Tea: Peach Oolong
A Flavored Oolong from Infuze
This tea has been retired/discontinued.
Brand: | Infuze |
Style: | Flavored Oolong |
Region: | Blend |
Caffeine: | Caffeinated |
Loose? | Loose |
# Ratings: | 1 View All |
Reviewer: Alex Zorach
✓ 1453 teas reviewed
✓ 13 of Flavored Oolong
✓ 261 of Flavored Tea
✓ 3 of Infuze
✓ 317 of blends
Review of Peach Oolong
December 16th, 2013
Aroma | Flavor | Value | Total |
7 of 10 | 3 of 5 | 3 of 5 | 63 of 100 |
Very Good | Fair | Reasonable |
I was curious to try this one; I have been impressed with Infuze's other teas. I tend not to like flavored teas, but I think that oolongs, especially darker ones, often have a natural fruity aroma that blends well with flavorings of stone fruit like peach or apricot.
The dry leaf has an intense peachy aroma, almost cloying. It has a candy-like quality, but is more complex, suggesting dried peaches. The base tea's aroma is weaker underneath the peach, and mostly what I notice is a mild roast.
Thankfully, upon brewing, the fruit flavoring is more subdued, and the tea's flavor becomes more evident. The tea and the peach flavoring don't seem to blend well though--I can pretty cleanly separate which is which. The tea is dark and has a mild roast; it reminds me of a lower grade of bai hao (oriental beauty) oolong. Flavor is mild, mostly tangy, without much bitterness, and with a very low astringency, giving it a fruit-juice-like quality. When brewing stronger, there's a faint coffee-grounds aroma in the finish, which I actually liked.
I tried setting aside and icing a small batch (even though it's winter) because I had an intuition this would work well as an iced tea. It would be good, except that it has too little astringency--giving it a syrupy feeling, tasting too much like the juice you drain off from a can of canned peaches. Perhaps some people would like it, but I would prefer more astringency.
I thought this tea was pleasant and drinkable, but I strongly preferred Adagio Tea's Peachy Oolong. In that tea, the flavoring blended more into the tea's aroma, and I also liked the stronger, edgier base tea (particularly, with a darker roast and more astringency and bitterness).
I found this one tasted better if brewed with more leaf, a teaspoon and a half or so per cup, and using a 3 minute steep, followed by a second steep. This tea does work well with making a second steep. The peach flavor remains through the second cup, which is exciting, although the body is a bit thinner.
The price is reasonable. I think people who like smoother teas may really like this one; I'm a little peculiar in that I strongly crave bitterness and I don't like teas that are too smooth.