OSULLOC

I used water that was a bit too hot, but the flavor still stands up to the very slightly bitter base. This is intensely apricot. Slightly overripe apricots. Also reminds me of peach fruit cups. Super syrupy and sweet.

Cold steeped overnight.

Even with the shorter steep, still getting that perfume/flowery flavor… Honestly I’m so sad, the muscat grape flavor is so good, and the flavor I was most looking forward to.

Sigh. I guess I’ll put this in the rehoming box for now, though I can’t imagine anyone enjoying it. I can’t bring myself to throw it out though. T.T

Cold steeped for two days.

When I opened the jar, that delicious sweet muscat grape aroma had me salivating. I buy Japanese jellies quite often, and the muscat/green grape is always my favorite. This smells exactly the same.

Unfortunately, it also has a very noticeable soap/perfume taste to it, which I sometimes find in some Asian fruit flavorings. I guess I would describe it as very flowery in an unpleasant way. A shame, because otherwise the muscat flavor is so delicious. Will have to see if a less extensive steep helps any…

Cold steep.

This was not one that I was excited about, but it’s actually pineapple-flavored! The hibiscus is there as well, but it’s not overpowering. Mostly it tastes like some kind of sweet and tangy pineapple sorbet. There is a bit of stevia here, which isn’t my favorite, but at least it’s not too strong. I’m not sure I would buy it again because of that, but really enjoying the juicy and refreshing pineapple flavor.

Steeped this one overnight.

This has a much stronger added flavor than the peach version. The crisp nashi is on point, but very powerful. I do taste a touch of honey as well, thankfully it doesn’t taste like other honey-flavored teas I’ve tried (and not enjoyed). There is an underlying green tea and oolong flavor, it’s quite mild but honestly I don’t mind that for an iced tea. And again, I don’t taste the added sugar at all. So odd, I guess it must be making some difference, or why would they add it?

Anyway, very refreshing and enjoyable! Doesn’t need sweetener at all. I do think they could tone it down just a touch with the flavoring, but still tasty as-is. I saw a recommendation for steeping this in sparkling water too, and that could be fun!

Impulse purchase! So for some reason I was on Amazon, looking at Taylors of Harrogate fruit infusions (I don’t recall why), and saw that Osulloc was having a sale. So I ended up grabbing one of their teabag samplers, and also a set of these cold brew sachets, because why not?

The package claims you only need to steep this for 2-3 minutes, but I’m calling bullshit. I found I had to steep it for a few hours to get any real flavor out of it. Which honestly is fine for me, I’m not a person who needs an “on-the-go” iced tea solution.

Anyway, it’s pleasant. The peach flavor is nice, not too strong or artificial. I do find the actual tea taste to be lacking a bit, it tastes more like a tea flavored water than actual tea. I was a bit nervous when I saw sugar in the ingredients, but the sweetness isn’t really noticeable either.

Nice and refreshing, if a bit light. I think I’ll try steeping it overnight, which is what I normally do for cold brew. Might be worth trying a hot steep as well. Excited to try the honey pear and muscat flavors!

Flavored oolong tea bags. Oddly this reminds me of Harney and Sons’ milky oolong the most but with additional orange flavor. The two both have this smooth butter flavor and I don’t think OSULLOC created this flavor intentionally. I wish the tea offered more tartness/sourness, it would make it more interesting in my opinion.

Bought this at H Mart for $10.49/20 tea bags.

Sold for $14.99/20 tea bags.

https://us.osulloc.com/products/blended-tea

Earl Grey tea bags. Possibly one of the best impulse buy recently. The whole box has an almost lemon zest smell, it’s highly aromatic. This is cleanest earl grey I’ve had and it might be the best one I ever made. Did not expect a Korean brand to have better earl grey than western brands. Normally I like intense tea but I don’t mind this being on the lighter side. If someone said they hated earl grey I would tell them try this, it goes down extremely easy.

I got mine at H Mart for $10.49/20 tea bags, I don’t see Osulloc’s American website selling this.

Sold for 9500 South Korean won ($6.83)/ 20 tea bags

https://www.osulloc.com/kr/ko/shop/item/teashop/18683

Know those little cheapie wafer cookies with various and sundry artificial flavored cream between the layers? (Lemon and strawberry are my favorites, especially chilled in the summer.) Imagine a smaller, chunkier, version filled with matcha and not-so-sweet cream—that was my afternoon break today and a lovely little birthday treat from my son. The office HVAC is out of whack, which meant it was way too sultry to steep something hot to accompany them, but once the universe is in balance again, they’ll pair nicely with something nice and green or nice and lemony.

Oolong tea bags. Sugary smell upon hydration, taste like a toasty dong ding with nori and light fruitiness. Extremely light astringency, no bitterness. The tea bag performed pretty well.

Is this tea unique? It get rarity points for being from Korea, flavor wise it’s not. Is the tea good? Yes it is. If the price was cheaper this could be a potential repeat buy. I bought mine for $10.49.

Sold for $14.99/ 20 bags

https://us.osulloc.com/products/pure-tea

A friend brought back some tea samples from her trip to South Korea and the teas are delightful.

The dry tea satchet smells strongly of coniferous tree with a touch of tangerine. Surprisingly, the prominence of the tree note swaps place with the citrus once it steeps up. It’s such a juicy and smooth tangerine. It’s delicious, clean tasting, and refined. I wish I could spend more time with this blend.

Steep Count: 3

to start off, this tea was SO good that i had to create an account just to review it. this is one of if not THE BEST teas i have ever tasted in my entire life! it’s so delicately floral with just the right amount of subtle nuttiness from the green tea. this tea so simple and just reminds me of a cool spring morning spent on my porch! unfortunately this tea is very hard to come by and rather pricey, so i’ll be rationing it out for the good moments :)

Nice papaya flavor, fruity, with some vanilla notes.

Sipdown! (35 | 132)

Yay, the last Osulloc tea! I still have a couple of sachets left, but they’re in my swap-out box, ready to be sent to someone who enjoys floral teas more than I do.

This one is interesting. I wasn’t sure what to expect, the ingredients seem to be green tea, barley sprout, and corn. I can see the barley in the sachet, no sign of anything resembling corn though.

Anyway, it tastes like a very mild and slightly mineral/smoky green tea with caraway added. I don’t know if that caraway flavor is coming from the barley, if it’s some different kind than what I’ve had before? It’s very interesting. I’m not sure whether I taste corn, there are some grainy notes going on but it’s difficult to tell with the some what strong caraway flavor. A light and slightly creamy apricot note comes out in the aftertaste, reminiscent of some Chinese green teas.

An interesting and enjoyable tea, but not something I would repurchase.

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Mastress Alita’s Sipdown Challenge (August) – “A tea you’ve never tried before”

I had originally planned to sip down the oldest tea in my stash that I haven’t tried for this prompt. And I probably still will finish that tea this month as well, but I decided to use this sipdown instead, because I don’t think I’ve ever had a Korean tea before, period.

It strikes me as being very, very similar to a Chinese green tea. I don’t drink them often, so I couldn’t tell you specifically which type, but it has a smooth and sweet beany flavor that reminds me of edamame and peas, and a nice nutty graininess to it. Maybe not far off from a Long Jing? But it’s been quite a while since I’ve had one of those, so don’t take my word for it… There’s a tiny bit of grass and deeper vegetal notes that add some dimension.

Anyway, it’s yummy, and I’m glad to have tried it. I think I remember What-cha carrying some Korean teas, so I might have to take a look whenever I go to order their Sticky Rice Oolong…

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So I didn’t expect to like this one, and I don’t ha ha.

It’s very, very floral and really does taste like perfume to me. I don’t know enough about how orchid smells/tastes to say whether it’s accurate or not. I can taste the green base a tiny bit, and it seems smooth and a bit nutty.

Ick, lol. I have another sachet, but I’m putting it aside to add to a TTB in hopes that someone else can enjoy it, and calling this a sipdown. :D

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Oh my goodness, as soon as I cut open these sachets, the juicy sweet aroma made my mouth start to water… I love pear things, but always seem to be disappointed by it in tea. This is a Korean pear flavored tea, which I think is the same as Asian pear (in the US) and nashi (in Japan)? They tend to have a crisp texture and an almost honeyed sweetness that’s usually quite mild.

Let’s be real, this is not a natural-tasting tea. It tastes like someone started with a nashi and then took it to a Hi-Chew level of juicy sweetness. It makes me think of a nashi jelly that I had from a snack subscription at some point (which was delicious, btw). I get those honey-sweet pear-adjacent nashi notes, but then there’s a syrupy lusciousness that makes me think of super ripe melon alongside a soft floral note reminiscent of lychee. And at the end of the sip, it’s pure cotton candy.

I can’t taste the base tea at all, which doesn’t surprise me as it’s a strongly flavored tea, and I’ve had similar experiences with Osulloc’s other teas. But the flavoring is so yummy, I don’t even care. I bet this would be amazing as an iced tea or cold brew as well, and super refreshing. Also, the flavor is strong enough that mixing it with a plain green tea or oolong would probably work well.

I’ll probably order some eventually. It’s quite an expensive brand, but this one is so my jam. :P

Another fancy tea break this afternoon!

This is quite nice for a floral tea. The camellia is fairly strong, but it’s somehow lush and yet not overly perfumey. It’s a light, creamy sort of floral. And the pineapple is a lovely pairing with the camellia, it has sweetness and a lovely juicy quality. I would’ve liked a bit of tartness though, it would’ve given some added dimension.

Anyway, I like it much more than I expected given it’s a predominantly floral tea! Not something I would buy, but definitely enjoyable if I’m in the right mood. :)

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I have a gallon Ziploc bag full of these Osulloc wrapped sachets from an Amazon impulse purchase, so I figured I should get going on finishing them since they’re such easy sipdowns.

This one is pure cherry candy. It tastes just like a generic cherry lollipop, I’m picturing the kind with the loop for a stick. There is a nice little bit of tartness from some hibiscus, but it’s very restrained. Not really tasting much from the base, a little bit of hay maybe? Mostly it tastes like cherry Lifesavers, complete with that slightly tart note. Honestly I don’t hate it, cherry candy is better than cherry lozenges, which is where cherry flavoring often ends up for me. :P

So not something I would buy, but pleasant enough to drink as a sweet dessert-y tea. Definitely no cherry blossom though, lol.

I was feeling like a fancy little tea break this afternoon, so I decided to steep up one of my pretty OSULLOC sachets from a set that I impulse bought on Amazon a few months back. And of course, fancy means I’m pairing it with a lovely vintage teacup. The one I chose is from Tuscan china and has lovely yellow flowers and blue berries on it with gold accents. :3

I admit, the aroma of this tea almost knocked me over from the moment I tore open the wrapper. It’s very strong cherry candy with some hints of tartness. And the taste is much the same, though thankfully not quite as extreme. It’s similar to a generic cherry lollipop, like the kind with the little loop for a handle. Very, very sweet cherry candy flavor. There is a bit of balancing tartness, however, from the hibiscus. The description also mentions pineapple, but I don’t see that written anywhere on my package. I’m not sure whether I get any sakura? Perhaps a hint of floral somewhere? There’s also a powderiness that makes me think of smarties.

According to the wrapper, this is a blend of black and “post-fermented” tea. I’m not sure if they mean pu’erh or if it’s just an unclear translation. It certainly doesn’t taste like pu’erh to me? The base is quite light, even for a black tea, with a slightly musty flavor to it.

Anyway, it’s very interesting. I don’t think it’s something I would order just because it veers a bit into cherry cough drop territory, but I do enjoy that it has some balancing tartness to it. Overall, a fairly enjoyable cuppa despite being distinctly cherry candy.

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Finishing off another Osulloc tea! The packaging and description for this one are so misleading, calling it a “green tea with elegant floral aroma”.

But really, it’s a grape green tea. The flavoring reminds me of Japanese grape flavoring, like the kind used in Lupicia’s teas. It’s very juicy and sweet, and it reminds me of grape Hi-Chew. Definitely artificial to my tongue, but then again I’ve probably never tried whatever type of grape it’s based on. And I don’t mean that it’s bad or I don’t like it because it’s artificial, it’s a very tasty grape candy tea.

Honestly, I don’t even get much in the way of florals, which is amusing to me given the description. I also don’t really taste the base tea, because the flavoring is quite strong. A tasty tea, but certainly not one I would order for the price, when I can get something very similar from Lupicia. Also, it would be nice for the green tea to make a bit more of an impact.