Tea Madame

Had a cup of this on the fly, and WOW. This is only my second time trying yerba mate, but if this is what I can expect, I want more! It’s got a lot of mouthfeel, and it tastes exactly how it’s named. I’m going to have to pay close attention to my second cup… :)

Pretty tea when dry—the leaves are rich, deep green. I don’t have a list of ingredients, but there might be rose or other flower petals in it. There are also dried pieces of the eponymous fruit.

The only thing I can smell in the dry tea is the tangerine. It also smells kind of oily. I steeped the same batch of leaves (1 tsp) twice:
(1) 5-6 oz boiling water, 10-12 seconds
(2) 5-6 oz 175-185 water, 30-60 seconds

The first tea brought out some bitterness, so I’m guessing I steeped it too long. The scent of the liqueur had floral/vegetal undertones, but again, there was that overpowering tangerine smell. The green tea in the background either tasted bland or bitter, and steeping it longer was only going to make the fruit taste stronger.

I left the remainder of my 1oz sample in the employee lounge for the kitchen fairies to try.

For some reason, when I picked this up I had “black” and “licorice” in mind, but I didn’t put the two together to make “black licorice.” Thus, I was expecting a black tea with sweet licorice flavor… and instead got the more specific flavor of black licorice, which I dislike. Bad surprise, and entirely my fault.

Well, I’ve finally finished the last of this tea. It’s one of my favorites! When hot, it has a light coconut flavor and refreshingly light scent, but has enough fullness (body? richness? I’m not sure which word to use) to make it a great morning oolong. Not to mention it keeps it’s flavor after 3 steepings of 8 oz. cups. When cold, it tastes like coconut milk, without the milky texture.

Tastes like a cross between a chai and one of the old Good Earth teas. Spicy and flavorful.

Received this tea again for Christmas; my family knows just what I like! I like that this tea isn’t just tea, it’s tea with a smooth bite at the end. It’s not the tannic bitter of tea steeped too long, but the minerals. This tea is still just as good as before, but I do have to say it’s better warm than cool. I’m regretting letting this oolong sit too long.

First of the birthday teas! I’ve tried this before, and it’s quite delicious. The leaves smell very mineral-like, and so does the tea. The steeped tea doesn’t have much of a smell. I loved learning about this type of tea, how it tastes so different because of the uptake of minerals into the plant from the earth in the Wuyi Mountain Region. This is my first foray into more traditional non-flavored oolongs, and I love it. It’s satisfying in a way that some other teas are not.