Feb 07
Dan’s Teaview Snapshot
 | "52 Teas have done it again - a winning combination that's sure to grab your attention, particularly if you are a raisin lover."
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While I never would have thought to toss a sprinkling of raisins into my cup of oolong tea, it seems so obvious now that I wonder *why* I haven't? 52 Teas thinks this type of stuff up all day long, and they are all the more genius for it. This happens to be one of mad-scientist Frank's creations from December 2009, and I might warn you it's in limited supply. So if they are sold out by the time you read this, hey man, sorry.Frank takes Formosa Oolong (a fancy term for saying the tea was grown in Taiwan -- Formosa meaning "beautiful", which is quite nice) and blends it with natural flavors of raisin and vanilla. Also sprinkled into the mix are - you guessed it - golden raisins. The dried blend is quite gnarly, to be honest - a mish-mash of processed tea leaves, all twisty and rolled; a good portion of twigs and stems (not sure that's really a good thing, coming from a quality-control perspective); and chunks of greenish-yellow raisins, with a few shriveled, reddish ones mixed in as well. It's kind of a Halloween-looking tea, if you will. A tad spooky. The leaves are of varying size - mostly medium size, and mostly broken.
A 4 minute steep with sub-boiling water and utilizing 2 tsp of leaf makes this tea a pungent one. The aroma of the dried blend pretty much screams "raisin", and the cup matches as well. The vanilla flavoring in conjunction with the raisins creates what is obviously a deliciously sweet brew, so anyone adding sugar to this is clearly a maniac. Every sip of the cup, hot or cold, is quite intense, with big, bold raisin flavor. The vanilla is certainly detectable as well, and blends perfectly with the raisin taste. A second infusion (even at an accidental 8-minute steep!) provides a slightly subdued raisin/vanilla flavor, but is still plenty potent. What's nice about this second cup is that the oolong creeps back in more toward the forefront. I rather prefer this cup to the first, not because the first was bad or anything, but that the flavors balance out more nicely.
52 Teas have done it again - a winning combination that's sure to grab your attention, particularly if you are a raisin lover.
— To purchase 52 Teas Golden Raisin 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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