Strawberry Oolong

After multiple attempts at drinking this tea I’ve finally decided that it’s just not the tea for me. However, I won’t hold that against the tea. It is a GREAT tea. The balance of flavors, the smell…everything about the tea says love me! But I don’t. So I will leave this tea for others (Helena) but I’m happy that I got a chance to try it and still think that this is a tea many will enjoy.

A Surprise sample from Stacy in my Butiki order.
I really wanted to get this tea in my order (but to be fair, I wanted to get ALL the teas) so I am happy that I still get to try it.
The dry leaves smell heavenly.
Oolong and Strawberries together? (one at first thinks…)
Of course! How could it ever be different!
Pouring the water over the leaves transforms me to picking the sun kissed berries in the Strawberry Patch.
But, the best part is that I can still taste the lovely creamy oolong.
The strawberry does not overpower the tea whatsoever.
A very lovely tea indeed!

I haven’t tried many flavoured oolongs so this is something of a novelty. The base appears to be a standard rolled green oolong mixed with what looks like dried cherry (?) blossoms. I was rather cautious about this tea at first, but as it turns out it wasn’t necessary. The strawberry flavours were just right for this oolong and the end result was slightly sweet and deliciously fruity without tasting artifical. Damn, what a good tea.

The second steep (@ 5 min) held onto its flavour fairly well too, although I got more oolong than I did strawberry. This is another tea I would totally order again given the chance.

Once again, good job Butiki Teas!

This is delightfully strawberry-ish in the bag. On my first steeping, I was a little haphazard with the water temperature. I boiled it, then let it cool off again…lazy. I didn’t really taste the strawberry, but it was still earthy and delicious.

Steeping number 2…got out the Breville One Touch and heated this to the appropriate 180 degrees, then steeped for 4 minutes, adding a bit of rock sugar. This time, the strawberry came out very subtly while keeping the delicious earthiness of the oolong.

Seriously, folks. I am going to keep steeping this until it just plain gives up today.

Delicious. This will be a staple.

1 tablespoon for 375 ml

Sweet, floral and creamy. Strawberry is present in the background and blends right into the oolong. Really nice oolong flavour with pleasant sticky/tangy sweetness. This tea is what I would imaging a strawberry flower to smell/tastes like.

As the tea cools I am detecting a very authentic strawberry aroma which translates into the flavour- although I find it to still be in the background of the oolong taste.

Flavour continues to increase in strawberry taste as the tea cools.

Has anyone ordered this tea recently?

I received 1 oz of this tea a couple weeks ago, and there seems to be an issue. First of all, there’s lavender in here. I love lavender, but the last time I had Strawberry Oolong there was no lavender. And this tastes like lavender. Secondly, the lavender or something literally makes this taste like soap. My mug and steeper are clean and not soapy. There is zero strawberry flavour or aroma, not even subtly once it cools. I’m seriously worried. This was hands-down my favorite tea of all time, but now I’m wondering if I got an off-batch or if I am completely insane.

UPDATE: OK, I think I’m onto something. This may not be a bad batch (it’s nowhere near bad), it may just be much lighter on the flavoring than I remember. The first cup was way off, but I’m trying this again tonight and it’s substantially better. The oolong base is increadible on its own, and NOW i’m getting a hint of the strawberry flavor I remember. There also does not seem to be any more lavender in the bag, since I went through it meticulously. We might be OK afterall, folks!

I want to thank JustJames for sending me this tea in our swap. I’ve been dying to try more teas from Butiki and he definitely delivered :)

I love strawberries and oolong, but normally I wouldn’t think to put those two together. For some reason strawberry never seems to translate well into tea, but that is absolutely not the case here. This is officially my favorite strawberry tea and I wasn’t sure I would ever find one.

On the first steep I was greeted with a very subtle, sweet, strawberry flavor. It was wonderful, I just wish it had continued on through subsequent steeps. That really is my only complaint about this tea, my next 4+ steeps were a wonderful floral oolong that I was perfectly happy to continue to drink well into the night. I’m positive that I would have been able to continue steeping this, but I’ve been drinking it all day and I am ready for something else. I’m pretty sure that I was able to steep this 6 times, but I lost count somewhere along the way.

We had company tonight and it was nice to have a tea that I could just continually resteep and not have to worry about adjusting the time on it. Each of my steeps were at 4 mins and they turned out beautifully.

The smell of the dry leaves on this one wasn’t as strong as that on the Flowery Pineapple Oolong, so I was expecting a very subdued kind of flavored oolong. I was wrong though! The strawberry was there and immediate at the first sip – my first thought was calling it “robust.” The taste on it is a natural sort of strawberry, and the sweetness is ideal. I may be mistaking some of the oolong flavor with strawberry though (I haven’t yet had it unflavored), as the description of it mentions honeysuckle and natural sweetness! Absolutely going to be resteeping this one.

I think I’ll definitely be exploring the world of flavored oolongs through Butiki Teas – the flavors have never felt “fake” or overpowering, and they’ve been consistently delicious.

Initially I only tasted oolong tea, which albeit, is lovely, but I was hoping for more strawberry. A few more minutes passed and as it cooled a very subtle strawberry taste came out. Just enough to taste it in the background of the oolong. I’m quite enjoying this so far.

indeed! today has been a day of tea arrivals… a very exciting swap box from CHAroma, my butiki order and apparently i was zoned because i missed a delivery from american tea room! do i really need to spell out how smashed my good intentions, budgeting and good intentions are? (did i mention my good intentions?) well, i suppose we’re none of us perfect… and under duress to provide an excuse it would be credible that i am celebrating my student loan and september attendance to school…? okay,excuses excuses. i’m just badly behaved. i should sit and reflect over improving that failing while drinking tea.

back to the tea at hand! (in hand?) very strawberry when dry… lovely little balls of fresh smelling strawberry goodness that unfurl when i empty my kettle over them. i have a distracted moth moment and i dream up a potential art project comprised of a catamaran made from oolong, getting underway via the power of hot water… quick head shake…

i smell no fake flavours. i smell none of the oolongs i’ve had previously: spring, roasted, standard black. this is new. it reminds me of ice wine, with an almost winter, frosted grape scent/taste peeking out from behind the strawberry. very light, very fresh…. no grass, no smoke, no grainyness. the tea itself really does remind me of grape leaves (not just the fruit)… like the ones you find wrapped around rice in dolmathakia only sweeter…

very nice.