Orchid Oolong

[liralen]

Bought: February of this year from Imperial Tea Court, a single one ounce sampler, mostly because I was curious.

Brewed: Gung-fu style in my jasmine pot (it's distinctive enough that it flavors the pot, no matter what kind of tea is the base for the jasmine, so I keep one pot just for all my jasmine scented teas). 1 tsp per 4 ounce of water, about 2 minutes for the first steep (a little cooler than a full boil, let the pot sit for a couple of minutes after it turned itself off from the boil), 3 for the second.

Leaf Qualities: Dry: Fragrant with jasmine and the orchid like oolong perfume. Wet: Full-blown jasmine balanced with the depths and wet autumn leaves at full intensity of a good, greener oolong.

It was great. The high floral fragrance of the jasmine was nicely counterpointed by the wine and orchid depths, richness, and complexity of the oolong. It wasn't like drinking a bottle of perfume, though, as they'd kept the jasmine to just the right level to still leave room for the oolong's flavor and scent as well. Very, very nice and worth the price to indulge in for a little while. The "sample" will actually last me quite a long time. It's a bit too dramatic for just drinking while I'm trying to think of something else, but when I really want to just sit and concentrate on the tea, this is very, very nice. It's strong enough to put up against foods of various sorts, and adds its own character to them, unlike some of the whites and greens that really should only be enjoyed by themselves.

Rating: 9 of 10

Docking it just a bit because of both the price and the drama queen nature of this stuff. :-)