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I had this one long ago, before I knew much about different types of tea and what to expect. I wanted to try this one again since I just had my first really premium oolong, and I found it to be light and refreshing. It is definitely a flowery oolong rather than a fruity one to me. I did a short steep since I wasn’t too sure of this one. Might try it again with a longer steep time.

I am sorry to report that this is NOT a favorite and I am giving this to a friend as soon as I can possibly get this out of my house! It is very heavy on the assam, and I am not a big fan of many assams, though I love Irish Breakfast tea which is usually heavy on assam. This was served at a tea for three, and all three said, “Yuck!” and poured it out, and reached for the pot of Harney Kenilworth Ceylon. It was a tad bitter, rather strong, and frankly, just not a flavor I enjoyed, and I drink lapsangs, oolongs, greens, and on and on, so my tastes are not too picky.

I was expecting smokey tea since this has “Russian” in the name. The aroma of the dry leaves was completely lacking in smoke, but I still thought it would come out in the steeping. Not so! I don’t taste any smoke, and I had a hard time figuring out what I was tasting until I really good it a good sniff. Pepper! I have read several reviews that describe peppery tea, but hadn’t run into one myself yet. Here it is! And it was pretty good. The pepper is mostly an aroma, but perhaps whatever lends the peppery scent is what gives it the full bodied taste and muskiness, because I did think of musk melon as I drank this. Not bad! I added milk and a little sugar, but it was pretty good without additions as well. No bitterness, only a hint of astringency.

Hmmmm. Dry leaves – nice, very light honey aroma. First cup from the pot was unsweetened and no milk. Very smooth, no astringency, light flavor, sweet enough to drink as is, but no where nearly as sweet as Golden Monkey or Zhen Qu. Pretty good.

Second cup – Leaves are out, they have BEEN out, but this cup looks darker and has a stronger aroma. It isn’t as sweet. Is it just me??? I add sugar, but it is too much! Just a tiny dab of sugar will sweeten this one. I also add a drop of milk to counteract the newly sensed strength to what seemed so light on the first cup. Now I have what tastes like a good, but plain Jane, breakfast tea. Hmmm. Maybe I need to do a new pot on a new day and try this one again! It isn’t bad. Just wondering how it changed from one cup to the next from the SAME pot? Must be me!

Hallelujah! The search is over for a replacement tea for my daughter who says she MUST drink it during math or fail. Her London Cuppa is no longer available here, and I found out that it was heavy on the Kenyan tea, so I tried this one from the fine tea wall at SS. It is very low priced – only $2 the ounce! This is smooth like a Ceylon and has a lot of natural sweetness. I could drink it without sugar, but with sugar you have something akin to good ole’ Southern iced tea taste going on. This isn’t a high-falutin’ tea. It is a good basic, smooth tea much like Lipton loose or Black Pearl, but smoother. We steeped for four minutes but it could have used one more.

I have only had one other oolong tea, and that was quite some time ago. I don’t even know if I steeped it properly! But I wanted to give oolongs a try and see what all the hubbub is about. The young man at the shop said to wash the leaves and steep for 3 minutes, so that is what I did. Also, the Harney Tea book said to resteep adding about 30 seconds each time, so subsequent cups follow that rule.

Oh…my…..goodness. I don’t know what to say. Is this how oolongs taste? I am confused. I feel just like I felt after the first time my husband kissed me – first, WOW! followed by, “I want to do that again!” The first sip was…. very light in taste at first. Then the aftertaste – AMAZING! Being new to oolongs I am at a loss to describe this. It doesn’t taste like any tea I have ever had. After the first sip, it gets stronger and stronger. Each cup gets darker, oddly enough. One would think it would be lighter. By the fourth steep, it is starting to get lighter. There is such a sweetness here. It is almost like when you pull honeysuckle flowers off the vine and drink the nectar, but closely followed by a mineral coating that stays with you. Each time I inhale, I REALLY taste this tea, and I mean for several breaths AFTER the sip. This one is a keeper, really amazing. Now I have to try even more oolongs!

This was the tea for today’s virtual tea tasting via Skype with Sandy. It was more vegetal than I remembered. I like darjeeling tea much better now that I know to only steep for 3 minutes!

Made a small pot of this to follow up my English muffin and get me kick started out the door to the gym. I added milk and sugar, because that is how Malachi himself would have drunk this! Aaaaaah. This was just what I needed this morning. Very similar to a good breakfast tea, strong enough with maybe only the barest hint of smoke if it is there at all. Maybe it is just the body of the tea that I am tasting. Good stuff!

Delicious plain, as always!

Drinking this one today in honor of my daughter in Northern Ireland, who is staying in today because she heard this bomb go off early this morning…..http://www.u.tv/News/200lb-bomb-at-Derry-police-station/3679f67d-23a2-4a12-b07b-95c840b3a12b.

This is a strong tea but not overpowering. It has nice body, not astringent, not smokey. Maybe a little chewy? And perhaps just a bit of “bite”! I like this one with milk and sugar.