Drink Me Oolong from Plum Deluxe has a warm and toasty roasted oolong base with added mango and almond essence. The darker oolong tea keeps the blend from getting too sweet, adding an almost savory nuttiness with each sip. The almond adds its trademark, almost-floral marzipan candy taste. The fruity mango adds a nice brightness to keep this blend uplifting and not too dense or cake-like.
I believe the name of this blend is inspired by Alice in Wonderland, but even without the reference is it a cute name to have looking back at you from your tea cupboard on rainy days. With sunny mango, bakery sweet almond, and a mid-level of caffeine, this is a great tea for the afternoon slump or a mid-day tea party.
Drink Me Oolong from Plum Deluxe was a limited edition blend, that should cycle back around in their seasonal blends or as part of their subscription service. In the meantime, give Pick Me Up Oolong a try, with almond and maple flavors and a similar oolong tea base.
Or try another flavor of oolong tea. Plum Deluxe teas always have great flavor combinations, and include things like “love” and “gratitude” on their ingredients list, so you can’t help but feel good when you brew a cup of their tea.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Plum Deluxe
This tea is no longer available but click below for other options!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Popcorn Tea from Teapigs
Who can resist the idea of Popcorn Tea, especially when the label has little film reels on it for your next movie showing? Teapigs isn’t the first tea company to package genmaicha under the pretense of popcorn, but they have some of the cutest packaging.
Genmaicha is a type of green tea blended with puffed rice. This makes it so that the dry leaf and the brewed tea has a distinct toasty popcorn smell. It is a unique tea, sometimes slightly savory, but always supremely cozy. I highly recommend trying green tea with puffed rice at least once and see how it goes. Teapigs Popcorn Tea is a great place to start.
The overtones of the tea are warm bready notes, the roasted grain flavors of the puffed rice leading the way in scent in taste. Beneath that first burst of popcorn, the green tea comes through with slightly more vegetal notes like gentle celery or bok choy. Alongside the puffed rice, the tea pleasantly reminds me of sauteeing green vegetables in sesame oil.
I love drinking this tea in the late afternoon (or maybe even before a movie in the evening!). With lower caffeine than black tea, Popcorn Tea makes for a warming and soothing pick-me-up on a busy day. Even if you can’t snuggle in under a quilt with a bowl of popcorn, this tea can help you imagine you’re there.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Genmaicha
Where to Buy: Teapigs
Description:
This tea has flourished from humble beginnings – Japanese peasants used to mix green tea with toasted rice to make it go further. It is now celebrated in its own right as Genmaicha tea, or Popcorn tea. “Sugar Puffs in a cup” – a truly unique blend with an almost nutty undertone.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
De-Lovely from the Tea Crew
With a name like De-Lovely, you can’t help but expect a tea that will bring a smile to your face. De-Lovely from the Tea Crew is an oolong tea with sweet almond and chocolate flavors.
Chocolate teas can be tricky, sometimes they aren’t very chocolate-like, and other times they end up like watered-down hot cocoa. However, De-Lovely smelled very promising, both in the dry leaf and in the brewed tea.
Upon my first sip, I knew this chocolate tea was a winner. The oolong base is more roasted than green, and goes very well with the marzipan almond flavors. With a rich and nutty base, the chocolate notes thrive, bringing a dark chocolate, almost-floral sweetness. When I looked at the ingredients list, I noticed that there is even a bit of coconut in the mix to help add a buttery mouthfeel and creamy richness.
The oolong tea base helps keep this from being too decadent or overpowering. The tea leaves themselves still have a strong bodied presence among all the sweet desserts. Nutty, roasty, chocolatey, this tea is just lovely!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: The Tea Crew
Description:
Somewhere between green and black tea lies Oolong tea, semi-fermented loveliness.
This blend is sweet, nutty and chocolatey. It’s delightful, it’s delicious, it’s de-lovely!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Yellow Goddess of Mercy from Old Ways Tea . . .
This tea sample came to me in a crisp, red and gold package with simple, symbolic instructions and the tea’s name: Huang Guan Yin or Yellow Goddess of Mercy. With a name like that, it certainly felt special to crack the seal on the red and gold foil and pour the lovely dark tea leaves into my teapot. The dry leaves smelled faintly musky, like newly-turned earth, but were otherwise very mild.
I did a little more research on brewing tips beyond the information on the package and found that this is a wuji oolong, meant to be steeped for a short period of time over a few sessions.
For the first brew, the leaves quickly turned the water dark. The brew smelled toasty and rich, like caramel and burnt sugar. I always tend to associate oolongs with the fruity, floral, green notes, but then I encounter a tea like this, heavily oxidized, and am reminded that some oolongs can be just as bold and dark as black teas.
Upon further steeping, the brew has stronger sweet rice and breakfast cereal tones among all the toasty caramel notes. The mouthfeel gets smoother with each steep, and brings out a oddly fruity note, a bit like raisins. Beneath all these flavors there is a musky depth, slightly sour and reminiscent of tobacco.
This was a delicious bold oolong, rich and full of complex and tasty flavors. Though the tea itself isn’t yellow, I still love the name, Yellow Goddess of Mercy. Have mercy on yourself after a long day and have a tea session with this oolong to help bring you comfort and solace.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Old Ways Tea
Description:
Also known as 105 this tea is a cross between Tie Guan Yin and Huang Jin Gui. The name Huang Guan Yin means Yellow Goddess of Mercy. This is the newest Wuyi oolong cultivar, having been introduced in 2003 by the Fujian Tea Research Institute.
Huang Guan Yin is interesting since in many ways it is one of the least traditional of the teas being produced in the Wuyi mountains. It is newly developed, and has genetic origins outside the original mountains. At the same time it is often packaged in a bag reading “Da Hong Pao” and processed in the same manner as the other Wuyi teas. The interplay between new and old provides for an interesting experience. Personally, I greatly enjoy this tea and when I can not decide which to brew will grab a bag of Huang Guan Yin.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Dong Ding Oolong Tea from Eco-Cha
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong Tea
Where to Buy: Eco-Cha
Tea Description:
(2013)
This batch of tea comes from Yong Long Village, just above Dong Ding Mountain. Yong Long is known for a rich red soil which differs from other locales in Lu Gu Township. The unique flavor of the Dong Ding Oolong produced here is attributed to this soil quality, along with the fact this region is home to the most concentrated population of the most skilled oolong tea artisans in Taiwan.(2015)
Flavor: Grilled sweet corn aroma. Rich, foresty, roasted flavor. Complex, fruity finish.Garden: This batch of tea comes from Yonglong Village, just above Dong Ding Mountain. Yonglong is known for its rich soil which differs from other locales in Lu Gu Township. The unique flavor of the Dong Ding Oolong produced here is attributed to this soil quality, along with the fact this region is home to the most concentrated population of skilled oolong tea artisans in Taiwan. This farm is managed by a father and son team who inherited their family tradition as artisans of Dong Ding Oolong. Their tea has been awarded first prize in the world’s largest Oolong tea competition, and they consistently achieve top awards in their local competition of traditionally made Dong Ding Oolong.
Harvest: Hand picked in small batches. November 2015. Yonglong, Nantou. Available Winter 2016
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The Dong Ding Oolong Tea from Eco-Cha I know and LOVE is from 2013 but today I found out they have a 2015 harvest that will be available in Winter of 2016. I’m looking forward to comparing the two. The review of this Dong Ding Oolong Tea from Eco-Cha is from the 2013 harvest eventho I inserted both harvest descriptions above.
Once I infused Dong Ding Oolong Tea from Eco-Cha and it was ready to go in my cup I couldn’t help but notice the wonderful golden amber tone…it was beautiful! The aroma was roasted – that is for sure. The roasted notes followed suit when you sipped it as well. I could taste some plum notes underneath in the middle of the sip, too, but they were very subtle.
The roasty and toasty aftertaste lingered but in a good way. I’m looking forward to the new harvest of Dong Ding Oolong Tea from Eco-Cha coming in winter 2016…in the meantime I will finish what I have…and what I have is very good! Two thumbs up!
