Lupicia
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After the success of yesterday’s Pineapple Oolong, I was cautiously hopeful about this one – and it didn’t disappoint all that much. The aroma is great, but the flavour, which is more along the lines of rock melon/honeydew melon rather than watermelon, is more subtle and doesn’t blend quite as well with the oolong tea as the pineapple did. Still not bad at all.
So often, fruit teas disappoint me, but occasionally they work brilliantly. This one? It’s one of my two favourite fruit-flavoured teas. Just a terrific balance of pineapple and oolong.
I was browsing Lupicia’s site last night (outcome: seven new teas. Oops!) when I saw this one and realised I hadn’t had it all year! I rectified that sad state of affairs. Now to try to work out what to drink tonight while I wait for the Lupicia order to arrive…
Preparation
I keep seeing this tea in the cupboard and thinking that I should have it again soon, and tonight I finally got around to it. This is one of my favourite teas and it’s been too long since I last had it.
This is what a fruit-flavoured tea should taste like. The pineapple taste is distinctly present, but it doesn’t overwhelm the flavour of the tea, either. It would be hard to find a more perfectly balanced tea than this one.
Preparation
I’ve never seen pineapple in a tea flavour before, unless it’s included in a tropical fruits mix. And those, to my experience, usually taste largely of passion fruit. I could imagine it would work well though, what with pineapples having a sour kind of flavour. Bit like how citrus fruits usually work well as tea flavours.
Before this tea I’d only really had pineapple in tea as part of a pina colada tea, so it was always mixed with the flavour of coconut. This one is supposed to be something like the flavour of Taiwanese pineapple dessert, so I think it’s a little sweeter and less tart than actual pineapple. Finding a fruit tea this good makes up for all my trials and tribulations with the less good fruit teas. g
Sounds good to me I definitely have to put this on my shopping list- YUM.
This is one of my two favourite fruit oolongs, both from Lupicia. Great balance between the pineapple flavour and the flavour of the tea.
And oooh: niiiiice facelift, Steepster! I’m really pleased to see the comment feature.
This sounds like a good one…wish I had access to Lupicia locally tho
I think I might have visited this place the last time I was out in SF. So many more tea shops out there! It boggles the mind. I might need to put an order through with these guys.
We like the comment feature too! :)
Haven’t had tea from Lupicia before, but I’ve always heard good things…
The only Lupicia outlet in Australia is a long way from where I am, so ordering online has been my only option. I’ve had good experiences ordering tea from them – and also had good teas from them. And yay! The comment feature is finally working for me! That was a frustrating day or two.
I found a little of this left in the cupboard, a little past its use by date, but it’s such a good tea I really didn’t want to just throw it out. I made it with about half as much again the usual quantity of leaves, and that seems to have worked out pretty well. The colour is much the same as usual, a pale green-ish yellow, while the flavour is perhaps not quite as strong as it is with fresher leaves. However, it’s still an excellent oolong, particularly if you’re in the mood for a tea from the “green” end of the oolong scale.
I’m failing to pick up the promised citrus notes, but since I never noticed them before, either, I don’t think that’s the fault of keeping the leaves too long. I think it’s more a case of the retailer drawing a long bow in their description. I’m really not sure quite how to describe the taste of this tea. It’s not really like anything except itself: a high-grade, very “green” oolong, smooth without being as silky or buttery as some others, and with a distinctive personality.
Time for steeping number three…
Preparation
The first steeping brewed up quite light, a pale green-ish yellow, so I left the second steeping for two minutes instead of one and it worked out much more the sort of flavour that I was after. The colour of the liquor was still quite light compared with other oolongs, which isn’t surprising considering that baozhong/pouchong is the least oxidised of all oolongs.
The smell of this tea right after you pour the water on the leaves is distinctly vegetal, and yet there isn’t a lot of that in the taste. It’s very smooth to the taste at first, almost bland, but the further you get through the cup the stronger the character of this tea, without ever being astringent. The aftertaste is distinctive, quite strong and a not quite sharp mix of floral notes and… not quite sure how to describe the rest. About the best I can do is: strong (proportionally, considering the light nature of this tea) but not bitter.
I was only going to have two cups of this tonight, but writing this review has really put me in the mood for a third, so now I’m going off to put on the kettle!
Preparation
A very good high grade Formosa oolong. I steeped this for only one minute to begin with, as recommended, but the flavour works better – for me, anyway – if it’s infused for several minutes. This tea has a beautiful smooth, almost milky flavour, with some lovely floral notes. It reminds me a lot of my favourite Gin Shan Creme Oolong from teas.com.au, though this one is slightly milder all round.
Backlogging from yesterday…
Grabbed this for my morning tea and forgot that it wasn’t as bold as I like (for a morning pick-me-up). It’s a really pleasant blend-light and smooth-but not quite strong enough to really wake me up. I have to remember to pay attention to its name next time!
