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.

Finally, a lazy Sunday afternoon. Long week.

This tea is delightful. I get fruity and honey notes with each sip. There’s also a bit of smokiness to it.

Time for a second steep :)

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!

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.

Quite good iced.

Sipdown! 825.

You know – this isn’t too bad at all! However, I’m not sure what osmanthus is supposed to taste like (peach??), but all I’m getting here is an aged oolong (lighter than the other I tried today), which is quite tasty. I’m getting some fruitiness (as opposed to floral), but would be hard-pressed to describe it as anything specific, let alone peach. Anyhow, it’s yet another tasty oolong for me tonight. I really do adore oolongs – although the one downside (kind of) is that they halt my sipdown progress since I feel guilty unless I resteep them at least twice, which means 6 more cups of tea (between the three) before I get to empty those infusers. Oh well! At least it will be tasty :D

Sipdown of this sample, which I have really enjoyed. If brewed improperly (too hot of water), it’s a bit too roasty (at least that’s what I remember from months ago).
This is a slightly roasted green and tightly-rolled oolong with a sweetish osmathus scent that tends more towards jasmine than did the Osmanthus Tea. The base is much better, though: a decent oolong with a nice long aftertaste that is minerally, like cucumber. A very pleasant cup.
I got two steeps out of it, just so the leaves would unfurl all the way, but the second wasn’t as sweet.