Good morning, tea friends! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and enjoyed the extra hour of sleep we received last week! I'm not sure about all of you, but I know I have a long week ahead of me. I have a lot of work to do and it just seems to be jam packed already! Speaking of "long", we have been hearing some buzz lately about our "Oolong teas". Let's learn a bit more about these teas and why you should try them today!
To begin, I'll direct you to a previous blog post that was done by one of our favorite's, Aubrey Simpson! Aubrey does a fabulous job really diving into Oolong tea and why it should be on your radar!
I also want to encourage you to check out the page on our website that is dedicated to Oolong Teas. On this page you will see all of our awesome oolong teas that we stock here in store, as well as a complete description of what this tea is, how it is made, what region the leaves derive from, and why this tea can be beneficial to your health!
What is so unique and special about Oolong tea, you ask? Oolong tea is almost a hybrid between black and green teas. When the tea leaves are harvested from the Camelia Sinensis plant, instead of being steeped immediately like green tea, or let to oxidize for a robust flavoring like black tea, oolong teas are in the middle. They are "semi-oxidized". This creates complexes flavors and allows for the maintenance of a lot of the original plant flavors as well. Oolong teas can have such variance depending upon the level of oxidation that is allowed. For instance, our Formosa tea is allowed to oxidize to almost about 75% creating dark and nutty flavors like a black tea. Conversely, our Milk Oolong, is much closer to a green tea and not allowed to oxidize resulting in a much greener coloring!
Some of our other oolong teas that have been growing in popularity include our Chocolate Truffle Oolong tea, as well as our Orange Blossom Oolong Tea. For all our chocolate lovers who meander into the shop, Chocolate Truffle oolong is absolutely a tea that I immediately gravitate toward as a recommendation. Atop the base bed of oolong tea, you will find rooibos tea, cacao beans, cacao powder, apple, natural chocolate and vanilla flavors, as well as, actual chocolate and white chocolate bits. Due to the presence of the coco powder, we always tell customers that there are trace amounts of sugar and dairy in this tea (for those with allergies). As a self admitted chocoholic myself, this is a tea that I always make sure I have on hand in my tea cupboard. I love it as an alternative to a more calorie and sugar heavy dessert and it doesn't leave me feeling jittery or guilty after!
On the other end of the spectrum, our Orange Blossom oolong tea has become quite popular as it embodies both citrus and floral notes and brews into a beautiful amber color. For those black tea drinkers who prefer to dip their toe in the oolong pool rather than dive right in, this is the perfect tea to start with as the base of this tea is both oolong and black tea. A top this toasty, dark base you will initially be refreshed by citrus orange flavors that cleanse the palette. As you sit with this, and inevitably begin to swallow, the soft floral tones will present themselves and leave you itching for the next sip. Also, from more than one of our seasoned Orange Blossom sippers, we have heard that while they would certainly never deny a cup of this hot, this tea is absolutely divine chilled. Sippers swear that the icing of this tea allows for the citrus notes to become more pronounced and that it helps them power through afternoon slumps due to the medium caffeine content. We highly recommend this tea as a stocking stuffer as it is becoming more and more popular!
Try one of our Oolong teas today! Let us know which one decide upon and why you did so! I absolutely love hearing your feedback and can't wait to learn what you thought of Oolong tea! Stay safe, warm, and happy sipping! - Kaytea :)
P.S. Because we know that you are all so busy, we have decided to keep our store open on Sundays through the holiday season! Now, through the holidays, we will be open from 11AM-4PM on Sundays! We can't wait to see you and share a cup of tea!