as my Earl Grey, but because I am out in the field all day, I have been down to one cup of tea daily.
I feel like those last five words should be in capitol or italics or in bright red.
It has been utterly grueling.
But, today I am home, doing laundry, cleaning and bound and determined to drink tea.
I have this tea from Angrboda and its a odd duck.
The nose of it dry reminds me of some candy I had in my youth.
The most odd thing about this tea, is its color.
My husband walked by and stopped and then sniffed and then asked me with slight fear in his voice “Is…that tea?”
It is sort of a brown-ish purple color.
Now, I only have had figs a few times in my life, but this tea is not coming off overly “figgy” to me.
More fruity.
But, I am rather enjoying it.
Maybe its just because I am actually sitting down in the middle of the day, drinking a cup of tea that I am being rather forgiving.
But, it is a nice fruity afternoon tea.
Thank you for letting me try this tea, Angrboda.

After reading LiberTEAS review I knew this had to be on my next Teas, Etc order. I’m so glad I did. The dry leaves, figs, etc smelled super sweet when I opened the package, so I was a little worried it would be too sweet. I was so wrong! The mix was just right! I am enjoying a dark, rich flavored oolong. The fig is there loud and clear, the cornflower and poppy add a nice sweetness so no additional sweetener was needed which was nice too. i usually prefer my oolongs straight, but this is a nice change from the usual.