Osmanthus Oolong Se Chung ZM44

Ok, I’ve been trying to think of how to describe this tea, and this is the best I’ve got: Lipton, if it tasted better, and was slightly sweet. The leaves themselves are dark green with small pieces of what I’m assuming are the osmanthus flowers. It’s kind of fascinating because the flavor is SO familiar and yet different at the same time. If you’re a fan of oolongs, samples of this are inexpensive from Upton. It’s worth a try just to see the amazing variations within Chinese oolongs.

Sweet oolong, how I love thee! It’s vegetal and sweet floral in just the right way, and it lingers into the aftertaste to. Sometimes, I find oolongs are “jasmine” floral, which I can’t stand… but other times its more of an “orchid” type note, and I love orchids! Funny though, I don’t taste the osmanthus. Perhaps that’s because I’m down with the flu, so I won’t rate this today… I mean, as much as I love this cup, it isn’t what I expected so that wouldn’t be a very fair assessment.
Thanks to Sil for the hookup!

After sipping down many of my opened samples this weekend, I thought I deserved to open a new one :) Can you go wrong with oolong?!? I have yet to taste one that I didn’t care for.

This reminds me of a milder, smoother, and almost buttery Irish or English breakfast. My tea horizons are expanding thanks to Steepster.

Update: Second steep brought out some fruity notes. Interesting :)

The smell of osmanthus fragrans trees/shrubs (aka sweet olive) has always tickled my fancy (ok I’m a horticultural geek, what of it?) When I saw this I had to try it. I guess I’d describe the scent as an orange or peach lollipop. Maybe a little vegetal and minerally oolong smelling as well.
It tastes like it smells. It seems like the cooler it gets, the more the osmanthus comes through. This would probably be excellent iced.

I just made this again and steeped it for quite some time. This time the osmanthus is quite a bit more noticeable and sticks around in the aftertaste, giving the tea a much more floral vibe than the first time I had it.