Silk Oolong

Thank you to TeaEqualsBliss for sending me a pyramid of this tea to try!

This is an excellent Oolong, but I can’t help but think it would be even better if it were not in the pyramid. The leaves just don’t have much room to expand in there!

It has a very pleasant, buttery/creamy taste to it. Smooth. Yummy!

I think I used more leaf this time and steeped it for longer. I’m definitely getting more grass and OOLONG this time. I’m not really sure that I’ve ever gotten a “buttery” taste from oolong, so I’m not sure what it meant by that. It’s smooth, though. While it’s OOLONG, it doesn’t kick you in the teeth with it. It just sort of wraps you up in a blanket of OOLONG.

It’s good for an oolong, but I’m not much of a fan (I prefer fruit). It’s not you, it’s me! I’m sorry!

Oolong with a bit of cocoa prior to infusion. After infusion – oolong and slightly vegetal-sweet. The liquid is light yellow in color and it is sweet in taste and very light – or should I say delicate??? This is nice but pretty pale in flavor. If you’re up for something mild this may be it.

1 pyramid for 250mL water, bare.

So Tea Forte winsthe tea sachet design award. I love the pyramids with the little leaf tag. I try not to think of how wasteful the pyramids, with all their packaging, are. I just got the Tea Forte Sanctuary box (white ginger pear, jasmine green, sencha, silk oolong) as a gift, and I intend to enjoy it.

A very good silk (aka milk) oolong. Not as toasty-creamy as the Quangzhou from DavidsTea, but still very, very nice. Greener and more vegetal — I think I stepped it too long — with a hint of bitterness. Yeah, just have steeped too long. But definitely a buttery silk oolong, and quite silky at that.

Pretty sure that’s full leaf in the pyramid. And dang, those pyramid infusers are handy.

Yeah, IE 9 doesn’t talk to the slider bars below. Hmph. So, 4 minute steep with 87 degree water (estimated), ratng of 88.

This is an enjoyable oolong, actually. It’s got a sweet nuttiness to it that I am enjoying, almost like a marzipan (but more subtle). I’d call this a soft oolong- actually the name seems to fit well. A big mug of this on a chilly day (yes, Houston gets chilly….ish) is really sort of perfect. This is going to sound odd, but the more I drink this the more I think I can taste hints of vanilla in it, and the more I keep thinking this should be marketed as a Christmas oolong.

Tea Forte has the coolest packaging- which seems like a waste to me, and is of course going to ramp up the cost of the tea- but it does make for delightful little gifts. And I love good design, so I am begrudgingly forgiving them. Okay, no more about the design in my future TF reviews.

Second steep- I’ve never steeped a tea bag more than once before so here goes nothing.
Actually, this held up well considering I steeped it too long both times. Oddly enough, the second steeping doesn’t taste that much different from the first- mild, sweet, and nutty. I wonder if I can go for a third. These tea bags are expensive!

This being the first Tea Forte tea that I have tried in quite some time, I decided to go all out. I am using my Tea Forte Cafe Cup, Tea Forte Tea Tray, and the Tea Forte Tea Timer app for iPhone. The instructions, acquired from the application itself, recommend 2-4 minutes of steep time. For a happy medium, I choose three, using just-under-boil filtered water.

I have a decent amount of experience with oolong teas. As this tea is steeping, I cannot help but wonder if the tea is being restricted from expansion by the pyramid in which it rests, as most oolongs like this one do a decent amount of unfurling while steeping.

The colour of the tea is a brownish yellow; the smells wafting from the cup are smooth, mellow, with perhaps a faint hint of spice. After a couple of small sips, I determine to put the pyramid back into the cup for another minute. The strength is okay but not quite as strong as I like. (If you like your oolongs light and mellow, three minutes will probably suffice.) Another minute, and it is back to tasting. Pleasantly, I can still taste the buttery aftertaste of those couple sips, with hints of vegetal flavour. The taste of this tea reminds me a lot of a Ti Kwan Yin.

In my opinion, four minutes was a prime amount of time for this tea. The flavours are much more full-bodied and literally burst in the mouth. There is a bit of vegetal bite on the sides of the tongue, as with a slightly-oversteeped green tea (like a gunpowder), but this is hardly noticeable, and probably due to my long steep time.

Overall I really enjoyed this tea. It was a very pleasant cuppa, and I do not think I have any complaints with it, other than a bit of lacking in the flavour department. I would perhaps be interested to know if this was due to the pyramid or the tea itself. 85/100 is what I would rate this tea on my personal enjoyment scale.

Caffeine boost for an all-nighter study/ homework session!

Second Tea forte tea, hope this one fares better than the last.
Not commenting on the dry leaves here since I really can’t see them all that clearly, but it did smell nice, hint of nuttiness?
The brew is yellow/greenish in color, smells nutty, tastes nutty. Very mild, the oolong taste isn’t very strong, but still nice.

I wish this came in loose leaves, cuz the leaves are all squished up in that tiny pyramid and look absolutely miserable. Maybe I’ll cut open the second sachet whenever I get around to it.