My weakness is mystery bundles. There is just something irresistible about being surprised by mail that isn’t bills. I’m also a sucker for a sale. So when my Steeped tea lady, Nicole, told me my order qualified for a Mystery bundle of $100 worth of tea for just $20, you best believe I snatched it up! This was one of nearly a dozen teas inside!
This delightful morning blend is literally the flavors of an entire breakfast in one cup. My cousin is big on the butter in coffee trend, and as much as I’m willing to try new things, I just can’t imagine butter in my tea. Fortunately Steeped’s french toast Oolong is so tasty on its own, that it helps me continue to resist.
The scent transforms from its smorgasbord of tropical dry ingredients to a fresh-bread smelling wet leaf to the buttery, smoky rose-gold infusion.
There are layers of flavor as well. When the tea is hot, there are strong notes of maple syrup, and as it cools, more of the acidic citrus blood orange creeps out.
The after taste is spot-on, french toast-y (Kudos to the food scientists who made this happen!). It tastes of malt, with a sweet acid.
Surprisingly this is one tea that I actually preferred without sugar, even though it’s not sweet. Studies have shown that giving in to your cravings in the morning can lead to fewer cravings throughout the day. this is perfect if you already eat a sensible healthy breakfast but crave excitement. This will definitely be used to hold me over until brunch. Or until my next mystery box 😉
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Loose Leaf Oolong with dried fruits
Where to Buy: Steeped Tea
Description:
Breakfast in bed is served in this buttery mouth-watering tea.
Ingredients: Oolong tea, pineapple bits (pineapple, sugar, citric acid [acidifier]), coconut chips, lemon wedges, cranberries (cranberries, sugar, sunflower oil [anti-caking agent]), orange peels, rose buds, pomegranate blossoms, vanilla bits, prickly pear blossoms, natural flavors.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Bao Zhong from The Persimmon Tree
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pouchong, Oolong
Where to Buy: The Persimmon Tree
Tea Description:
The Bao Zhong tea’s hand-picked, long, twisted pouchong tea leaves are slightly oxidized, brewing a fresh, jade-colored infusion with delicate notes of lilac and pear.
IngredientsOrganic Oolong Loose-Leaf Tea, Bao Zhong Tea, Pouchong Tea
CharacteristicsRefreshing, Organic, Unblended
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I love a good pouchong and Bao Zhong from The Persimmon Tree fits this craving I am having! Its even better because it is organic!
The Persimmon Tree is dedicated to providing fair trade, organic, loose leaf teas. See more information about that here.
When I was young we had white lilac bushes growing between my home and my neighbor’s home. They were so beautiful and oh so fragrant. This tea takes me back to those years.
The floral after taste is lovely, light, and lingering. It makes me feel as though I have a vase full of flowers right next to me. The pear note is really quite light and I am not sure that I detect it as well as I could but it does have a very naturally sweet note with the littlest bit of a tang from the pear note.
What I love is that there is nothing like a good pouchong. It has such a wonderfully distinct flavor and aroma. Its something between coconut, vanilla, and floral scent that just captivates me, pulls me in, and won’t let me go, leaving me craving it for days after days until finally it allows my mind to release it long enough so that I can go back to other teas and rediscover this again, at a later time, each time fully being enraptured just as I was the last time I sipped it. Every time I have this pouchong its like a totally new experience all over again.
Medium Roast Dong Ding from The Mountain Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: The Mountain Tea Company
Tea Description:
The slow roasting of this tea gradually caramelizes its natural sugars and sweetens it, imparting notes of caramel, sweet roasted barley, and brown sugar.
Many of the names related to Taiwanese teas are tea-producing regions, tea-making styles, or both. Dong Ding is a tea gardening region in Nantou, Taiwan whose area name has become eponymous with its style of tea manufacturing. Dong Ding teas have a longer oxidization period and are also slowly baked at a high temperatures, with careful attention to how the flavors and aromas are changing throughout the baking process. The result is caramelized sweetness with a depth and complexity that literally makes your mouth water—it’s a phenomenon the Chinese call “Hui Gan.”
Other names: Tung Ting, 炭焙凍頂
Water: 95°C
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Medium Roast Dong Ding from The Mountain Tea Company is Mmmmmmm delightful! Dong Ding Oolong is my all time favorite tea. This tea brings me back to everything I first loved about loose leaf tea.
The mixture of sweetness with savory notes, the highlight of caramel infused with barley. The roasted flavors that remind me of being in the woods, in nature. The caramelized sugar notes, or brown sugar perhaps. I don’t really even care to dissect it as it is just one of those teas that makes me go “Ahhhhhh” and all I want to do is sit back, more like slink back, into the sofa and enjoy.
Now I was a child of the 70’s and Dong Ding has always reminded me of a very specific aroma, an aroma from a very specific plant species. Dong Ding to me has a lofting aroma of a product from this plant. Was that too vague? Either way, I find myself drawn to this aroma in a strange way. Again, child of the 70’s with a hippie father, perhaps it reminds me of my youth. Regardless, it tastes fabulous.
I really love the lingering floral taste the tea leaves behind. Yes, even beneath all the roasting, the caramel notes, brown sugar notes, sweet barley, and woods, this lovely little spring of floral note comes out just barely gracing your palate. Its lovely!
This is not THE sweetest Dong Ding I have ever tasted, and I do tend to enjoy the sweeter Dong Ding Oolongs, however this is one of the more refreshing Dong Ding Oolongs I have tasted. It leaves your month ready and wanting for more without leaving a drying sensation in the back of the throat or mouth. It makes the mouth water in anticipation of the next sip.