With a new Butiki order on its way, I’m trying to work through as many teas from my previous orders as possible. This is one I’ve neglected for too long, especially since I’ve been trying to identify oolongs I can get along with for a good long while now.
Dry, this smells amazing – maple and pecan in equal measure. Rich, sweet, nutty, almost syrupy. There are generous pieces of pecan in with the oolong, and the leaves are, for the most part, long and wiry, slightly twisted.
I brewed this as per packet parameters. 170 degree water for about 4 minutes. My first thought on tasting went something like “Ohh. This is lovely.” Not my normal response to an oolong, it has to be said. This is heavily flavoured and pretty rich – rather like drinking maple syrup, only not thick or sticky. The maple is the first thing I can taste – sweet, rich, almost buttery. The pecan develops second, adding an almost toasted flavour which cuts through the sweetness well. The oolong provides just the right kind of base – substantial but not too strong or overpowering. It’s perfect here, adding a faint but discernible mineral taste in the background, and brining the whole thing together really well. Another oolong I can add to my (very short) list of likes. Brilliantly done.
