Thanks so much for this one, Cameron B! I was really missing fresh oolongs when I woke up this morning, seeing as I have been trying to rein in the ridiculous tea stash and not buying fresh teas. I think I have been doing fairly well the last few years — but I don’t know if it’s just the volume of tea packaging that is necessary for just the one serving remaining of tea I tend to leave around, it’s like the volume of tea never seems to decrease. Oh well! One day the stash will be down! And I will certainly know which teas are necessary to have around. I have only had a couple of these oolong bricks in the past. This one seems bigger than the other oolong bricks I have tried, but also seems to use bigger leaves and isn’t quite as compact as they have been in the past. The flavor is light on the first steep. But by the end of the session, the huge leaves are bursting from the basket infuser. Possibly this one shouldn’t be used for mug steeping, but the flavor was never too harsh. It’s actually a hard oolong for me to describe. Nothing really stood out here, in flavor profiles. Where are the flavors for me that derk noticed?! And it was those super nuanced and distinct oolongs I was missing this morning. oh well. I certainly don’t fault the very elaborate packaging here — this one should have definitely maintained the flavor with it being wrapped in three different wrappers. hmm
Steep #1 // 29 minutes after boiling // 7 second rinse // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 10 minutes after boiling // 2 min
Steep #3 // just boiled // 2 min
Steep #4 // just boiled // 3 min
2024 sipdowns: 9
This is You :-D
Profile
Bio
Hi! I love tea and trying new ones – it adds a bit of variety to my day! Books, music, TV & movies are my thing… and tea, of course.
Some of my favorite tea shops (still operating):
birdandblendtea.com
teavivre.com
52teas.com
svtea.com
whisperingpinestea.com
justea.com
harney.com
Dammann Freres
fusionteas.com
Javateaco.com
Lupicia
Octaviatea.com
Davidstea
eco-cha.com
what-cha.com
singleoriginteas.com
teasenz.com
tealyra.com
Mandala
verdanttea.com
Favorite tea shops (RIP):
butikiteas.com
steapshoppe.com
steepcityteas.com
aquartertotea.com
dellaterrateas.com
zentealife.com
angrytearoom.com
theteamerchant.net
joysteaspoon.com
tealiciousllc.com
Rivertea
Specialteas
My icon photo is Richard Mayhew from the graphic novel ‘Neverwhere’ by Neil Gaiman, Mike Carey & Glenn Fabry.
Most of the teas listed in my cupboard are actually sample sizes. I don’t really have 2,000 ounces of tea around here! Many of my teas have only one teaspoon left… maybe two. But I like keeping them in my cupboard list for reference to what I could be sipping. Usually, I write tasting notes once for each tea. I’m still drinking them, just not writing tasting notes each time!
I’m always in search of: Hattialli, Qu Hao black, Jin Jun Mei, teas using marshmallow root.
My dislikes: hibiscus, ginger (unless in chai), turmeric, bee pollen, charcoal type flavors
My ratings:
95-100 – Super awesome deliciousness favorites – cupboard essential
80-95 – Also pretty delicious
65-80 – Pretty good
50-65 – Okay
1-50 – Probably won’t want to sip it again
I’m planning on being a Steepsterer as long as there IS a Steepster, so if you’re not hearing from me, that means something happened to my health… if you know what I mean. (Or as evidenced by the great computer hiatus of 2019, something happened to my computer… I have a dumb phone so can’t access internet on that. As of 12/20/21 my wifi might start getting unreliable.)
Happy sipping!
Location
USA
