Tea Name: Formosa Oolong Estate Tea

Tea Type: Oolong from Taiwan

The British found out centuries ago that tea drinking was essential and drinking good tea was even more essential. How do you have civilization without a good “cuppa”? You can certainly feel civilized after a cup of this tasty oolong.

Oolongs are semi-oxidized, that is, they are allowed to oxidize to a certain extent, more than for a green tea which isn’t oxidized at all, and less than for a black tea which is fully oxidized. This oolong is very oxidized, more toward the black tea end of the scale.

This type of tea is also very suitable for multiple steepings, so doing one cupful at a time seems appropriate. Thus, we used our little white teacup and an infuser basket. The infuser basket, usually something we avoid like the Plague, fits perfectly into that cup, so we had the best of both worlds. The tea leaves had plenty of interaction with the water and expanded to their hearts’ content, but the basket lifts out so no straining is needed.

The dry leaves are different in appearance and aroma from other Formosa Oolongs we’ve steeped. They are more broken up and have a strong nutty flavor. The small size means they steep faster. We used water heated to 195° F and steeped twice for 2 minutes each. Here is the results of the first steep:

Some taste descriptions we’ve read of other teas use words that we think are a bit “out there.” Scallops? Bread dough? They don’t sound very appetizing in a tea. In this case, one of those “out there” terms seems more realistic to us now: “walnutty.” The first steeping was a nutty brown color and had a walnutty flavor with a hint of smokiness, no bitterness, and a smooth feel. The second steeping was very faint overall. We recommend that you steep the first round for only 1½ minutes, not 2 minutes. Otherwise, figure on just one really nice steep. It’s great straight. We totally avoided any enhancements. This is a tea you’ll want to taste every drop of.

Disclaimer: This tea was provided by the company named. However, any opinions concerning this tea and the company  are always strictly objective.

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