I am pretty sure I wrote a note on this one before, but as happened yesterday, that note seems to have disappeared.
I had never heard of osmanthus until a few years ago when I ordered an osmanthus puerh. It was very good but I had nothing to compare it to so that I could really separate the flavor. I have since had a couple of teas with osmanthus and I think I can recognize it better now. It isn’t nearly as sweet or as strong as jasmine to me, nor does it have the thick mouthfeel that rose can have.
The oolong here is not a dark roasted one, and it combines beautifully with the floral. I believe that this tea would have been rather floral on its own, and the addition of osmanthus just sweetens it a bit more. This was a lovely oolong for a late night treat, lasting about six infusions and really could probably have kept going for more.
I’ve had an osmanthus tea before, but my mouth wasn’t sure what to look for, it just registered as “not unpleasant.”