Long Life Oolong

I got three steeps out of this today. The first one was perfection… fruitiness coming out in all the right places. The second was ok, not great but ok. And the third, well it was weak and had an odd taste that made me dive for some water. Another one steep wonder, it seems. Kindof expensive for that, with the heavy fruit chunks and all… boo!

So… I think I need to take a break from Steepster for a few days. Too much going on for me right now… I’ve had a bunch of emotional upsets and there is an illness in the family causing all sorts of drama.
Not to mention that I’m dealing with the trauma of a big milestone tomorrow, and Friday. One that I’d really rather not face but am getting dragged through anyhow. So yeah. I need to make some space in my head, clear out the cobwebs and tears.
Could really use a hug right now.

I’ve been keeping jugs of various teas in my fridge, now that summer has finally come along, though they’ve mostly been herbals and the like. I keep trying to get my wife to taste them, and she does, and then she tells me she doesn’t like iced tea. Fair enough, gonna be a long summer without it for her. I can’t imagine drinking hot tea in the summer.

We stopped in DavidsTea the other day to drop off a resume and try some Jungle Ju Ju, and this was the tea of the day…iced. My wife takes one sip and says “Ooooh, this is really good iced.”

headdesk

So, this is my new jug-o-iced-tea in our fridge. I’m drinking the leftover bit from the teapot I brew it in, it won’t all fit in the jug (I have a 1.5 L teapot that I brew one pot of tea in, pour it into the jug, and then make another pot with the same leaves. This second steep usually leaves about a liter of tea behind, which is what I’m drinking now). It is delicious. I can really taste the almond in this cup, and it’s not a bad thing, it mixes well with the peach. I think this tea and I will have a good relationship this summer.

I had this one a LONG time ago before I had joined steepster. This was one of the first teas that I ever tried.

Anyway, having another go with this tea. It is just as good as I remembered. Peach and oolong are such a stellar combination. Sweet and the apricot adds a whole new dimension all together! The nuts also add a little bit of nutty sweetness! I love this one!

I resteeped this at 95 degrees for 7 minutes and it was wonderful!

I have had two “Mini Betty’s” (a single serve brown teapot) of this today and there is last little bit left for when I get home. I wish there was a tea fairy that could deliver more to me! sigh alas I will have to wait until next payday.

It is just so sweet and delicious, I am sad that I can only ever get three steepings out of this tea, but for the cost and all that flavouring, I am not going to complain… Mmmm, peeeaches! Aaapricots! Mmmmmmmm!

I made this for my mom but it gave her a headache so I’m drinking it :D for some reason she has a problem with a few David’s Teas I’m not sure why though. Oh well more tea for me! I will giver her some from Butiki I think I ordered grape and strawberry :D

Every time I see my tin of this I think “Hey, that’s something I can sipdown and not miss that much” – but then every time I actually make myself a cup it’s more like “Wow; this is so good! Peaches and Cream oatmeal! How could I ever think I don’t need it!?”. Gah; conflicting feelings…

So, I cold brewed it because that uses a ton of leaf: and it’s really good cold brewed too! Peach – but not a ton, a taste of apricot and this creamy, butty quality that always makes me think of my favourite breakfast food! Why must I have such absurdly fickle and conflicting thoughts about peaches!? A love ‘em/hate ’em attitude isn’t helpful at all!

I think I may have figured it out though: tangy, fresh, stoney peach flavour? No way! But a creamy, thick peachiness? Sure; I’m game! Just think about it – what are my favourite peach things? Peaches & Cream Oatmeal, Peaches & Cream Strudels. My favourite Peach tea? DT’s Southern Belle which had yogurt in it. Common denominator? The cream! Still not sure whether I’m ready to sip this one down though…

4tsp for 750mL tea, Breville One Touch, basket cycle on, 3-minute ‘medium’ steep, oolong setting.

I made this last evening to have after a heavy meal of take-out Chinese food to celebrate hubby’s birthday. He also adores this tea, comparing it to cognac. Delicious and well-balanced, this nuanced blend is probably the only flavoured oolong that truly works for me. (I’ve got somr Citron Oolong from DavidsTea but still can’t decide if I like it. Similarly, I have some Smoked Assam Oolong (!) from Stash and can’t make up my mind on that.) Properly made, Long Life Oolong will delight you, so long as you like peaches.

Rating: 90.

I am sitting here in anticipation of this tea which is politely steeping just feet away from me. I believe I have sampled this before, or maybe I did not. I know at one point someone said that since I liked Happy Kombucha I would also enjoy this.
I just got my first ever David’s Tea order in and am very excited! This is the first one I am steeping.
The smell in the bag is A MA ZING!
I love a really strong peach flavor.
Almonds are a true love of mine in teas as well.
So much fruit I had to pour the bag into a bowl to be sure there was any Oolong in there!
I found it.
I just hope that the oolong flavor can come through with all this fruit and nut!
I am also really hungry right now and have not made time to prepare any food so this is going to be food for me right now as well.
Yes, why I could be making food instead of writing this up while my tea steeps but come on Steepsters you all have done this a time or two right!?
There are about 20 things I should or could be getting done right now but alas, I had orders come in today. Which would be an excellent excuse if I didn’t have orders coming in almost EVERY day.
OH OH Its done BRB!
Ahhhh my tea is not resting beside me in a cup – cooling just a little before I indulge.
Well so I was saying … I have orders coming in almost daily.
That will be stopping for a while as we are going to St. Louis for a few days soon and I didn’t want precious teas sitting in the hot weather or getting snached up off my porch.
I would have my mother bring them in – as she will be here many times a day to check on things but I don’t need her seeing that many boxes so I cut off all orders and to police myself send any money I get into my PayPal (which is where all my earnings come through) right to the bank so I can’t play with it!
First sip:
hum a little on the weak side. :( Maybe I didn’t use enough leaf although I used what was in he directions.
I will let it cool a bit more.
No no I fear this won’t do.
The only thing I didn’t do was steep as long as it said to.
Well I was within the parameters but I could have let it go a bit longer.
I decided to pull the basket out of my Breville, grab a steeping basket, put that in my cup and took about half the leaves out of the basket from the Breville and put it in the strainer basket in my cup. This has to steep longer. If it still is not flavorful I will not be a happy camper.
I feel this tea is far too expensive to be this weak so this MUST be an operator error I pray.
There was just not enough time to think so this was the best thing I could come up with.
Maybe there is a way to lower the basket into the Breville longer without reheating the water – as I didn’t want to burn the leaf.
I just don’t know how to if there is but that is something to look into soon.
Regardless I did not want to waste two cups worth of leaves since the Breville only brews in two cup minim therefore this was my plan.
We will see.
…
Well okay … now we’re onto something here.
This is MUCH better and the leaves are not burnt – much more flavor now, I do get the oolong which is lovely and the peach.
Still you know I guess Im spoiled but for as much good looking yummy stuff is in this dry blend I guess I was expecting to be BLOWN out of the water.
I am just enjoying floating on this nice little raft here but certainly not blown out of the water.
I am withholding the rating FOR NOW because I never believe in rating when there is an operator error. I mean its not fair to the tea right?
I will try this again soon and see what comes out of it.
For now I would give this around a 70 and would not pass it up if offered but I would not re-stock based on this steep.
Total steep time was 6:30 minutes between Breville steep and basket in cup steep.
Brew temp 200f
As for comparison to Happy Kombucha – from what I recall anyway I prefered Kombucha!

I have accumulated a fair bit of this tea. Basically, Roswell Strange sent some to me back in December but it was either in a package that is lost somewhere in the world or a package that is stuck at my house in Thornhill. So, being a bit impatient to try what many have called “fuzzy peaches in a cup”, I asked Aimee Popovacki if she wouldn’t mind including some in our most recent swap. Then I ended up receiving a bit more from Roswell Strange in our most recent swap. So now I have a fair bit of this tea and thought it was probably a good idea to try it out.

Unfortunately, this is not the tea I was expecting. This smells like fuzzy peaches but tastes like oolong and more and more I am realizing that is not a taste I particularly enjoy. Thank you both Roswell Strange and Aimee Popovacki but I just don’t think this one is for me :(.

I just finished the last of this oolong today. I’m a little sad. I plan to repurchase another small size of this on occasion, but I am curious to try other types of oolong to see what I might be missing. You see, I only allow myself a certain number of repeat purchases at a time, to allow the opportunity to find new favorites (and to be kind to my wallet). It’s my version of self-control and discipline. But sometimes I go into David’s and I just can’t restrain myself …this tea might be a prime example of this…I’ll keep you posted :)