Nepal Monsoon Flush 2014 Pearl Oolong Tea

A very strange bit of gaming news crept across my radar this morning as I found myself wondering ‘why in the name of all things holy am I still awake’ that made me switch to wondering ‘have I fallen asleep at my computer and am now just dreaming of weird news?’ I mean I did dream I was a computer simulation and saw the world in coding the other day, so this is entirely possible…but no, upon further investigation, this rumor is not a dream. It seems there is a rumor about Microsoft buying Mojang for $2billion, which is really strange and out of character for Notch. I am worried for the future of Minecraft, but hopefully Microsoft will be smart and not change too many things, it will be interesting to see how this unfolds, but more on my thoughts about this on my Saturday Ramblings post.

Introducing a new feature on the blog: What-Cha Wednesdays! I have a small mountain of their teas to review (and will probably get more once I run out, their teas fascinate me and at times become addictions, so I want to Pokemon it and try them all) and until I run out I shall have this be a weekly thing. Today’s What-Cha is Nepal Monsoon Flush 2014 Pearl Oolong Tea, and everything about it is new to me. It is from Nepal (a tea region I have very little experience with, tragically) and rolled into tight pearls, reminiscent of dragon pearl tea, a shape I have never seen an oolong curled into. There is also the plucking time of Monsoon Flush, which is also referred to as Rainy Tea, it is plucked between the Second and Autumn Flush between July and September, a time of continuous rain. It has been a cool, drizzly, day so I thought the timing to review this tea was perfect. The aroma of the little pearls is not very strong, I catch little whiffs of aromas, much like the tightly curled pearls are hiding their secrets from me. There are gentle notes of nuttiness and fruitiness, a mix of stone fruit and citrus, with just a tiny hint of sesame seeds.

As suspected, giving the pearls a bath released some of its hidden aroma as they unfurled, though the pearls remind me of baby Cthulhu-esque monsters which endears them to me immensely. The aroma of the leaves is very interesting, notes of dry apricot, sweet wine, and an undertone of pepper drift up from the leaves, it is very sweet and rich while still being light. The liquid is sweet, with a blend of apricot juice and scuppernong fruit, it does not smell like ‘fruit nectar’ but the juices of a ripe fruit as you bite into it.

The first steep is incredibly gentle and light, it tastes like spring rain, mineral laden spring water…specifically it reminds of the taste of the water I would drink from Boiling Spring’s Bubble (an artesian cold spring from limestone rich rock) giving me a powerful case of nostalgia. There is more to this tea than clean water and minerals, there are also notes of ripe apricots and freshly mown hay.

The second and third steep are identical in both aroma and taste. The aroma of the liquid is very sweet, mixing apricots,a touch of citrus, and nice bit of muscatel and minerals at the finish. The taste has the same clean spring water and rain taste of the first steep, but the real show stealing taste this time around is the apricot and fresh citrus notes. I feel like sipping this tea is cleansing, it is very light and refreshing and makes my soul feel good, I shall have to get more and put it aside for special occasions. This tea is a wonderful reminder how diverse tea can be, it is unlike any oolong I have ever had, in fact if I did not know what it was I might label it a white tea or an unusual Darjeeling, tea has so much to teach and I hope to never stop learning.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/09/what-cha-nepal-monsoon-flush-2014-pearl.html