Vanilla Orchid

This tea was pretty good even though I am pretty sure I didn’t get the temperature right. I was at a friend’s house with just a stove top kettle. I had to estimate the temperature without a thermometer. There was just a hint of bitterness and a nice flavor of vanilla and orchids. The background flavor of the oolong was there too. It was not a strong oolong flavor but a mild one. It was excellent.

I brewed this once in a 26oz cast iron teapot with 4 tsp leaf and approx 195 degree water for 4 minutes. I would buy this tea again, at least in theory.

I went into Davids Tea looking for a mid-caffeine tea that might not be too sweet. I had oolongs in my mind so I asked to smell a bunch of the loose leaf. I like gingery things so I thought I’d try the ginseng oolong but it was intimidating, both in its chunky appearance and earthy/dusty smell. So I thought I’d give vanilla orchid a try. This tea smells gently of vanilla, and gets much stronger when brewed. The vanilla flavor is herbal but still sweet enough not to be medicinal. I don’t take any honey or sugar in my tea so this was definitely not sweet on its own but had a pleasant green/mineral flavors like an earthy green tea rather than being too vegetal. It was more like hay or leaves in the best way possible. This oolong brews up light, more yellow/green than amber, and I suspect I let it oversteep, so it was a bit strong for me. The vanilla is vigorous but authentic and not at all candy-like. As long as you know that going in, this tea is worth the try.

I had this one on my way to work yesterday and I really don’t remember much about it. Sad, but true. I didn’t feel like I knew enough to write a review, so I figure I’ll do that the next time I have it hot.

But this was a cold brew. I decided to throw this in a mason jar in my fridge yesterday, and here I am.

Wow, the vanilla aroma off the tea is crazy strong. I mean, it smells like that vanilla pudding that I saw people talk about in the reviews of this one. I gave some to my husband to try, and he pulled his head back after going for a sip and gave me a look of shock. I told him to ignore that and just taste it.

the vanilla mellowed out a ton in the cold steep. It was still there, but not overwhelmingly so. It had a nice mouth feel, a little bit vegetable green, and slightly almost mineral taste, but very pleasant. Even my husband agreed.

I added more water to the leaves in the mason jar and back in the fridge it has gone.

The vanilla flavour is quite strong- reminds me of the vanilla flavouring in yogurt. The vanilla overpowers the oolong, especially in the aftertaste. The oolong seems to have been over-infused or infused at too hot a temperature. I may want to try brewing this again for less time or at a lower temperature.

I couldn’t believe the smell of this tea – it smells JUST like a fresh vanilla cake. Unfortunately, like many teas, it doesn’t taste the way it smells. Not to say this isn’t good – I just got more of a bland, straight oolong taste. Not much vanilla. I may try sweetening it with rock sugar.

Queued post, written May 2nd 2014

I’ve been wanting to try this for quite some time, partly because it’s vanilla but mostly because when I first noticed it on Steepster, the reviews of it were so mixed and most of them seemed to fall in the range of ‘mediocre’. I did not understand how this could possibly be. It’s vanilla for crying out loud! (Seems like Steepsterite-feelings about it are generally more positive now when I go back and look)

Luckily, Anna came to my aid and shared some with me.

NOW I understand how a vanilla flavoured tea can be mediocre. This tea is so strange! It’s an oolong base, and it’s a fairly flowery one at that. I know that vanilla comes from an orchid and all that, but that doesn’t mean that it automatically pairs well with a floral flavour. I can’t help but wonder if this base was picked specifically to underline the ‘orchid’ bit of the name.

Doesn’t really matter if it was though. What matters is the result is not very succesful. The flavouring just doesn’t suit the base at all. Or the base doesn’t suit the flavouring, whichever way around you wish to think of it.

There’s an awful lot of floral oolongness here, and it’s a greenish type oolong of the sort that I’m not very fond of to boot. And then a smidge of background vanilla here and there.

I can find so little actual vanilla in this that I hesitate to call it a vanilla tea.

And I like a fairly subtle flavouring! I’m always going on about how I want a flavoured tea to still feel like I’m drinking tea, but this is just… It’s not subtle, it’s downright obscure.

I think this oolong here is my least ever favourite base for vanilla. It would probably be quite nice by itself, or maybe with a teensy bit of citrus-y freshness. But it does not work with vanilla.

This is my first Davids Tea ever!! And it’s all thanks to Virginia, who sent me samples of every DT she had. I mentioned that I’d never tried any DTs and about a week later, I have 41 NEW TEAS to try! How awesome is she?

Back to the tea, I think this is a very auspicious start to my relationship with Davids Tea. This tea is just lovely in every way. The leaves are gorgeous and unfurled very prettily when steeped. I felt like I was watching one of those time lapse nature videos of a plant growing. When sipped, a mellow oolong taste begins and then melts into an elegant, understated floral note. When the floral fades, you’re left with a soft pop of vanilla on the tongue. I think I’m in love. I must have this tea always.

I know I’ve already written about this tea twice recently, but I have new data to add. I accidentally oversteeped this by 15-20 minutes. Just totally forgot about it while I was getting ready this morning. And it didn’t get bitter or gross!

So, to sum up my tasting notes: add honey to really make the vanilla pop, try this iced, and rest assured that it’s very forgiving.

As I’m drinking this, I can’t help but to think I’d love for my really good oolongs to have a bit of a vanilla taste. I love vanilla. This is not the best oolong I have, but I keep restocking because of the vanilla. It’s expensive for what it is though.

I could swear I already reviewed this tea, but I just looked through all of my tasting notes, and I can’t find it! Weird! Anyway, this is a sipdown and was originally received from 20monkies.

This is very similar to The Persimmon Tree’s Mandarin Silk/Creme. It’s a creamy, non-artificial or cupcake vanilla. It’s soft on the palate, yet very pleasant. I definitely don’t need both in the house at once but I was able to get through an ounce of this pretty easily. I would definitely keep one or the other in the house at all times, though I will say, this is something you have to be in the mood for since it lasts a few steeps.

I add sweetener to mine.