I got a sample bag of this as an add-on in a swap with somebody. I used the whole 7g in a 100mL gaiwan. The dry leaf smelled weirdly sweet and herbal – must have been the smell of ginseng – not sure I’ve ever smelled or consumed that before.
Turns out ginseng is gross – to me anyways. It was sickeningly sweet with a weird almost medicinal vibe. Also left a very strange feeling in my mouth. Sort of like menthol, but also I tasted that funky sweetness every time I inhaled – like the ginseng powder coated the inside of my mouth. I only made it through around 3 steeps, as it wasn’t good and was starting to make me feel slightly unwell.
Maybe it’s for some people, but it’s definitely not for me.
Flavors: Medicinal, Menthol, Sweet
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Lol, Korean people consider most things with ginseng in it pretty much herbal medicine. My mother used to make a foul concoction in a slow cooker that would fill the house with its stench for days with some potent ginseng-herbal remedy known simply as “han-yahk” or Korean medicine that I am remembering the smell of just by reading your review, XD.
Thanks so much for your tasting notes.
It seems that you’re not a fan of teas with ginseng, or just not big on ginseng. As a mixture of 95 percent of traditional Oolong tea and 5 percent of American ginseng, so yes, it has obvious flavor of Ginseng when you smell on the dry tea.
When brewed, there is a really sweet flavor throughout the mouth both in front and in the back, combining with clear and fresh aroma and rich fluid under tongue with strong aftertaste. Meanwhile, the Ginseng flavor will be gradually faded after several infusions.
I totally understand you just simply don’t like Ginseng flavor, and if you’re interested in, I can send you other Oolong samples to try.
Oof, now that I know what ginseng smells like, I don’t think I would enjoy the whole house smelling that way for days ;P
@Teavivre – Yea I just don’t enjoy ginseng, is what I’m taking from this tea. I have tried some other teas, including oolongs, from your site and they’ve all been quite nice :)
Hope you don’t take the review personally – it’s the ginseng, not you! ;)
@Matu, please don’t worry, I understand that!
Lol, Korean people consider most things with ginseng in it pretty much herbal medicine. My mother used to make a foul concoction in a slow cooker that would fill the house with its stench for days with some potent ginseng-herbal remedy known simply as “han-yahk” or Korean medicine that I am remembering the smell of just by reading your review, XD.
Thanks so much for your tasting notes.
It seems that you’re not a fan of teas with ginseng, or just not big on ginseng. As a mixture of 95 percent of traditional Oolong tea and 5 percent of American ginseng, so yes, it has obvious flavor of Ginseng when you smell on the dry tea.
When brewed, there is a really sweet flavor throughout the mouth both in front and in the back, combining with clear and fresh aroma and rich fluid under tongue with strong aftertaste. Meanwhile, the Ginseng flavor will be gradually faded after several infusions.
I totally understand you just simply don’t like Ginseng flavor, and if you’re interested in, I can send you other Oolong samples to try.
Oof, now that I know what ginseng smells like, I don’t think I would enjoy the whole house smelling that way for days ;P
@Teavivre – Yea I just don’t enjoy ginseng, is what I’m taking from this tea. I have tried some other teas, including oolongs, from your site and they’ve all been quite nice :)
Hope you don’t take the review personally – it’s the ginseng, not you! ;)
@Matu, please don’t worry, I understand that!