Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Silk’

When I saw Tea Forte’s Silk Oolong as one of the teas to be reviewed, I was excited. I have seen Tea Forte’s teas in the Indigo bookstore on my lunch breaks all the time but never got around to trying them. This time I made sure the cute and attractively packaged pyramid shaped teabags were among the teas I would review this round. Tea Fortes packaging deserves comment. The teabag is 3″ high and pyramid shaped. Certainly unique among teabags. The packaging is not simple, being a tall pyramid, but the markings on the packaging are simple. It is marked with a simple lower case script purple letter ‘f’ and the words silk oolong at the bottom in a purple rectangle to match the ‘f’. These markings are on two or the four triangular sides. At the base of the pyramid are instructions to open the teabag and the company’s name, Tea Forte. Sometimes simplicity is key. It certainly caught my eye all those times I walked into Indigo. At the tip of the pyramid is a green stem and leaf, presumably acting like the string and tag of the “regular” teabags out there.

But should an oolong of this nature be constrained in a teabag? The leaves are in clumps and therefore will unfurl with hot water and will need space to do it. Although, this is in a pyramid teabag (and therefore more elongated), it is still constricting. Oolongs are probably best to be steeped loose, without infusers or teabags so that they can unfurl freely. After the first infusion, the leaves looked like they were 75% unfurled and the teabag was already getting full. After the second infusion, it looked like there was not much change to the teabag as it was already very full and much too constricted for any more opening of the leaves.

The steeping instructions call for 2-4 minutes at 195F. I steeped it for 3 minutes at 195F for the first infusion and 4 minutes at the same temperature for the second infusion.

When I read the name Silk Oolong, I imagined the tea would have the characteristic buttery taste I find in many oolongs but I was surprised that, the actual tea I tasted was the exact opposite of what the name would imply. The tea tasted not silky, smooth, or buttery, but was like tiny spikes or perk that awakens the mouth. It had spicy notes of cardamon.

The second infusion was more mild, only hints of spice. It was like tasting something that wanted to be sweet but wasn’t; like you were waiting for the sweetness to come but was just left hanging and had to settle with a diet beverage. I think it was meant to only last one infusion, or if the leaves could unfurl more, perhaps it could withstand the second infusion? I had thrown out my teabag before I thought of putting loose tea leaves in the pot to try, so I cannot say if the leaves fully exhausted would have given more flavour.

Confusing name aside and not counting the second infusion, I will concur that this tea is a good autumn tea, perfect for this time of year. Having said that, I also tried it cold and it was much more flavourful. I think I enjoy it more as an iced tea, although I don’t think it was intended that way. If Tea Forte sold Silk Oolong loose, I’d buy it to make iced tea.

You can purchase Tea Forte Silk Oolong directly from their website.

I love Tea Forte. Every single tea that I have tried to date has been flavourful, without being overwhelming. I also quite enjoy Oolong Tea. To date, I have mostly focused on the darker, more oxidized Formosa Oolongs, and enjoy the robust flavours that they produce. With that in mind, I reached for the Tea Forte Silk Oolong this morning to give it a try.

First of all, Tea Forte has packaging nailed. The Chest that was sent to us contains the teas nicely, and the pyramid tea bags and wrapping are minimalist enough to let you focus on the tea, while giving you the impression that, even tho this is a teabag, you are about to embark on a high quality tea experience. In the past, I found for the most part the bags give enough room for the teas to expand, so I was not too worried about this here, even tho it is an Oolong that should expand enough to release all the flavours.

I have to say, that this is the first Tea Forte that has disappointed me. Perhaps my expectations were too high going into it. First of all, clearly there was not enough room for the tea to expand in the tea bag. After brewing it at about 195 deg F for about 3 minutes, the tea leaves were straining the confines of the bag. Usually, you can get a nice scent of the tea through the bag, and certainly once it has hit the water, but here, I found the scent to be very muted and almost undetectable.

The tea it’s self is nothing to write home about. It is very light, bordering on almost tasteless. It is certainly smooth as the name “Silk Oolong” implies, but has no interesting aftertaste that lingers, and is overall, unmemorable. Perhaps being used to stronger Oolong infusions I was prepared for a stronger tea, but this certainly is not that. It leaves me feeling indifferent enough to it that I am not even going to bother with a second or third infusion.

Maybe if you steeped it for much longer, you could coax more flavour out of it, or even cutting the leaves out of the bag, buy why do that when you receive it in a bag? You can purchase the loose leaves from Tea Forte directly, but for the price (Tea Forte teas can tend to the expensive side), I don’t see the value on this tea.

Overall, Tea Forte is a fantastic company producing fantastic teas, but in this case, it is one tea that I would remove from the lineup, as it does not seem to fit into the flavourful, memorable teas that I have come to know Tea Forte for.

You can purchase Tea Forte Silk Oolong directly from their website.