592 Tasting Notes
I cold brewed this for the first time with 2 tsp in my water bottle for a bit too long (prob over 12 hours). At the first sip, it really reminded me of Peach Snapple Iced Tea except without the crazy amount of sugar that they put in there. As I kept drinking, though, the peach flavor did come off a little medicinal-tasting, but not too strongly. Anyway, it was a nice fruity tea where I could still strongly taste the black tea base. Not bad!
Sipdown (120)! My internet died and I lost my tasting note, so I’ll keep this short and simple. I cold brewed the rest of what I had for 6-7 hours in the fridge. If I had to do it again, I would reduce the time and/or leaf/water ratio because it did come off a bit strong. The cold brew brought out a wooden note that wasn’t so distinct when I had it hot. I think I preferred it hot over cold brewed, but it was definitely an interesting experiment! Thanks again to bluebelle for the sample!
Hmm, this tea was not really doing it for me today. Maybe I just need to take a break from oolongs for a bit. I was getting that weird damp taste that I tasted in some other oolongs. It’s strange because they’re all stored in separate, dry, dark places, so I don’t think it’s contamination from something around them. Well, I have enough to keep trying, which is the good news!
So I decided a while ago after joining Steepster and discovering so many cool tea companies to order from online that money spent at Teavana would be much better spent elsewhere. However, I did have a free Starbucks reward, so I went into Teavana to get a free ounce of this tea. It was odd because the employees were all circling me like vultures until I mentioned that I wanted to use my free reward. Then it seemed like their mission was to get me out of the store as soon as possible. Yet another odd Teavana experience to add to the books.
Anyway, the dry leaf smells kind of grassy, and just typical green oolong-smelling. After a quick rinse, I started to realize that it has that damp smell and taste that I previously smelled/tasted with one of Teavivre’s popular oolongs. It’s not exactly my favorite flavor, so I was not enamored with this tea. Also, the spent leaves smelled a bit like spinach, which was not coming across in the tea itself to me. Overall, my odd in-store experience kind of carried over to an odd tea that wasn’t really my style. At least I squeezed a free ounce out of them! And I will definitely be playing around with the rest of it to see if I can hit the sweet spot.
As I mentioned in previous tasting notes, this tea as a hot tea didn’t impress me much. However, as a cold brew, it was pretty refreshing, so I cold brewed it again. This time, I didn’t leave it in the fridge for more than maybe 8 hours or so, which prevented the bitterness I tasted last time. It’s a refreshing, though a bit generic-tasting, iced green tea.
This tea is very different from the last time that I had it. The first main difference was that as soon as it started steeping, it smelled very smoky, almost tobacco-like, which I did not detect at all last time. The seaweed flavor that I remember from last time was still there, but only came after an initial smoky taste. Both times, though, I’m confused about where the “dark chocolate” is supposed to be in this tea. I’m lowering my rating because of the smokiness, but this is definitely unlike any other oolong that I’ve ever had. Thanks bluebelle for letting me try this!
Edit: Oh, and this is a sipdown (121)!
I had this one after dinner because I didn’t want something too heavily caffeinated so late in the day. Also, I guess today was just a fruity tea kind of day. Anyway, I let the water cool down quite a bit to avoid bitterness, and it worked! I’m definitely getting a strong peach flavor, but it kind of tastes like what I imagine a dried peach would taste like (like dried mango, but peach). As is Teavana’s style, this tea is on the verge of being too perfume-y, but dialed back just enough that I can actually enjoy it. I don’t think this one will be a repurchase, but I will definitely enjoy what I have left!
After drinking this tea hot and really enjoying it, I decided to cold brew it! I’m surprised because based on the hot tea, I thought it would make a perfect, fruity, refreshing cold brew. Unfortunately, I was getting a lot of the grape medicine taste that I was afraid would happen. I’m not going to lower my rating or anything, because I still really enjoyed it hot, but I won’t be cold brewing it again.
Backlog. After having this in my cupboard for a while, I finally tried it out a few days ago and haven’t been able to keep it out of my head ever since. So as a motivation to tackle STATA (stats software) for class, I steeped this beauty. So roasty in flavor but creamy in texture. Plus, it resteeps so darn well! This is definitely in my top 2 dark oolongs, the other being Wuyi Mountain Big Red Robe from Verdant.
