87
drank Strawberry Oolong Tea by Teavivre
1353 tasting notes

I cannot wait for A.C. Perch’s to open in Århus! I’m so excited! Every time I walk past where they’re preparing the store I try to peer in through the windows, although you can’t see plock all.

I’m on a mission to get through some of the older teas in the cupboard. There are a few which are from before we moved in here over two years ago! O.o Probably I’ll end up taking several of them with me to work. It’s easier to get through boring stuff there than it is at home. The trick is to only have boring stuff to choose from. :D I’ve already discovered that if you take a frankly disappointing caramel black and mix it 50/50, more or less, with a lacklustre vanilla, both become quite acceptable indeed.

Now, in order to further this mission I have made Husband make me a cup of something summerly which is a fairly recent acquisition. I asked for something fruity or oolong-y or both, you see.

I’ve actually had this a couple of times before but I haven’t posted about it because something always went wrong. Either I botched the brewing or I forgot to drink it and it turned cold or I simply just had it while being distracted by something else.

Now, this is one of those teas where I’m going to have to try really hard not to compare it too directly with another tea. Sometimes avoiding this is very difficult even though you know that you might as well be comparing apples and oranges. I’ve shared the ACP raspberry oolong with a number of you before, and that was the one I was thinking of when I bought this one. Any sort of red berry flavoured oolong is likely to get my attention, really.

But this really is quite different to the raspberry oolong, and not only because raspberries and strawberries only have being red in common. This is on a greenish oolong base whereas the raspberry oolong is more oxidised. Therefore I would put them in the same general category, but still consider them entirely different beasts.

Gosh, look at me blathering. Let’s just go straight to the tea, which has a strong aroma of strawberry. I mean really, Husband was having strainer related difficulties in the kitchen and I could smell strawberries all the way in here in my room. Granted there’s an open door between it and the kitchen, but it’s still a whole other room. It’s fruity and sweet, but also rather leaf-y. I’m sure the leaf-y note is actually the base oolong, but my brain wants to associate that to strawberries as well and it makes me think of strawberry leaf. I don’t even know if that would safe to drink at all, but my brain doesn’t seem to care about such trivialities. I know raspberry leaf can be used as herbal tea, although I’ve heard that it’s a bit… erm. Let’s just say ‘acquired taste’.

The fruit flavouring is a little more controlled in the flavour. It’s definitely there, still sweet and fruity, and it shows up primarily when swallowing and on the aftertaste. The rest of it is pure oolong. (Thankfully, my brain isn’t enforcing the strawberry leaf clause here, that would just be weird) It’s difficult to tell anything about the oolong, because an added flavouring always comes in the way of analysing it and I can only get a few general notes, if anything at all. This one feels quite smooth and a not too vegetal. As I tend to prefer the more stronger oxidised sorts of oolong, this is a good thing.

I’m quite enjoying this. It’s no ACP raspberry oolong, but it’s quite enjoyable.

Anna

I had no idea about the new A.C. Perch’s store, but as soon as I read this review, I called my friend who’s moving to Århus this fall, and she completely flipped. (The only one more excited than her is me, because I’ll get sooo spoiled with tea care packages.)

Angrboda

I know, it’s so awesome! :D I’m so excited I just want it to be August NOW! :D :D :D

Where are you from Anna? I’m guessing somewhere in Scandinavia?

Anna

August is closer than EVER. I hope they have a ton of grand opening discounts for you to shamelessly exploit!

(Yeah, good catch – I’m originally from Stockholm.)

Angrboda

There have been a couple of other Scandinavians about briefly, but most of them not very long, so I think we’re the only two at the moment. (Although I believe there was someone from Helsinki as well, but now I can’t remember who they are)

Anna

Oh, wow, that’s insane. I seriously consider Copenhagen one of the tea capitals of Europe, and Swedes, well – Swedes sure like their tea. I mean, I get that people feel left out when it comes to NA-only tea swaps and promos and things, but it’s not like the majority of the teas rated and/or discussed are unavailable.

Angrboda

You’re probably right, that’s the problem. I never really felt left out by the community, although I used to get annoyed when every contest and promo and what have you were NA only. I’ve accepted now that some shops are just out of my reach and that’s that. People are really helpful and if I was really desperate to try something I’m absolutely certain I can find someone on Steepster who would be willing to play middle-man in the purchase. :)

These days there are a lot more Europeans about. I do still get peevish, though, when people or companies post a contest or something and don’t mention whether there are any geographical restrictions on participations. Especially when I then ask and get told that it’s NA only. It’s like sometimes people forget that there are users outside of NA too.

Anna

Haha, I know – I was looking through one of the free shipping threads yesterday, and someone had put together what they referred to as (something along the lines of) ‘THE MASTER LIST OF FREE SHIPPING’… and it was completely NA-centric. So anticlimactic.

We should definitely exchange Scandinordic tea shopping tips (or rather, you should let me mooch off your knowledge; I haven’t lived here for the better part of a decade and have only been back for roughly a year).

Angrboda

My best tip is look towards the UK. There are looooots of UK based shops and shipping to Denmark from them is decent. I’ve never found a UK based shop that I deemed out of reach. My absolute favourite is Nothing But Tea, but I’ve also recently come across Jenier which have a large selection (Go for the samples or minipacks as they call them. They’re a whopping 25g each!)

Next for really high-end unflavoured stuff, look towards Asia. TeaSpring and TeaVivre both ship directly from China. The prices of the former are fairly steep, but they have a worldwide shipping fee of $4 or so and the quality is really top notch.

I only have three NA based companies right now that I will buy from. That’s Verdant, Andrews&Dunham Damn Fine Tea and …rats, I forgot! It’s the heatwave, you see. I can’t brain! Anyway, for the other two, the shipping rates are reasonable, but I only buy there very, very rarely. Seems like packages from NA shops have a tendency to attract the attention of customs people, so I frequently get hit with import fees on those. There’s 52teas as well for some truly crazy and popular blends, but after I had a period where there were import fees on three out of four orders, I decided that I didn’t love it enough to run that risk again.

There are some shops in Denmark as well. You already know AC Perchs (and likely their outrageous shipping costs abroad), but also check out Chaplon. They have some interesting Ceylon from a plantation that they’ve actually bought (Quite nice and flavourful too). Besides, that was where I bought tea online for the very first time, so they have a special place in my heart. :) Don’t know what their shipping abroad is like, though.

Anna

That’s super helpful, thanks! I guess I should have emphasized the ‘Scandinordic’ more, though – I travel quite a bit and don’t really have a problem sourcing teas from the US and the Asian countries I’m interested in getting samples from. Scandinavia, though, completely eludes me. Whenever I google something, new tea stores pop up – there are SO many tea companies I’ve never even heard of.

And yeah, ACP shipping is ridiculous. I’m definitely going to check out Chaplon – thank you. Mostly I’m big on fruity/floral stuff, though. I’m trying to graduate to more sophisticated, unflavoured teas, but it’s a slow process.

I tend to prefer well-established brands who don’t have so much turnover in terms of flavours. 52teas, for example, isn’t really for me, since I don’t love the idea of finding a massive fave and then never being able to buy it again because it was just available for a month. Lupicia is probably my all-time most-loved chain.

You seem to brain just fine, but maybe have some iced tea anyway, JUST IN CASE.

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Comments

Anna

I had no idea about the new A.C. Perch’s store, but as soon as I read this review, I called my friend who’s moving to Århus this fall, and she completely flipped. (The only one more excited than her is me, because I’ll get sooo spoiled with tea care packages.)

Angrboda

I know, it’s so awesome! :D I’m so excited I just want it to be August NOW! :D :D :D

Where are you from Anna? I’m guessing somewhere in Scandinavia?

Anna

August is closer than EVER. I hope they have a ton of grand opening discounts for you to shamelessly exploit!

(Yeah, good catch – I’m originally from Stockholm.)

Angrboda

There have been a couple of other Scandinavians about briefly, but most of them not very long, so I think we’re the only two at the moment. (Although I believe there was someone from Helsinki as well, but now I can’t remember who they are)

Anna

Oh, wow, that’s insane. I seriously consider Copenhagen one of the tea capitals of Europe, and Swedes, well – Swedes sure like their tea. I mean, I get that people feel left out when it comes to NA-only tea swaps and promos and things, but it’s not like the majority of the teas rated and/or discussed are unavailable.

Angrboda

You’re probably right, that’s the problem. I never really felt left out by the community, although I used to get annoyed when every contest and promo and what have you were NA only. I’ve accepted now that some shops are just out of my reach and that’s that. People are really helpful and if I was really desperate to try something I’m absolutely certain I can find someone on Steepster who would be willing to play middle-man in the purchase. :)

These days there are a lot more Europeans about. I do still get peevish, though, when people or companies post a contest or something and don’t mention whether there are any geographical restrictions on participations. Especially when I then ask and get told that it’s NA only. It’s like sometimes people forget that there are users outside of NA too.

Anna

Haha, I know – I was looking through one of the free shipping threads yesterday, and someone had put together what they referred to as (something along the lines of) ‘THE MASTER LIST OF FREE SHIPPING’… and it was completely NA-centric. So anticlimactic.

We should definitely exchange Scandinordic tea shopping tips (or rather, you should let me mooch off your knowledge; I haven’t lived here for the better part of a decade and have only been back for roughly a year).

Angrboda

My best tip is look towards the UK. There are looooots of UK based shops and shipping to Denmark from them is decent. I’ve never found a UK based shop that I deemed out of reach. My absolute favourite is Nothing But Tea, but I’ve also recently come across Jenier which have a large selection (Go for the samples or minipacks as they call them. They’re a whopping 25g each!)

Next for really high-end unflavoured stuff, look towards Asia. TeaSpring and TeaVivre both ship directly from China. The prices of the former are fairly steep, but they have a worldwide shipping fee of $4 or so and the quality is really top notch.

I only have three NA based companies right now that I will buy from. That’s Verdant, Andrews&Dunham Damn Fine Tea and …rats, I forgot! It’s the heatwave, you see. I can’t brain! Anyway, for the other two, the shipping rates are reasonable, but I only buy there very, very rarely. Seems like packages from NA shops have a tendency to attract the attention of customs people, so I frequently get hit with import fees on those. There’s 52teas as well for some truly crazy and popular blends, but after I had a period where there were import fees on three out of four orders, I decided that I didn’t love it enough to run that risk again.

There are some shops in Denmark as well. You already know AC Perchs (and likely their outrageous shipping costs abroad), but also check out Chaplon. They have some interesting Ceylon from a plantation that they’ve actually bought (Quite nice and flavourful too). Besides, that was where I bought tea online for the very first time, so they have a special place in my heart. :) Don’t know what their shipping abroad is like, though.

Anna

That’s super helpful, thanks! I guess I should have emphasized the ‘Scandinordic’ more, though – I travel quite a bit and don’t really have a problem sourcing teas from the US and the Asian countries I’m interested in getting samples from. Scandinavia, though, completely eludes me. Whenever I google something, new tea stores pop up – there are SO many tea companies I’ve never even heard of.

And yeah, ACP shipping is ridiculous. I’m definitely going to check out Chaplon – thank you. Mostly I’m big on fruity/floral stuff, though. I’m trying to graduate to more sophisticated, unflavoured teas, but it’s a slow process.

I tend to prefer well-established brands who don’t have so much turnover in terms of flavours. 52teas, for example, isn’t really for me, since I don’t love the idea of finding a massive fave and then never being able to buy it again because it was just available for a month. Lupicia is probably my all-time most-loved chain.

You seem to brain just fine, but maybe have some iced tea anyway, JUST IN CASE.

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Introvert, crafter, black tea drinker, cat lover, wife, nerd, occasional curmudgeon.

Contact Angrboda by email: [email protected]

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Bio last updated February 2020

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