Formosa Oolong

I was craving a cup of just classic earl grey but sadly couldn’t find any. So I saw this and figured I’d try and get a few more teas finished off before the new year.

While this was steeping it smelled just like a Thai tea bag. You know those kits that have the tea and then often comes with a condensed milk packet. This smells like the tea before the condensed milk is added. I used to actually make just the tea and drink it… This was a weird association but I’m still getting it to a lesser extent in the steeped tea. A strange yet pleasant tasting cuppa overall.

Gifted to me by SuperStarling!, this oolong is a nice entry into the Formosa oolong arena. It is very drinkable. A wallflower of a tea. Nothing that stands out and says look at me but it is definitely there with a consistent and dependable flavor.

Earthy, roasty, a bit of raisin flavor. A smooth every day drinker.

I’m not sure how I came upon this sample, but I actually found two of them with different handwritings while I was cleaning today! So Thanks to whoever it was that sent this to me!

This is a nice, sweet, lightly roasted oolong. The flavor was bright and clean, and not very complex or nuaced. But that could be because this sample is old. Take that as you will. I enjoyed it for what it was.

This is an alright tea. Tastes ok, kind of roasty or nutty I guess. Not sure what I was expecting but I guess I was craving something else because this didn’t hit the spot for me this morning.

Backlog:

I do love a good Formosa Oolong. My favorite Oolong teas still tend to be AliShan but my earliest experiences with Oolong tea began with Formosa … Formosa was my first Oolong, and in those earlier days in my tea journey, I believed that Oolong was Formosa and I didn’t know that there are so many different types of Oolong. I’m happy to have discovered Oolong as I have, but, Formosa Oolong will always hold a special place in my heart.

This is a really good Formosa Oolong. It has a very autumnal type of taste with it’s earthy notes and the sweet, dried fruit notes that it has. A warm, toasty taste. Sweet.

This is a tea that you definitely want to take the time to infuse multiple times because the later infusions become tastier than the earlier infusions – sweeter, more intensely flavored.

Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/06/05/formosa-oolong-from-simple-loose-leaf/

I got this in the $1 Box from Simple Loose Leaf Tea. I’ve had it a few times now with different brewing methods.

A lightly roasted oolong that starts off with a robust roasted/raisiny taste and dies down quickly into a mellow sweetness.
I enjoy this tea but I would say it’s not really worth it to brew it Gongfu. I could only get 3 solid infusions from it before the flavor was quite weak. Still pretty tasty for those first 3 infusions though.

So I had some of this hot last night and don’t really remember exactly how it tasted. Since I only did 1 steep, I decided to throw the leaves into a Mason jar and cold brew it.. And the result is really good! This is a lightly roasted flavour and kind of sweet.

I was beyond excited when I got my box of Simple Loose Leaf to try for $1! They were beyond generous in how much tea they sent; I honestly couldn’t believe my eyes at first. All three bags were bulging and hardly fit in my 100g containers when emptied into them.

Craving a nice oolong for weeks, the Formosa Oolong was my obvious first choice. I was a bit disappointed upon scooping out the tea to look at it. The leaves were very broken, dry, and brittle, with some dust reminiscent of Lipton. However, for a dollar, I wasn’t going to complain, especially without giving it a shot.

I’m rarely a fan of short steepings, so I decided to try this one at 3 minutes or so. I hadn’t unpacked my little yixing pot from college yet, so a roomy paper filter sufficed. A few minutes later, I sat down with my first steamy, piping hot cup of oolong in a long time…and my stomach sank a little on the first sip.

Note, I’m used to high-quality, full leaf oolongs with a great complexity of flavor. I shouldn’t have expected that out of this tea, even just by its appearance. I realized that I’d probably left the filter in the cup for a little too long, as it had become obnoxiously bitter and astringent like Lipton, the type that leaves the back of your throat dry. I gave up halfway through that cup.

Since then, I became more sensitive to this tea’s steeping needs, and have had much more luck with it. Right now, it’s my go-to nighttime tea, but that may be moreso so that I can finish it up. When steeped correctly, you definitely get some good grapeseed and tobacco flavors with a hint of dry woodiness that a more amateur palate would probably enjoy. This would be a great gateway darker oolong for those that want to give it a shot without “wasting” more complex ones on them.

Overall, price aside, I wouldn’t reorder this one at full price, or really any price above $1. I was happy with the Simple Loose Leaf experience, and had other good teas in the box, but this one definitely fell short.

It’s still a Sunday, which means that I’m still able to talk about my latest Sunday Tea and Books tasting.

The tea was medium-dark brown and smelled earthy and slightly fruity. Simple Loose Leaf describes this tea as being “raisiny” and “leafy”. I can kind of taste those flavours if I squint, but instead I sense elements like leather and tobacco, and possibly apricots. Those flavours are really faint, though – overall, there isn’t whole lot going on. This is a weird tea in that it doesn’t seem like other oolongs: it doesn’t have the floral character I associate with green oolongs, or the malty, bready kick that I associate with dark ones. In fact, it reminds me most of houjicha. If I had to describe this tea using a single word, it would be “inobtrusive”.

But which fictional character did it remind me of? Well, if you happen to like books by Guy Gavriel Kay, I think you’ll find my choice, and the reasons behind it, a pleasant surprise: http://christinavasilevski.com/2014/06/sunday-tea-books-formosa-oolong/

I really enjoyed the Formosa Oolong from Simple Loose Leaf. It was a super mild taste but flavorful enough to keep you interested. It brews really nicely into a golden brown color and would be great for a relaxing tea. I had mine unsweetened and it was just fine in my opinion. I would certainly buy this in the future.