Orchid and toasted bamboo are really the best ways to describe the smell and taste of this tea. The smell is what sold me in the first place, reminding me of the tropical forests in Thailand, filled with rosewood and thickets of bamboo. There are some hints of nuts, a wet, earthy body like a Pu-Erh, and some smoke mixed in with mountain mist. The color is also a rosewood color, though not quite as amber or red as black tea, nor as yellow as a green tea. I’d say this one is one of my favorites, and mind you it is six bucks for 50 grams on Espresso Royale’s website.
This is also my first fully roasted oolong that I can remember, and I started drinking at the Espresso Royale near the MSU campus. Their coffee was either great or dirty and acidic, so I decided to opt out for their loose leaf. There, this tea was named Songbird Oolong, and then I smelled to see what it would be like. Coming full circle, I smelled what I just described and it instantly became one of my preferences when I went there. Even this morning I am drinking this tea instead of coffee, and while the caffeine is medium, I would say it’s on the higher end of that scale. There is also some cold coming in from the morning, dewy rain, and this is keeping me warm while I romanticize my memories in Thailand.
I’ve only had a few other fully roasted oolongs, and this one is the most flavor I’ve had yet. I’ve only had one bagged version that was remotely similar and that was Ten Ren’s Wu Yi, but I prefer this loose leaf because of it’s cleaner and less astringent quality. I’m guessing that this Oolong is the standard of the roasted variety, and if so, anyone who likes roasted oolongs would appreciate this tea and definitely be satisfied. Someone newer to teas may not be as accustomed to the roasted woodsy, earth like flavor, but they may like it with some sugar being somewhat similar to a coffee. Otherwise, it would taste like dirt water to someone really new to tea.
I like this tea both Gongfu and Western style, with Gongfu yielding more of the woodsy bamboo, orchid, and nutty flavors whilst Western is the same but with more Earth and body. I would prefer the Western style for this one.
Flavors: Bamboo, Orchid, Roasted, Walnut, Wet Earth, Wet Wood
