Coconut Baozhong

additional notes: Having this one today. So old. So GOOD. How is it so good and so old? The coconut flavor is perfect here with this oolong. Maybe the flavor is mellowing perfectly as it ages. Queen Mary still has it! It’s $40 for 4 ounces! WHAT NO

I grabbed a pouch of this after my morning tea at the Queen Mary Tea room in Seattle. (I have also reviewed the tea room itself in Places) They blend some of their teas and some they buy blended already. I’m not sure which this is.

I like it. It seems to be a light oolong. Medium nuttiness with a decent coconut taste. Some might find it a bit fakey, but I actually find it mellow and fairly pleasant. A bit of sweetness in the background.

I suppose I am having my own little “Sipdown Saturday” today, in between furiously reading Anna Karenina! This tea came to me from Nicole (thank you!) and it smells heavenly. I love anything coconut flavored, and have had a few other coconut oolongs in the past that have been quite nice. This tea is very pretty in it’s dry form – nice, big olive green twisted leaves. The flavor is wonderful, nice and smooth and nutty, with a touch of natural sweetness also. It is not artificial-tasting like some coconut-flavored teas often are. This is my first experience with Queen Mary Tea, but I would certainly order from them after experiencing this tea. They have a very nice website, and their tea room looks so very cute. If I am ever in Seattle I will definitely be dropping by!

-Dry blend has large, twisted green leaves with a few twigs. Leaves unfurl during steeping to large, full-sized leaves that float to the top.
-Dry leaves smell of creamy coconut with a hint of sweetness.
-Tea liquor is a clear, pale yellow color.
-Smooth coconut flavor with a creamy mouthfeel. Lightly sweet finish.
-Best with a little sweetener.
-Very good tea. Sweetener brings out nutty flavors. Very light and satisfying.

wheeeee coconut! thanks for letting me try this nicole i’ll find a good coconut loving home for this one! lol (looking at kittenna)

I was craving an oolong this evening but was not in the mood for a full fledged gongfu session, so I decided to try this. This is from Nicole’s super generous giveaway. The flavouring is quite nice. It’s a nice nutty slightly roasted coconut, that still tastes fresh and sweet. I can see what Nicole means when she said some might find it a little artificial as suspect that the buttery feeling of this pouching has less to do with the actual tea and more to do with the flavouring as it lacks much of the accompanying tingle I usually get from oolongs and the tea tastes thinner than the other pouchong I have at the moment. Despite all that, the tea is quite nice. It has a nutty sweet flavour that blend with a slightly nutty fruity base tea with a little touch of a floral accent quite nicely. So far I am on steep two and I suspect I’ll get one or two others out of this tea.

Thanks Nicole! I’ll enjoy the rest of this packet.

1.5 tablespoon for 375 ml

Overwhelmingly floral. Coconut flavour in background. Hints of nutty and roasted tones.

Thanks to Sil for sharing this with me!

A sample from Nicole (Thank you!)

Since I don’t have full use of my fancy timed teamaker anymore, I often forget to set a timer for my teas, as was the case with this cup! So, it could have been over, under, or perfectly steeped and I’ll never know.

When I first took a sip it was entirely too hot for me to even taste anything other than ow, but once it cooled down a bit, it was delightful! Very sweet and flowery with a hint of coconut in the background. I might not have noticed the coconut if it wasn’t in the name (behold, the power of suggestion!) but with it on my mind, I pulled it out. A hint of vegetal flavor in the background, but it’s reducing the more and more the tea cools.

I’d describe it as delightful, but not necessarily delicious. BUT since I’m a dessert tea whore, that could contribute to me being not as in love with teas that do not make me feel like I am gaining weight just drinking them ;)

(This was generously sent by Nicole quite awhile ago)

Blah blah broken record, took oolongs to work… drink through them really fast. Yup, another sipdown due to drinking tea at work that works for work.

Anyway, I’m really tired. I worked a full day and then sat in traffic for almost 2 hours and then went to the symphony. It was great, but I almost fell asleep during the adagio bits.

Anyway, this is a great coconut tea, and I love that it’s a greener oolong. Glad I had the chance to try it! Would certainly have again if given the opportunity!