Honey Black Oolong

2023 sipdown no. 84

The notes from MS include “honey, rose and dark oolong goodness”. I would say it’s mostly dark oolong with some honey. I didn’t get a lot of rose (but I’m not upset about that haha). The honey was lovely, but not as nice as some of their other offerings or other Taiwanese honey-like teas I’ve enjoyed. Overall a good cuppa, but not a permanent cupboard resident.

This is the final tea in an order I made from Mountain Stream several years ago. Given my well-known penchant for bug-bitten teas, it was inevitable that I’d pick this up, especially given Derk’s glowing review. It isn’t currently on their website, so I’m following Derk’s parameters of 30, 45, 60, 70, 80, 90, 120, and 240 seconds using 6 g of leaf in 120 ml of 195F water.

The heady dry aroma is of honey, grain, and citrus. The first steep is very light and immediately indicates by its strong cereal aroma that this is a roasted tea. I get lots of honey, citrus, rose, and wood. The next steep is stronger and has citrus, cherry, grain, mild spices, rose, and lots of honey, but also a touch of astringency. The aftertaste is woody, drying, and a bit sour, though the honey aroma at the bottom of the cup is mouthwatering. The next couple steeps feature the same flavours, but the fruit starts to disappear by steep five, leaving honey, grain, and roast. The end of the session is much like a black tea, with notes of malt, honey, and tannins.

While I enjoyed the fruity flavours and beautiful aromas in this tea, the roast was quite noticeable and I didn’t think it was well integrated. I’ve had many bug-bitten teas and am a bit spoiled regarding this type, and my rating probably reflects that. The tea also lacks longevity. I won’t have trouble finishing my 25 g pouch, but am glad I didn’t buy more.

I drank this about 2 hours ago and have already forgotten almost everything about it. Just very average and not something I ever need to try again.

This was as advertised, with prominent honey notes and some complexity as the steeps progress. I’m going to put this firmly in the “good, but not my style” category. I prefer a more roasted flavor, and ultimately do not care for oolongs that are like blacks with high oxidation. This one is at 80%. The honey scent lasts a while, but in the end it just feels like a nice black tea.

After the rinse, this smells heavenly – sweet, fruity and woody. Unfortunately, otherwise the tea didn’t really speak to me. My main issues are that the body is too light, and mouthfeel too powdery (a little banana like). The taste is ok, but neither too complex nor satisfying. It is actually quite citrusy and slightly roasted. I didn’t get much of the fruitiness or sweet floral honey notes.

Received as a freebie with my order, thanks!

I have to preface this review by stating I… don’t really care for honey blacks. :$

Real-time review. I’m preparing this according to MST’s gong fu guidelines. About 4.5 g, 100mL, 195F, steeps of 30/45/60/+5-10.

MST be throwing me off. Nothing says this is roasted but that’s what I taste.

Dry leaf smells like, well, imagine Honeycomb cereal. Rinsed leaf scent is hard to pick out because it seems perfumey above all else but hiding in there is roast, wood, and a mix of citrus-red cherry-rose. The brew starts out very light in the first steep and gets successively stronger in aroma, taste and texture. It moves from light roast and sweet into a progressively darker but light-bodied liquor with notes of citrus-cherry-honey. The light roast flavor underpins it all. It’s a bright tasting tea considering it tastes roasted, with a long and brilliant citrus and honey aftertaste. The bottom of the cup is retaining a scent of honeycomb. There’s an incredible body buzz that comes with it, too. I feel like I’m puddling, spreading out, then sucking parts of myself back in. Imagine the movement of an amoeba. A grinning tea-stoned amoebaaaah.

Oof. Don’t drink this before a work meeting or a test. I can’t even finish my review.

Edit: Got 6 steeps by letting the last one sit for 5+ minutes. There’s also a very strong tangerine zest feeling throughout my whole mouth. Added a rating.