Amanatsu Oolong

A very strong citrus aroma upon opening the bag, sort of an earthy yuzu scent. The leaves look top notch, dark green and tightly furled, but there’s Japanese “konpeito” rock sugar candies inside. They are large enough to pick out easily but I’d rather there be none.

The citrus flavour is not nearly as strong as the aroma, just a hint on the palette that doesn’t linger. Lupicia says it’s “Amanatsu oranges,” which I am unfamilar with. It’s a nice balance of very good oolong and and complementary flavour that work well together. The oolong dominates, so if you are not a fan of Taiwan oolong the citrus note will not be covering that up.

A nice sip for a gloomy, gray Saturday. Lupicia recommends it iced, but I feel like it’d get that unpleasantly floral bitter note that some citrusy oolongs get when cooled.

New Year New Tea Week!

Going to do my best to try as many teas that I have not tried before in my cabinet. This one is a sample that has been sitting in a plastic bag for a few weeks so I am not entirely sure it is as it should be, the smell is definitely not as potent as when I received it.

Preparation: Western
Tasting Note: Really delicate, floral and refreshing, great tawainese rolled green oolong base. There is a ghost of a tangerine in the aftertaste and frequently fades in and out. I personally wish it was more present as it almost feels as though this isn’t a flavored tea anymore. I may have to try it again with a shorter steep time and a little lower temp. In no way a bad tea, just could do with a little more potent citrus for me. Would potentially try it with gongfu too as that could coax more citrus out.

Another sample from Cameron B. :D Thank you <3 I am so glad that I got to try this one.

Ahhh, the amanatsu fruit from the Yamaguchi prefecture. I did a lot of world traveling with my parents growing up and we went to Japan a few times. I remember, a little me, saying to someone there “I liked the tangerines back home (America) better because these aren’t sour.” Of course, my parents scolded me for being rude to whoever gave it to me. I still ate lots of them during one summer there. ^^

The aroma of the golden liquor was like a delicate sweet tangerine and vegetal. It was pleasantly surprising to me to smell the latter note so strongly. Unfortunately, they don’t have this on their site anymore (if they do, I can’t find it.) but I think it’s a Taiwan Dong Ding oolong. It was sweet and mellow, with some floral-osmanthus aroma (the floral flavor really came out in the 2nd steep), and a velvety, creamy mouthfeel. It’s different than all the Lupicia samples I’ve tried in that the flavors are so delicate. There was no bitterness, it was slightly astringent on the second infusion. It had a good finish with a citrus-tropical fruit aftertaste.

190-200F, 6g, 6 oz, 2 steeps: 2 min, 3min

Home – 12:00 PM

I only have a few teas left in my cupboard that I haven’t written about! I should really count them, so I can start doing a countdown and further encourage myself to finish. Full disclosure: there are some teas I’m not considering to be part of my cupboard for this purpose. I have a pile of unopened straight tea samples from Teavivre, Yunomi, Taiwan Tea Crafts… And then there are swap samples as well.

But to explain why I’m not counting those – I’m really trying to taste all of the teas in my cupboard because I want to determine which ones to keep and which to rehome to my fellow Steepsters. So samples don’t really come into the picture there since they’re generally only a cup or two anyway, and I’m not likely to feel the need to get rid of a straight tea from any of the quality suppliers mentioned above.

So once I’m done tasting all of these full-size teas, I’ll likely dive into a pile of swap and purchased samples. ❤

Anyway, on to the tea! This is another fruit-flavored oolong from Lupicia, which happens to be the type of tea that they do the very best (in my opinion). This tea isn’t one of their year-round collection, I believe I purchased it during their “iced teas of the world” or some such event this past summer. It looks quite similar to their Melon Oolong, even including the little candy drops mixed in with the rolled oolong.

Yummy, of course I like this one, too. It’s perhaps a bit more subtle than their other fruity oolongs, which isn’t a bad thing. The oolong base is smooth and mild, with a silken texture and a little floral hit at the end. The tangerine is light and quite acidic, almost making me think of pineapple or perhaps blood orange.

It’s quite good. It reminds me more of one of their pouchong-style fruit oolongs because of the somewhat strong floral notes.

P.S. – Lupicia has just released their holiday teas for the season!

My mom likes to pick a tea out of the book for me and she always seems to grab the ones I wouldn’t reach for myself. I guess that is good though because that way I am not taking what I like and leaving the non-exciting flavors for last.

Anyways, when I opened this, it smelled deliciously like a fresh, juicy tangerine. Unfortunately, I am not a lover of oolongs or citrus teas so despite the smell, my excitement levels were low. However, sipping on this now, it actually isn’t too bad. I am certainly getting tangerine. Bright, refreshing tangerine. I could see this being great iced for those who reach for citrus flavors. As for my preferences, I don’t think I’d stock this because I just wouldn’t reach for it often but I can appreciate that it is a rather nice cup of tea. 277.

I figured this would be one of Lupicia’s candy oolongs – see, I’ve found there are two main categories. The candy oolongs are all rolled oolongs, and all over the top in terms of bursting-with-flavour fruitiness – like the Melon Oolong, or this one. They all have added pieces of something reminding me of those brightly coloured Japanese sugar candies and they look, smell, and taste very fun and happy.

Then there are the full-leaf oolongs, which are far more earthy and ripe both as regards scent and flavour. Examples would be the Momo Oolong Super Grade, and the Ripe Mango Oolong.

In the bag, this is all candy – it’s a sweet-fruity tangerine candy explosion. but – and here is the surprising aspect of this tea – in the cup, it is far more delicate that expected, and more along the lines of the full-leaf oolongs. Subtle, delicate, complex, natural. It’s supposed to be tangerine, but I find it most resembles satsuma-meets-blood orange.

It’s lovely and infinitely drinkable, but will probably surprise fans of other Lupicia candy oolongs with its subtlety. Objectively, this might deserve a somewhat lower grade, but I’m increasingly fond of citrus-flavoured teas, and if I find a good one – like the Amanatsu – it’s going to be a keeper.

[From my Lupicia order to Rome, April 2014.]

I got a free sample of this tea today with my order from lupicia. The oolong base is quite nice. Although the Amanatsu is Japanese (I believe) it tastes like a Taiwanese oolong. The amanatsu flavour is very subtle and delicate. Its almost more of an after taste than a real flavour in the tea. As Im not a huge fan of citrusy teas I quite like the subtlety of it. Id consider buying this.