Violin in C Sharp

 It's been a hot minute since I did a tea review that wasn't part of an advent calendar, but this morning I felt like trying something new, and so - a review is in order! A while back, Plum Deluxe sent me this Strawberry Rhubarb Oolong sample as a freebe with one of my orders and it has gotten lost in my tea cupboard for longer than it should have.  This morning, while digging for the right tea to satisfy my mood, I rediscovered this little dime bag hiding among the larger stashes and decided that her time had come! First off, I was surprised that while being a billed as an Oolong, that the package said it should be brewed at boiling temperatures since light Oolongs are usually brewed at 180-190 degrees Fahrenheit and dark oolongs at 195-205 degrees Fahrenheit. But then I noticed that the oolong was blended with some black tea, and so that made more sense. I felt like drinking out of a newly arrived witchy mug that happens to be a very dark burgundy, so I don't have a photo...

  Today's offering is another high altitude selection - again from the Himalayas.  I am most used to Chinese Oolong, so I am curious to taste the difference. The aromatics on the nose of the dry leaf is... not what I expected.  It's warm and inviting but has a hint of.... chocolate? on the end note.  I am concerned.  Chocolate is not what I want from my tea flavours. Steeping gives me a darker color than I'm expecting, but that's not a bad thing.  I am partial to a dark black tea after all.  The aroma of the actual tea hasn't changed much from when it was dry... except that the worrying chocolate end note is gone.  Instead, there is something.... not quite floral.  It reminds me of herbs... I think. Taste:  It almost tastes... closed?  I think I might want to put a bit of honey, which feels wrong for an oolong but.... I still find myself seriously considering it.  Alone, it's a nice quality serviceable oolong - and I enjoy it.....

 I admit, I had to look up what on earth "Pouchong" is.  When I looked it up, I discovered that it is the old romanization of something I am more familiar with - Baozhong.  For those of you who aren't aware, Baozhong is an oolong that is on the green side - both in color and in flavor.  It hails from either Taiwan or Fuijan and it's honestly halfway between standard green and standard oolong.  The leaf is twisted rather than rolled or pearled and has natural floral notes. Honestly, the natural floral notes really do lend the tea to being blended with additional florals.  As such, I was excited to try Baozhong blended with rose petals. My excitement was justified.  This is a LOVELY blend! As usual, I read the brewing instructions before the flavour write up - and since I agreed with the brewing directions, I followed them to the letter.  Dad distracted me while I was steeping, so I ALMOST left the bag in too long - but I caught it in time and avoid...

 Day Two of the advent calendar and what did we get? Jade Oolong!  As good as the assam blend was yesterday, I was excited to taste the quality of today's oolong.  I had high hopes. So, I made myself a cup according to the directions -trusting them on the temperature and the timing. All in all, it's not a BAD quality oolong, but I've had better and it didn't compare at all to yesterday's cuppa.  I think the thing that cut into my enjoyment of the oolong was that this one had a sort of grassy flavor on the end note which persisted a bit into the after taste.  Because of the grassy end note it took me longer to get through the cup - so by the time I was ending the cup it had cooled.  I have to say, I'd really enjoy this as an iced oolong with a bit of added sweetness.

 This is the second flavor in the Jiant three flavor variety pack that I found at Trader Joe's. The tea flavor in this one is lighter than the tea flavor in the first flavor I tried - which was made with black tea.  This flavor is based on Oolong tea, and I think that's why there's less tea flavor.  The mango and lime come through SO nice.  Honestly, it tastes like a mango cider with lime - and I'm HERE for that. This is a great alternative for an apple or pear cider for those nights when both apple and pear have too much sweetness for my palate.  Even though this isn't as sweet as either of those, there isn't any bitterness that often accompanies a cider type drink with a drop in the sweetness level.  It's just all mango and lime with the tiniest touch of oolon on the end note. Final though: I WILL be getting this one again.  It's delicious.

In case you hadn't figured it out - NEWS FLASH - I love tea.      Like several other tea aficionados in my extended friend group, I have managed to make my love of tea more than a simple appreciation of a beverage - I've developed my love of tea into a full blown hobby.  I collect different blends, I follow different tea companies and their blend collections the way some hobbyists follow card sets.  I have multiple drawers and shelves full of tea related paraphernalia, I have an electric water kettle that has multiple temperature settings specifically for different types of tea.... tea is a part of my daily life.  When I take a vacation someplace special, I try to find a tea cup to bring home for my collection.  For Mother's Day last year, I took my mother out to a fancy tea house to treat her to a Mother Daughter afternoon tea as a way to mark the celebration of the day. I LOVE tea.      With this in mind, it should come as no surprise ...

       Last year I did the David's Tea advent calendar and found myself some lovely new blends from a company I wasn't very familiar with.  I'd had some of their teas before and really enjoyed them, but only a few and so I loved trying blends I never would have purchased for myself.      I had so much fun with the experience last year that I decided to do it again this year and choose a different tea company to explore.  I settled on Adagio Teas because their calendar looked so cute in the add. The inside of the Adagio Teas advent calendar     Last year's David's Tea calendar design was a bunch of little drawers that pulled out to reveal pouches of loose leaf tea portioned for two.  I like this punch/perforation pocket design better.  The little drawers slipped out before their time a lot and revealed blends before their days.  This also feels a lot more like the little chocolate advent calendars that I had as a kid....