I love ginseng oolong, and Mandala’s offering is a good one. Had several infusions this morning. After about four 15-second infusions in the gaiwan, the ginseng coating fully yielded to the unfolding tea leaves. The flavor is as Mandala describes, “slightly sweet and always satisfying”. The expected licorice-root sweetness is present, especially in the beginning when the ginseng is dissolving, and especially in the aftertaste. It’s not as strong on the sweet side as some others I’ve tried, but that’s fine with me. I feel I can count on this tea to be reliably enjoyable.
I’m curious about the origin of the oolong used for this tea, and think I’ll probably ask the owner of Mandala Tea if he knows. I recently tried an exquisite example of ginseng oolong that was made, I believe, with high quality Dong Ding. That was superb! But cost-prohibitive. Also had the chance to try the same Dong Ding without ginseng coating and it was so good by itself that you’d wonder whether using it to make a flavored oolong was really a good idea…
Anyway, this Ginseng Oolong from Mandala Tea is delicious, and will be good to have with me through the cold Minneapolis winter.
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Hi Geoffrey!! The leaf itself is from Anxi in Fujian. We have two sources for various Fujian oolongs and had the fortune of sipping tea with the nephew of the man who grows and produces our ginseng oolong when we were last there! I am happy that you enjoy it!! I recommend this tea whenever someone has a singing or speaking gig coming up and most certainly when someone might have a dry or sore throat. Yep… comin’ on that time of year where there’ll be more of that!!
Cool! Thanks for the info, Garret. I’ve been meaning to email you again, but got swamped. Glad to hear of the tip to drink this before singing, as I sing with a tango band. I’ll give it a try the day of my next performance.
Hi Geoffrey!! The leaf itself is from Anxi in Fujian. We have two sources for various Fujian oolongs and had the fortune of sipping tea with the nephew of the man who grows and produces our ginseng oolong when we were last there! I am happy that you enjoy it!! I recommend this tea whenever someone has a singing or speaking gig coming up and most certainly when someone might have a dry or sore throat. Yep… comin’ on that time of year where there’ll be more of that!!
Cool! Thanks for the info, Garret. I’ve been meaning to email you again, but got swamped. Glad to hear of the tip to drink this before singing, as I sing with a tango band. I’ll give it a try the day of my next performance.