Plum Oolong is an oolong blend with schizandra berries, rosehip, hibiscus asian plum and osthmanthus flowers. This tea is from Ocean of Tea, online seller of loose leaf teas.
Ocean of Tea is new to the tea scene, with a small line up of sourced high quality teas from around the world. Very cool name for a tea company. I’d love to be in an ocean of tea, probably green tea, as I figure that be better for the skin. Anyways, all the samples Ocean of Tea sent me smell really good! Let’s sample Plum Oolong.
Dry Leaf
Wow, Plum Oolong is FRAGRANT! The dry leaf is bursting with strong aromas of sweet plum and berry jam with a hint of floral, smells amazing! Oddly, the smell of Plum Oolong reminds me of mixed berries than plum. The appearance of the dry leaf is twists of dark oolong mixed with chunky fruity bits.
Steeping Instructions
The steeping instructions for Plum Oolong is 2 teaspoons per cup, 195F water with a 3 minute steep. I used a 190F steep due to variable kettle presets.
After 3 minutes I had a cup with a slight reddish tinge to it. The smell? 100% Plum. Seriously! It’s like I sliced opened a fresh plum, still warm from being in the sun.
Tasting of Ocean of Tea’s Plum Oolong
I found for best results was to let this tea sit for a few minutes to cool, which brought out more of the flavors. Plum Oolong sips in with a light/medium body. The fruity flavors develop mid sip which dominate the tea. There’s a bit of mystery berry flavor with also plum notes. Along with the fruityness is some tart from the rosehips, I’d say a 3 or 4/10 on the Tart-o-meter – it’s light on tart and not overpowering. The oolong in Plum Oolong is in the background – I don’t taste much of it, but I can tell it adds to the plum flavor. I find oxidized oolong has that earthyness that matches well with the plum. Overall, very fresh tasting tea without any flatness.
Sweetened: PLUM! I added german rock sugar to my cup and I had a cup of plum. Lots of plum! 100% fresh plum taste! Not getting any oolong here though, the sugar sure did pull the plum into center stage!
Resteep: I did a 4 minute resteeping of Plum Oolong in which I finally got to run with the oolong flavor. The flavor shifted significantly, tasting like a light roasted oolong that is earthy and savory. The oolong finishes with a slight tart, a 2/10 on the tart-o-meter, adding a refreshing element to the tea.
Iced: This is it folks. Plum Oolong is fantastic iced with a bit of sweetener!
Very fruity – back to mixed berry flavor with a hint of plum. I can taste the floral here – osthmanthus – adding a citrusy freshness that is a great pairing. I am also getting a lingering plum aftertaste. Very delicious, I’d drink this tea iced every time!
Comments
If you love strong flavored fruity blends with a bit of tart, Ocean of Tea‘s Plum Oolong would be a gem in your tea collection! Plum is an uncommon tea blend as well so I’d snag Plum Oolong if you love plums – this tea in particularly being the most plum tasting tea I’ve tried. Plum Oolong would be a great kid-friendly tea as well as a delicious, yet unique tea to serve to people who aren’t tea drinkers. I’d love to serve a pitcher of Ocean of Tea‘s Plum Oolong iced at a picnic or afternoon tea in the summer.
I personally really enjoyed Plum Oolong sweetened and iced for amazing plum flavor. I also liked how good quality and fresh Plum Oolong is. This tea is quite heavy on the fruity flavor and less on the oolong, which I can see not appealing to the tea drinkers that want to taste more tea than fruit. If you are looking for more tea than plum taste, I’d check out New Mexico Tea Co’s Plum Oolong, or Lupicia’s Kotobuki oolong.
By the way, I’m keeping my empty package of Ocean of Tea‘s Plum Oolong – it smells sooo good!
(tea provided for review)
