Best of Summer Oolong

Using this tea for the January sipdown prompts “an apricot tea” and “a new tea.” It was the only apricot tea I could find in my spreadsheet, and came from my latest tea order, which was in December of 2021.

I’ve steeped this up and it has an absolutely lovely stonefruit aroma… a juicy apricot/peach note, that has an overtone of sweet florality, like fruit tree blossoms. The fruity aroma is strong, and I only make out a hint of toasty roasted oolong beneath it. The oolong has a warm, roasty and nutty flavor, and I’m getting just a hint of a syrupy cooked orange/cherry flavor there, as well. The sip is full of a strong apricot/peach stonefruit flavor that is very nice… more of a juicy flavor which leaves a sort of effervescent and sweet fruity/floral note at the back of the tongue, rather than the usual “peach candy” flavor I get from most peach teas.

It’s really good! Anne notes “cooked fruit” or “apricot/peach crumble” and I can see both. It’s very satisfying; the base isn’t a strong roast dominating the cup with charcoal/smoke flavors, just warm, toasty, and nutty, and the fruit flavor is very spot on. This would probably make an amazing iced tea too, but I’m not sure yet if I want to use up the remainder of my packet with that preparation… I’ll have to check my mood later.

Summer 2021 possibly August or September.

Sipdown – goodbye summer! I’m glad someone’s playing around with the natural stone-fruit notes in roasted and red oolong teas. I’ve said it many times recently, but I think roasted oolong teas are sorely underutilized in flavoured blends. They have such great potential: roasted/toasted malt, fruit, flowers, almost cloying levels of dark honey.. my brain tends to translate it all into ice cream cone tea with various toppings! It’s baked goods in a cup.

Here, we get some lovely stewed apricot and peach (I think) that perfectly compliments the base tea – the result reminds me vividly of my Grandma’s warmed canned peaches; and isn’t it so fitting that I’m tapping into this out of season? I think so. The (stronger than I usually like it ) toasted notes are near coffee-like, and are also so close to turning into a stone-fruit cobbler or turnover. I think my Grandma would’ve liked this one; I know it would’ve fit right in on her kitchen table.

Steep Count: 3

I don’t think I’ve even realized there’s almond flavouring in this tea until this cup. I got the usual sort of peachy/tropical vibe that I’m used to and it was kind of that perfect balance of sweet ripe fruit and just a little bit of funk. However, I definitely noticed the nuttier undertones and lingering almost amaretto type flavour in this cup and that kind of surprised me just since it’s not something I’ve really tasted from this tea before. I think it made me like it more, though!

(52teas (Anne) 2022: 72)

Someone else drank this recently and I knew I had it but couldn’t remember the flavour at all… so here we are! I think I must have enjoyed it more the first time, based on my rating. It’s ok today – fruity but I’m not getting much oolong. Possibly understeeped? I don’t really remember.

Sidenote: toddler currently having “rest time” (there is no resting being done by him, he’s just in his room by himself, playing and chattering away), and baby is (maybe) down for a nap in her crib. Will I actually get a midday break for the first time ever? Am I learning how to succeed when putting a baby down for a nap, when I epically failed for 2.5 years with my first child?! Stay tuned.