Tea Type: Oolong
Where To Buy: Shanti Tea
Product Description:
A rare hand-crafted designer Ceylon tea, medium-bodied.
From the famous Biodynamic & Fair Trade Idulgashinna Tea Garden come these visually captivating spears of cassis, cinnamon, gold, and silver tips, resembling the mythical unicorn’s horn. This hand crafted tea is carefully hand-rolled and twisted into spears. Each finished cluster is slightly more than 1 inch in length. These partially fermented leaves produce a delicate, pale liquor that is exceptionally sweet and clean, with champagne undertones. The tea can be steeped multiple times, each revealing new complexities.
Tasters Review:
I’ve collected unicorns since I was 3. Anything from collectibles and figurines to logo-ed items and ANYTHING in between. So when I saw that Shanti Tea had an Oolong Tea named Blue Unicorn…I HAD TO HAVE IT! And I am so glad I chose it!! It’s truly amazing!
The first time I tried this – I infused 3 “horns” as suggested. The pre-infusion scent is completely different than the during and post-infusion scent! The Pre-Infusion is more of a Sweet/Floral, During Infusion it’s a Floral/Semi-Sugary type, and the Post is more of a Sweet Honey/Candied type aroma.
I also noticed this is a VERY hefty handcrafted leaf! Surely to live up to multiple infusions!
My first response to my first sip was…WOW. My 2nd response was…YAY!
Oh my! What a treat! This is VERY unique! VERY Sweet and Juicy! It’s Clean and Crisp! Very Champagne-Like! Almost fruity but I am not sure what kind of fruit to compare it to upon my first attempt and first infusion.
Like I said…these ‘horns’ or leaves were screaming multiple infusions, so I gladly obliged.
I used the same ‘horns’ in my 2nd infusion. I infused for 9 minutes (did 7 the first time).
The 2nd infusion smelled much more peachy! A VERY awesome scent! It was sweeter and juicier and more champagne-like! The color was pretty much the same…a lovely yellow-orange-light brown.
As for my 3rd infusion…I used the same 3 pieces and infused for approx 11 to 12 minutes. The color was a littler lighter. The scent was Peachy and Floral and Pleasant…not as Peachy as the 2nd infusion tho.
The ‘horns’ were continuing to morph but still played games with me – egging me on to continue to play with them! They look to still have more infusions left. NOW it’s become a challenge…a game…
The taste…Fruity (slightly peachy) – not as peachy as the 2nd infusion. Along with floral notes…blossoms, perhaps.
AND that was just my first attempt with multiple infusions. I have much more fun with this Blue Unicorn since opening the tin! Here is how other attempts have turned out…
I used 5 ‘horns’ and the first infusion at 4 Minutes turned out like this…
The color post-infusion is very honey-like. The horns haven’t really unfurled but that just means more infusions in my book so I am totally ok with that! It smells more like silver tips this time around…I’m not picking up on the peach like my last go-around…It has a refreshing aftertaste…juicy!
2nd Infusion – same 5 Horns – 7 minutes I found the same coloring and scent – scent a tad sweeter that first infusion. The taste changed to more of a sweet-floral with juicy fruity tones but not overly identifiable as to switch fruit(s). It’s VERY Smooth. It seems I get a new surprise with each cup!
I have successfully done 4 flavorful infusions of this and a VERY HAPPY with the outcome. Very few teas make it to my 100 percentile list but this one has! I can safely say this is one of my all-time-favorite teas!
Just goes to show you…UNICORNS…they really ARE magical!
LOVE THIS!!!
