Nov 25
Laura’s Teaview Snapshot
 | "It is very honey tasting with fruity muscatel notes. I thoroughly enjoyed my cup and I am pleased to have tried a Nepalese oolong."
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"This gorgeous hand-crafted, oolong tea is made using traditional Taiwanese methods adapted for use in Nepal. After plucking, the leaves are hand rolled, covered with cloth and spread out on a table to dry. When infused, the tea exudes the aroma of native Daphne bholua and Rhododendron plants, with a slight touch of honey and fruit." --- Simple Leaf website.
First of all, I love, love, love the Simple Leaf website. There is an actual interview with the grower, pictures of the estate, etc. Really well done. The grower's interview makes me want to make an immediate purchase to support him and his environmental causes. I think this is the first oolong that I have tried from Nepal and I am curious as to the taste, complexity, etc. A visual of this is interesting--it is not as twisted up looking as many oolongs are. It almost looks more like black tea to my eye than oolong, which gives me some preconceptions of what this might taste like---thinking black tea (Darjeeling?) with honey notes.
I steeped this for about 5 minutes as the water wasn't that hot and it brewed up to a beautiful gold color. The name of this is spot on as it even smells like honey to me. The taste unsweetened is delicate and honey tasting. The honey taste is not really subtle, it kinda dominates the flavor profile but is not overwhelming. I did not sweeten this and it is delicate and naturally sweet making sans sweetener totally pleasant. This is really smooth and has pretty much no astringency. This has some very subtle fruity notes that remind me of muscatel grape notes that you often find in a Darjeeling.
There is something about this tea that makes feel like it is the oolong kin to Darjeeling black tea. It is very honey tasting with fruity muscatel notes. I thoroughly enjoyed my cup and I am pleased to have tried a Nepalese oolong. I loved the website and reading about Madan Tamang and his Meghma Estate was enlightening. This is very reasonably priced at $13.95 for 4 oz and I would recommend this to anyone looking for a honey oolong or to Darjeeling black tea lovers looking for a good introduction to oolong. I suspect that I will be back for more.
— To purchase The Simple Leaf Honeybee Oolong, or for more specific information on ingredients or the story behind this particular blend, click here to go directly to the manufacturer's web site.
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Laura Teaviews.com Reviewer » Read more about this reviewer on Laura's profile page. » Find a list of recent posts by Laura. |
November 26th, 2008 at 5:56 am
I didn’t like it nearly as much as you did, but it was still pretty good. And I actually tasted the hint of honey at the end. Peculiar.
My Rating:
6/10