The Mermaid's Kiss

First comment – un-tea-related: WOW that was fast shipping. I only ordered on what? Thursday? Sweet!

Now, the tea. As always, lovely, pretty packaging. The tea leaf smells wonderful. Not creamy, but almost fruity. I keep thinking of pear flowers. While brewing, it’s a similar type of aroma, only milder.

I can’t comment to the color of the brew, as I’m breaking my rule of no tea after 6pm to try this, and I’m brewing a cup directly in my favorite cup – which is blue. It looks very light however.

Ooo.. floral, but not quite perfume-y. I am getting a dry-fruit-ish aftertaste, or maybe just a hint of sweet. I’m also burning my tongue a little, since I can’t wait to drink it. I’ll post this now, and come back with a rating a little later tonight.

Ooo.. floral, but not quite perfume-y. I am getting a dry-fruit-ish aftertaste, or maybe just a hint of sweet. I’m also burning my tongue a little, since I can’t wait to drink it. I’ll post this now, and come back with a rating a little later tonight.I am liking this however!!!

This poor little tea has been quite forgotten on the bottom of a pile of other A&D tins. Poor tea. :( I’ve dug it out again, though, and discovered to my surprise that I’ve only posted about it once.

At the time I described it as good but not hugely memorable. It would appear that I was right when I wrote that, seeing as it has gone completely unnoticed for two months.

So I had a cup last night and I’m having the second steep of those leaves now and I stand by what I said in the first review. It’s more oolong than flowers, and I like that, but the flowers give the oolong a sort of fresh lift. The oolong itself is still somewhat straight forwards and with a note of nuts and perhaps a touch of ever so slightly grassy greeness.

It is a rather good cup and this second steep is every bit as flavourful as the first one was last night, so I expect you could really get some mileage out of these leaves.

Holy unfurling leaves, Batman! I’m brand new to Oolongs, this is only my third, and each of them have been a unique experience… and I haven’t even gotten into the “good stuff” yet.

Being new to Oolong, I never really have any idea what the descriptions mean, so I’m often flying blind. I understand “scented” easily enough, but I have to ask… scented with what?

The dry leaves, rolled more tightly than anything I’ve ever steeped before, smelled very floral. Jasmine, maybe. It smells wonderful. After steeping, the scent mellows out a bit, and the flavor is kind of nectary. A bit fruity. It’s smooth and soft, and while I am under the impression that Oolongs can be creamier, this is one of the creamiest teas I’ve ever had.

I’ve never kissed a mermaid (merman?) but if the opportunity ever presents itself, I hope it’s like this. (Yeah, I said it.)

Another sipdown of a tea from Alphakitty! Entertainingly, I had pretty much the same impression of this one on my second go-round as my first, in spite of absolutely no recollection of the previous time I drank this! (I knew I had, just was misremembering it as being more of a straight TGY oolong).

It’s not bad, but a jasmine-flavoured oolong is not something I’d reach for…. ever, likely. Too much floral, and I’m not really one for floral. I’d much prefer a straight TGY or a milk oolong. So, it was neat to try a magnolia-scented tea, but not an experience I will likely feel the need to repeat!

Still absolutely delicious. I’m no longer picking up Pez (which is kind of a shame), so that was probably the only awesome thing that came from my plague. With that said, the flavor is still wonderful. I feel like I’m getting more of that slightly roasted oolong. and picking up less of the magnolia scent. There’s still plenty of the magnolia there though. It’s still wonderfully subtle while still maintaining a strong presence. Let me reiterate that I really, really, like the magnolia scenting. It’s a floral taste without coming across as being florally flavored if that makes sense. This was another “family visit taste test” and mom had the same reaction as a lot of the reviewers before A&D announced what the scenting was.

“It’s not jasmine, but it reminds me of it. …Magnolia? I can see that, but I never would have guessed.”

Mom and sister both liked it, but mom seemed to really enjoy it.

I’m leaving the temp on default because I don’t have a thermometer here and honestly have no idea what it was at.

Another workday, another overly large spoonful of Mermaid’s Kiss. My goodness, these leaves E X P A N D ! I have to remember to use less.

Drank 2 brewings from the leaves I brought from home this morning. Just as good as last week!

The leaves unfurl very quickly in this tea! It smells primarily of jasmine to me, with some orchid-type notes sneaking in. I do really enjoy this one. I accidentally oversteeped it and although it did not become bitter/astringent the flavoring of the leaves comes off a bit stronger than I’d like. I only have one more tsp of this one left, so I should probably enjoy it at a lower steep this time! It may be the fact that I just ate an orange, but the last notes that I get on this are fruity and kind of dry (dry? I don’t really drink wine, but something in this is bringing something like that back).

4 tsp TB for 750mL of tea, Breville One Touch, 3-minute steep, basket setting on, oolong setting.

Exquisite. I’ve not gotten the water right for this tea before. It is sweet and medium-bodied, heady but not suffocating with magnolia, slight atringency like white wine, and a sweet finish with a some creaminess. With the water at the right temp, there’s no bitterness.

Rating: 98.

I’m getting close to finishing this tea! Noooo! I love this tea! I can taste it losing its freshness though as I’ve had this for quite a long time now. It is still tasty. I wanted to drink this tea to see if it was my gaiwan that was messing up my previous oolong. It wasn’t. This tea is as good as I remember… just less fresh likely due to it being exposed to the air so many times! and age too! Anyhow, good tea! Yum!

LOVE!

I love jasmine whites and greens (not had a lot of experience with jasmine Oolongs, but I’ve liked what I’ve tasted thus far), but my favorite scented Oolong thus far is Magnolia!

I love this. I brewed in my gaiwan and not according to the suggested parameters, but, I’m happy with my result, and I guess that’s what matters. The flavor is sweet and the texture is soft and supple. A beautiful floral note that entices the nose and envelops the palate with deliciousness.

OK… so does this mean I’ve kissed a girl and I liked it?