Choice Organic Teas has recently introduced eight new whole leaf organic teas.  The teas are neatly packaged in an artistic wrapper.  The tea itself is contained in a biodegradable tea pyramid (mesh-like). Today, I’m drinking Lychee white.  The white tea is both organic and fair trade.  From the start, this tea’s fragrance will make your mouth water.  The dry tea has an inviting sweet scent to it.  It’s a very welcoming scent.  As you inhale the fragrance, it awakens your senses and motivates you to get your day moving along.  If you drink white tea for its low caffeine content, you’ll enjoy the relaxing nature of the tea.  The lychee is a small fruit native to southern China.  The lychee flavor found in tea reminds me of a mix between a sweet grape and a raspberry.  You need to try it for yourself and decide.  Regardless of what it reminds me of, it tastes great.  To prepare the tea, I let the water sit for about 3-5 minutes after it boiled.  I let the tea pyramid float in the water for about 2-3 minutes.  I was left with a delicious cup of tea.  The white tea was very enjoyable.  The flavor is very well balanced.  The white tea and lychee flavors blend together to create a beautiful medley of flavors.  For an extra touch, Choice Organic added organic osmanthus flowers to the mix.  This is easily one of my favorite Choice Organic products, and I can’t wait to try the other new flavors.

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-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.

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