Kimberley's Kyusu

Hey there Teacups! I hope you’re all well, I’m back today with another Let’s Talk Tea post and this time around I’m going to be reviewing Tea Spectrals Phoenix Tea (Blend). I’m so glad that Tea Spectral chose to put this in the package they sent to me because despite how much I love Oolong I don’t have much of  it in my tea stash and I really need to up my game. I’ve tried lot’s of straight oolongs but I don’t think I’ve ever had an oolong based blend so when I saw this one in the package that they sent I was really intrigued to see what it was going to be like taste wise. I noticed straight away that it was an oolong that had been quite heavily oxidised and could have jumped for joy out of all the oolongs I’ve tried the ones that are like that are my favourite because they are very close to tasting more like a black tea which you all know by now is my absolute favourite.Here’s what Tea Spectral have to say about this blend on their website: ‘’ Smouldering Oolong is uplifted with Florals, Fruits, & bits of Lemongrass. This tea starts with a dark amber Oolong and pairs with the delicate notes of floral and fruit. Lemongrass is known as a mood booster and aids in clarity.’’

Dry Leaves

Ingredients: Chinese Oolong, Calendula Petals, Lemongrass, Natural & Artificial Flavours.The dry aroma of this blend reminds me a lot of Starbucks Lemon Loaf. It’s sweet, packs a delightful citrus kick and has some underlying creamy vanilla notes. When I read the write up of this blend I’ll be honest I was expecting it to smell fruity and have a muted lemon note from the lemon grass but it was far from that and actually turned out to be so much more complex. My only hope was that the delicious aroma it has would be just as amazing in taste.

Tea Tasting Notes

This blend from start to finish aroma to taste is absolutely phenomenal and so incredibly well rounded. Because i loved the lemon loaf like aroma so much I set my hopes high for this tea when it came to its flavour and it didn’t let me down at all. Out of the three blends I’ve had the pleasure of trying from Tea Spectral I have to say that this one is my favourite of the three and if the shipping from America wasn’t so expensive I would be ordering so much more of this (Maybe I’ll have to order some the next time I’m visiting America).

The lemon was relatively light in the aroma and I was expecting it to be overshadowed but it became so much more of a stand out note in the steeped tea the oolong lend a delicious creamy/buttery vanilla note to the tea and has such a delicate mouthfeel. I was very happy to see that lemongrass had been used to add the lemon taste to this blend and not something artificial as I can’t stand artificial lemon flavours or aroma because they remind me of cleaning liquid and nobody wants to be reminded of that when they are drinking tea.

I definitely think that the perfect oolong has been used for this had it been a greener more gassy oolong I don’t think this blend would have worked as well as it does, The darker oolong pairs perfectly with the lemon and neither overpowers the other the ever so slight floral note from the calendula petals adds a nice tangy almost peppery note to the aftertaste and finishes of each mouthful perfectly. Normally I can never pick out taste notes from calendula petals but i think that fact that this is quite a delicate blends allows them to come through ever so slightly.

I steeped this for three minutes in total and I would definitely say that, that is the perfect steeping time for this and longer and it would probably get a little bitter. I would suggest using quite a big infuser or a perfect steeper for this as well and the more space the  leaves have to move around the better. This is a naturally sweet blend seriously is tastes exactly like frosted lemon loaf so you definitely don’t need to add any sweetener to it, I think it would throw it off balance if it did. Overall I really enjoyed this blend I would deffinelty suggest purchasing some of this if you are a lover either oolong or lemon because both are the superstars of this blend.

Overall Teacup Rating: 5/5

If you want to find out more about Tea Spectral and purchase this blend for yourself, you can do both here. As always if you have any questions at all either stick them in the comments or send them to me on Twitter/Instagram @teaisawishblog and I’ll answer them all as soon as I can.

Speak to you all again soon. Happy Steeping – Kimberley