Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Whittard of Chelsea
Tea Description:
A truly superb robust Oolong from the Fujian Province with a honeyed sweetness.
Delicate floral Oolongs are between a black and green tea. This long leafed organic tea comes from the Wu Yi gardens of the Fujian Province. It is stronger than most Oolong tea due to higher roasting and longer fermentation. The dark smoky taste of the tea balances perfectly with sweet honey notes. Served after a rich meal, traditionally one would exhale after each sip, savouring the ‘Hui Gan’; the teas lingering sweetness.
Great Taste Awards judges love it too – “This tea produces a liquor of good color and great clarity.”
Packed in an environment where nuts are handled.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Oh yes, this is an oolong after my heart! Organic China Oolong from Whittard of Chelsea has every bit of that smokiness I adore in a dark oolong and a berry sweet note that drives me wild! The aroma alone is intoxicating, I would wear this as perfume, not that it tastes like perfume at all but it smells so dreamy!
The notes of woods, deep smokiness, sweet honeyed tones like caramelized berries, I could go on and on but I want to get to the way this tea tastes!
I have to say I am so pleased by SororiTea Sister LiberTeas sent me a nice baggie full of this stuff! Thank you Anne!
The cup steeps into an amber vision of beauty with a clear view to the bottom of the cup. The first note I pick up is a light honey note, with a backdrop of maple, and wood. This is a very sweet cup considering its dark smoked nature.
There is not much of a rock mineral note in this, some but not as much as I have experienced in other Wuyi tea, but there is a slight saltiness, which reminds me of salted caramel which I love.
Don’t think of the smoked note as you would a Lapsang Souchong though, its not smoky like that, its just a deep woodsy richness you would get from a toasted marshmallow, far sweeter than any smokiness from a Lapsang Souchong tea.
I also get a brandied candied flavor in the tea, a brothy sensation in the mouthfeel that is welcoming and warming.
This tea does not really conjure up feelings of sitting by a campfire as much as it does feelings of walking in the deep woods sipping a hardy grog from a chalice or a canteen perhaps. It makes me feel more like Robin Hood than Roy Rodgers!
This one goes on my shopping wish list but for now I have a generous sampling from my sister Anne!
Yay!
