Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Culinary Teas
Tea Description:
Narcissus Oolong is considered one of Fujian Province’s finest exports. Light floral notes with a mild fullness reminiscent of a Pondicherry red pepper. Full bodied with an astringent finish.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Before I go to the tea vendor’s website and read their description of a tea (which I provide above), I like to taste the tea independent from the influence of the vendor’s thoughts of the tea, and write down my initial impressions. For this tea, I wrote: sweet, floral, with an pleasant, mild sweet-pepper kind of taste.
I found the similarities to my first impressions of this Narcissus Oolong Tea from Culinary Teas as compared to the vendor’s description to be quite interesting! (And I’m also quite glad that my taste buds aren’t playing tricks on me, because while the sweet pepper taste is quite compelling … I thought maybe my taste buds were a bit off when I tasted it! I’m glad they are working properly!)
I like the texture of this tea. It’s very soft and smooth … almost buttery, but it doesn’t stay that way. That is to say that there is enough cleansing astringency to this tea that I don’t feel like I need to wipe my palate after each sip because of “buttery” build up. It is smooth and silky as I sip, and then the palate feels clean, and ready for another sip of silken sweetness!
The flavor is slightly vegetative, with notes of flower (but I appreciate that the floral tones are not overwhelming here), and pleasantly sweet. A sweet-tangy-spicy sort of note. I like that the spicy here is mild – because I think if it were a stronger spicy note, it would overpower the tea. Here, the mellow spice tones are in keeping with the overall calm, relaxing taste of the tea.
A very pleasant Oolong – and I like that this is not your typical cup of Oolong! It is different enough to keep things appealing!
