Cucumber Cantaloupe Oolong

To my surprise, this isn’t a jade oolong base. In my head this was going to be a green oolong but was greeted with a wuyi oolong.

It’s an interesting combo but the cucumber cantaloupe stole the show tasting just like the melon/veggie and being super refreshing! I wish I was drinking this in summer and it would do fantastic iced!

(52teas (Anne) 2022: 145)

C is for… Cucumber Cantaloupe!

Ooh, double C here! Bonus points?! I haven’t had this tea in quite a while – so long that I have no real recollection of it. Dry leaf has a lovely fresh melon smell – it very much smells like a cucumber/honeydew blend to me; cantaloupe is juicier and sweeter and I didn’t quite get that. Flavour is a surprise, because I forgot what the base tea was, and it’s a delicious wuyi oolong with a perfect minerally, roasty flavour to complement the melon. I had noticed the snippet of my previous review mentioned that it was a very interesting tea – and I still find that true.

Definitely a base that I could happily drink paired with a multitude of other flavours, I think. Hint, hint?

So, this is really good, but at the same time it’s not what I was hoping for. I really liked Republic of Tea’s Honeydew White tea that is now discontinued. The only problem with it was that it got bitter really easily. I was hoping this would be a bit like that. It’s quite different, so it took me a couple of sips to appreciate it on it’s own merit. The cucumber and oolong stood out most strongly to me. The oolong tastes nutty to me, which is an interesting pairing with the strong cucumber flavor, and at the end of the sip there’s a faint cantaloupe sweetness. It’s a really interesting blend of flavors, and I like it. I’ll just have to look elsewhere for a good honeydew tea. I’ve heard Lupicia has a really good one. Oddly, while I prefer cantaloupe to honeydew, I might actually like honeydew better than cantaloupe in tea. Oh and I steeped this using my usual method for teas requiring a lower temperature of throwing a bit of cold water in a cup, then adding boiling water and the tea. Not the most precise, but it seems to work pretty well.

I was caught off guard by how good this tea is. It’s not something I would consider buying – I received it in a grab bag. 52teas hit a home run with this one! Fruity and light and naturally sweet … crisp and smooth at the same time. Tasted just as good once it cooled down.

I think my taste buds might still be off from my sinus infection because I had a bit of a weird experience with this tea. But not in a bad way.

Brewed hot, this tea was more of a heavy roasted oolong cantaloupe tea with subtle hints of cucumber here and there in the background.

Brewed as an iced tea, I got more of the cucumber flavor with a sweetness that could be considered melon like at the end of each sip and the roasted oolong flavor throughout. It reminded me of water with cucumber slices added in.

I really like both ways, I just couldn’t seem to get both flavors in the same cuppa. But oh my did it ever smell like cucumber/cantaloupe. Smelt amazing!

http://www.cuppageek.com/index.php/2015/08/30/cucumber-cantaloupe-oolong-from-52teas-sipdown-21/

Blunt review:
I am guilty of purchasing tea, and other things, based on name alone; this was one of those purchases. Oolong and melon? Yeah, a must try.
Tonight I decided to bust out my Kickstarter treats from 52Teas and this is my first to try out :)
Honestly, I should have read what was in this because I had this moment of disappointment when I looked at blend. Currently I am in summer mood and dark/baked/roasted oolongs are not as enjoyable but I drank all my TGY :P
This is a personal preference I can get over easily though.

This tea is not broken leaf and the little baby spine (vine) on each leaf is nicely colored to outline the leaf itself. Though, looks are not what appeal to me with tea anymore because I’m all about that mouth feel, taste, and overall connection between mind-body-tea.

This tea has a nice juicy taste to it which is what appeals to me, but to be honest… this tea would be at least twice as good if it used a green oolong as the base. A light tieguanyin with these green cucumber pieces and melon flavoring would be the S***. If 52Teas does a green oolong base with melon, I’m in.

Side notes: Unfortunately while I was transitioning to Japan to finish college 52Teas and Beautiful Taiwan Tea were both doing their Kickstarters… with a few hundred dollars into BTT, I was unable to put more into 52Teas to try more teas; but, I have coupon (puts shades on).

p.s. the new packaging for 52Teas is MUCH more practical.

As the first tea I’ve tasted from the new 52teas, I am very impressed. It is juicy and actually tastes like cucumber as well as the cantaloupe, which is super hard to do. Also, I got a respectable second steep out of it. I drank the second steep hot, the first iced, and really like it. I am very excited about future creations.

This is the first tea from the New and Improved 52Teas and I’m a big fan of melon flavours so of course i had to try this one while i wait for my teas from the Kickstarter. I have to admit there’s something about the scent that’s a bit weird and off-putting but thankfully that doesn’t translate to the flavour. I can taste both fresh cucumber notes and the sweeter canteloupe notes without either of them coming across as overpowering or artificial. I did think that the oolong base could maybe be a bit sweeter, but then I’ve just eaten a bowl of strawberries from the market (there’s no substitute for local, in-season produce) so that might be skewing my tastebuds a bit. This is a great addition to the 52 Teas collection.

The canteloupe flavor adds a note of sweetness (though there’s no actual sweetener in it) and it makes a great iced tea. If you’re icing it, the flavor benefits from a pinch of sugar – or a few pieces of chilled fruit.
Since it’s an oolong, it’s good for a second steeping, and there’s still plenty of fruit flavor left for the second steeping. That’s based on a first steeping of a little under 3 minutes, and then a second steeping of about 4 and a half minutes.
This is from the re-vitalized 52Teas, under new management, and it’s the first one of their reblends that I’ve tried. Looking forward to the rest, based on this sample!