Oolong tea packet

Ever since the back-end of summer, when the days suddenly started getting noticeably shorter and cooler, this has been one of my go-to teas, one I drink on a daily basis.

The dry Oolong leaf

It’s a heavily oxidised Oolong, which I discovered at one of the Chinese supermarkets in town.

The tea is a product of the Xiamen Tea Import & Export Co., Ltd., and is one of the teas sold under the “Sea Dyke” brand name, product no. AT206.

I usually pay 24 Swedish Crowns for the 125g packet.

Brewed Asian style in a gaiwan, this tea is easily good for 6 or 7 infusions. Western style brewing gives 2 decent steepings, 3 if you want to push your luck.

The tea has a pleasant colour…

The company website says that the tea “is refined, with traditional techniques, from Oolong tealeaves produced in South Fujian. Curly in shape, black bloom in colour, it has a very special fragrance of flowers, which is clean, high and lasting. It tastes mellow, thick and brisk.”

It has that sweet, malty, almost honey-like flavour you might expect from such a dark Oolong.

As far as food pairings go, I normally drink it mid-afternoon, accompanied by a handful of cashews and a few Medjool dates. It works well with the buttery, creamy taste of the nuts, and the toffee-like flavour of the dates. My guess is that you’d have to take care when pairing it with food in general, given its generally assertive nature.

It’s not “in-your-face” by any means, but it might overpower more delicate flavours.

Post steeping – tiny black dragons

As with most teas you would find in a Chinese general supermarket or store, it’s not a “stop-the-press!” kind of a tea, rather a good, solid, drinkable, workaday one.

Well worth buying a packet, if you happen to come across it whilst out and about tea-hunting.