659 Tasting Notes
I wish Mountain Tea did samples (I think I would have purchased a sample of each and every one of their oolongs if they had). But even going in blind, jade oolong seemed like a safe bet. Every jade oolong I ever had has been delicious, and this one is no exception. Mountain Tea’s version has a lot of nuance: the honeysuckle note is strongest, but there’s also a hint of butter and a very slight tang. I don’t know that I would have thought of honeydew if I hadn’t seen it in the notes, but I can see how that tang could read as honeydew. Overall, a delightful tea.
Preparation
So excited to get my first order from Mountain Tea :) I received some of their tea in a Tealet contest and was completely won over. Normally I stick to greener oolongs, but I made an exception for this one — it’s SO dark, the first time I had it I was convinced it was black tea. It tastes like raisins and malt, and holds up well to re-steeping. I think a little sugar helps bring out the raisin notes, but it is good with or without.
Preparation
Sipdown. This was a pleasant, mildly sweet tea. I enjoyed it, but I’m not particularly going to miss it. There are so many other ‘slightly vanilla’ teas on the market.
(Unlike Blueberry Crumble. Every time I drink this I sob a little and wish Della Terra hadn’t gone out of business.)
Aww, I never tried Blueberry Crumble but it seemed quite popular. Stupid me kept passing it up every time I made an order.
Yeah, I normally don’t go for blueberry flavors either (because they usually come loaded with hibiscus? but this one is stellar. Pure blueberry muffin flavor, no hibiscus in sight.
I totally agree on the blueberry + hibiscus combination has been so overdone. Somehow I thought the blueberry would be boring with the green base. My problem was I kept imagining the boring blueberry white teas I’ve had in the past and assumed Blueberry Crumble wouldn’t be that much different.
Ooo, I’ve had those blueberry whites, I know what you mean! So pale and weak :( I think Blueberry Crumble has black tea in the base as well as green? Normally I avoid that combination, but in this case I can barely taste it. There’s a lot of maple flavor backing up the blueberry. Alas, I only have a few teaspoons left and then it will just be a wistful memory.
Had a pleasant cup of this this afternoon. I keep making lists of teas to buys, while at the same time I’m trying to sip down all this tea I have lying around, and the irony of this finally drove me to diagram which teas, in an ideal world, would actually fill my cupboard. It came to a mere 18 (this tea was one of them). The number is so low partly because i still have so many teas to try, and partly because with so many teas being either discontinued or re-formulated, I’m losing favorites almost as fast as I’m discovering new ones :( Well, here’s hoping this one doesn’t change, it’s become a standby for me.
Sipdown. I iced this one too (it was a really warm day, in case anyone is wondering about this sudden trend in icing) and despite the fact that I used double the leaf and accidentally oversteeped it, it’s SO MUCH BETTER this way. As in, I can finally taste the dreamsicle. The orange and vanilla notes taste as heavenly as they smell. This has been such a successful day of steeping! (Though, erm, decidedly less successful in other areas, namely my spring cleaning tasks.) I’m cleaning out the cupboard now, wondering what else I can ice :)
Rating: I had this tea at 73 (for a hot cup) but I would give it 95 iced.
Have you tried the Blood Orange Rooibos? I think that one has a more “refreshing” aspect to it. Plus, it’s better iced and/or as a sun tea!
Well, I really hate the taste of rooibos, but I have had rooibos teas that were nice, simply because the other flavors covered up the rooibos taste altogether. How much of the rooibos flavor comes through in Blood Orange Rooibos?
Hardly any. I’ll be the first to say that I greatly dislike the flavor of a rooibos tea. However, all you can taste with this blend is the orange cream flavors.
That sounds really good then! I’ll grab some in my next order, thanks :)
Received this as a sample from Culinary Teas. I think it’s sourced from the Metropolitan Tea Company, since so many of their teas are, but it doesn’t explicitly say so on the bag. Overall, this tastes good but pretty ordinary. Rather than a gunpowder green, the base is a very finely chopped leaf, and it tastes like the mint in question is peppermint.
I decided to try this iced, and accordingly used more leaf than usual, but I think that was a mistake, as the tea tastes pretty bitter even with sugar added.
I get that a lot with Lady Londonderry. So much so, that I feel guilty for adding so much sugar to wipe out the astringency!
Me too, and I don’t really understand it, as astringency seems to usually come from the tea itself, not whatever flavoring was added. Oh well, some things just need a lot of sugar.
So I had a sample of this once before, and while I enjoyed the strawberry and guava notes, the black/green base was slightly strange, as they tend to be. When I received a second sample, I decided to save it till the weather warmed up and I could try it iced. Well, the day has come. It is DELICIOUS iced, so much so that I’m putting this on my summer wish list. Honestly, I wonder if all black/green blends are designed to be iced, they taste so weird when they’re hot.
This one tastes better than it has in a long time. I still think David’s changed their recipe on this (though the customer service rep. swears otherwise) and I’m still on that same bag that tasted so off when I first got it. While it doesn’t come up to the buttery, toasted coconut notes of the original, I feel like the rum notes in this bag have finally mellowed to the point that it tastes decent. Plus I doubled the leaf, and I’m finally tasting a little coconut. Has anyone else gotten a recent bag of this tea? Just wondering how experiences compare.
I really haven’t had anything bad from Mountain Tea.
That’s good to hear :) Any in particular you’d recommend?
Well, you’ve reviewed my favorite – the Black Pearl. :) And I’m not sure but if this is the same as Honey Jade Oolong, then you’ve had both of my favorites!
Actually the Honey Jade is different — I almost grabbed that one, but my budget kicked in and I decided to save it for my NEXT order. Glad to hear it’s good though. And yes, Black Pearl is irresistible. I had another cup today, and despite getting distracted and way oversteeping it on the second round, it was great. I’m always grateful for a tea that can withstand a bit of negligence.