-It’s important to try new things, and I haven’t had a tea flavored with Osmanthus flowers (I don’t think).  So, today I’m drinking an Osmanthus Oolong Se Chung from Upton.  Se Chung Oolong has a slightly shorter fermentation period than most Oolongs; therefore, it has more of a vegetal flavor.  I’ve had several teas flavored with Jasmine.  For the most part, I enjoyed them.  With any flavoring, the key is balance.  I don’t want to drink a tea that tastes like a scented candle.  I want to be able to appreciate the tea as well as the overall blend.  In this case, I want to taste the natural green-sweetness of the Oolong mixed with a fragrant mix of Osmanthus flowers.  This particular Oolong was much better than I expected.  Upton’s Se Chung Oolong has received favorable reviews from Upton’s customers; therefore, I assumed the osmanthus flavored version was a safe bet.

I found the osmanthus to have more of a spice-like quality about it.  It reminded me of a light-black pepper flavoring with only a hint of floral fragrance.  I was expecting it to taste very floral, but it actually added some attitude to the Oolong.  The Se Chung Oolong still shines through, but it’s kicked-up a notch with the osmanthus.  As you bring the tea close to your face to take a sip, your nose will pick-up the spice-like quality.  As your taste buds get to have their turn in the experience, you’ll enjoy the quality flavors of Oolong Se Chung.  There’s a faint floral flavor, it’s mainly all green-Oolong flavors.  If you want to try something slightly different from the norm, give this a shot.  I really enjoyed the one-two punch of peppery scent to flavorful Oolong.  This tea really works your senses.  The tea itself opens to reveal a healthy full leaf, and it creates a yellowish-brown liquor.  I typically steeped the tea with a water temperature around 190 degrees for at least 3 minutes.  You can experiment with multiple steeping.  I usually went up to 3 steepings.  Since I’m the only one that drinks tea in my house, that’s enough for me.

• Visit Upton Tea Imports

marTEA

marTEA's blog was posted on Sunday, July 27th, 2008 at 12:45 am and is filed under Oolong, Upton Tea Imports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Tags: Oolong, Osmanthus, Se Chung, Upton Tea Imports