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Oollo Tea’s Four Seasons Oolong

Four Seasons Oolong Tea by Oollo Tea
Oolong Tea / Straight
$6.00 for 30g

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First Impressions

Four Seasons Oolong Tea was an oolong that I picked up at the 2017 Vancouver Tea Festival earlier this month from Oollo Tea’s table. The tea came in a silver foil packet in white card stock box, covered with patterned paper that’s stamped. The foil packet isn’t resealable (unfortunately!) and I didn’t have any empty tins, so I wound up putting the foil packet into a plastic resealable page to keep the air out.

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Four Seasons Oolong Tea has a bright, almost nutty aroma to it. It reminds me of chestnuts, which is almost seasonably appropriate. The dry leaf is beautiful with dark and bright greens, and the leaves are tightly compressed together.

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Preparation

There were no preparation recommendations on the packaging, and I couldn’t find the Four Seasons Oolong Tea on the Oollo Tea website, so I opted to steep at 185°F (85°C) for 1 minute for the initial steep.

First Taste

Four Seasons Oolong Tea steeps to a pale yellow for the initial steep. The aroma that comes up from this tea has a mix of nuttiness and grassy notes to it. There’s a smooth, mouth coating quality to this oolong. I found zero bitterness or astringency in this tea at the temperature that I steeped it for. The flavour of Four Seasons Oolong Tea had a hint of roasted chestnuts with grass/vegetal flavours, it’s quite tasty.

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A Second Cup?

I resteeped Four Seasons Oolong Tea a total of six times, adding an additional 30 seconds per resteep. I found that the flavours got more vegetal and less of the chestnuts with each subsequent steep, and it was still flavourful by the sixth resteep.

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My Overall Impression

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I loved Oollo Tea’s Four Seasons Oolong Tea. The aroma from the dry leaf and the steeped tea is delightful, I really enjoyed the mix of chestnuts and vegetal notes. I had a great time steeping this tea repeatedly over the course of an afternoon, and watching the tea leaves open up. I would definitely recommend resteeping the leaves and taking the time to drink this oolong over a period of time. Four Seasons Oolong Tea is a great cup of tea, and the vegetal flavours are smooth and delicious.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.

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Tisano’s Mint Cacao Tea

Mint Cacao Tea by Tisano
Herbal Infusion / Flavoured
$13.99USD for 4oz

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Tisano has provided me with Mint Cacao Tea for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

The pairing of mint and chocolate has been a steady part of my life for a very long time – one of my dad’s favourite flavour combinations is mint chocolate (especially in the form of ice cream), so it’s one that I’m very familiar with. When I saw that Tisano had sent me a sample packet of Mint Cacao Tea, I was very excited. Ripping open the packaging, I was first welcomed by the smell of chocolate and mint. If After Eight chocolate was ever made into a tea blend, I think this would accurately represent the aroma of that candy.

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Mint Cacao Tea consists of cacao shells and Egyptian peppermint. I’ve never had Egyptian peppermint before, but it has the crisp, refreshing aroma of mint that I’m used to.

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Preparation

Tisano recommends steeping Mint Cacao Tea in 212°F (100°C) water for 3.5 minutes. I followed the steeping instructions for the initial steep.

First Taste

Mint Cacao Tea steeps to a golden orange, and has a mostly chocolate aroma that wafts up from the tea. I smell a hint of mint, but it’s primarily the chocolate that comes through. On first sip, it reminds me a lot of the Original Cacao Tea that I reviewed previously, with just a touch of mint that shines through. There’s a touch of bitterness to this cacao blend, that reminds me a lot of dark chocolate. I found myself searching for the mint at times.

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I added a touch of cream to Mint Cacao Tea and found that it helped with the bitterness, which allowing the mint to come through a bit more. There’s not as much sweetness as I was hoping to find in a chocolate mint tea, but a little bit of honey helped bring out the chocolate flavour a bit more.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Mint Cacao Tea and found that the mint chocolate flavours was quite watery compared to the first steep, and would say that Mint Cacao Tea is good for one steep only.

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My Overall Impression

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I thought that Tisano’s Mint Cacao Tea was just okay. I found myself wishing that there was more mint in the flavour of the tea, but the addition of honey and cream helped the blend to taste more like a hot mint chocolate. The aroma of the dry leaf is amazing and reminds me just like mint chocolate candy, and it smells quite a bit like chocolate (with a touch of mint). With a bit more peppermint or mint extract, I think this would just hit the spot.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.

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Fox Tea Club’s Forest Lake

Forest Lake by Fox Tea Club
Black Tea / Flavoured
$9.95USD for 2oz

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Fox Tea Club has provided me with Forest Lake for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

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With a name like Forest Lake, I wasn’t sure what to expect this tea to smell like. Would it smell like trees? When I opened the packaging, I was immediately smelling the smokey aroma that is unmistakably lapsang souchong. There are some light fruity undertones to the smokey dry leaves. I can make out the aroma of berries and it almost reminds me of late summer. The unfortunate thing is that there were a lot of forest fires near where I live this past summer, so Forest Lakes reminds me a lot of this particular past summer due to the smokey aroma.

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Officially, the list of ingredients for Forest Lake is: black tea, cranberry, pine buds, rowan, and sea buckthorn. At the time of writing, the description for this black tea blend included mention of lapsang souchong, sorbus, and currant.

Preparation

Fox Tea Club recommends steeping Forest Lake in 205°F (96°C) for 3 to 5 minutes and suggests that the leaves can be used for 2 steeps. My initial steep of Forest Lake was at 200°F (93°C) for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Forest Lake steeps to a beautiful golden colour, there’s a bit of a musky undertone to this tea and when I smell it, I can’t make out the berries that were so obviously in the dry leaf. On first sip, I’m primarily confronted with the smokey nature of the black tea base. It’s malty, robust, and there’s a hint of sour at the end of each sip – not so much that it’s overwhelming, but just enough to know that it’s there. The smokiness is strong in this black tea blend, mostly because it’s covers the smell and the taste senses – but there’s also hints of sweetness and fruitiness from the berries, but that takes a bit more effort to come out since it’s overwhelmed by the smokey flavours.

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A Second Cup?

I did resteep Forest Lake, mostly because Fox Tea Club suggested that it was possible. It was – I found the smokiness to be more subdued compared to the initial steep, which allowed the other flavours in the tea blend to come out more. I attempted a second resteep of this tea and found that it was quite lacking in flavour compared to the first two steeps. I would say that Forest Lake is good for one more steep only.

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My Overall Impression

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I thought that Fox Tea Club’s Forest Lake was just okay. I’m not generally a fan of lapsang souchong or smokey blends, and I think that did play a part in my rating of this black tea blend. I did enjoy the subtleties of the berries in this tea, when I was ale to taste them. A touch of sweetener may help in drawing out the fruity flavours more. I am always glad that I don’t have allergies or food sensitivities, but do take care if you’re trying this tea if you have any fruit allergies – I would suggest contacting Fox Tea Club directly for the full ingredients list if you have any concerns since some of the ingredients mentioned in the description are missing from the ingredients list on the product page.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.