Last week we experienced subzero temperatures and this week we’re being inundated with snow, ice and slush to the point where I put my car in the ditch twice yesterday. Sure, it’s no Minnesota or Buffalo, but it definitely feels like winter in Michigan!
This last weekend I was hanging out in Royal Oak and I’m kicking myself in that I didn’t find the time to hit up Goldfish. I might end up back there again though a week from Sunday for mahjong, so hopefully then. Regardless, as a consolation prize, today I’m reviewing their Scarlet Robe. Scarlet Robe is a premium Oolong tea. How can you tell? It smells atrocious. ;) During brewing, the smell is so pungent it’s actually reminiscent of marijuana (thank you year lived in Midtown for that particular knowledge). After brewing however, the smell somewhat dulls out and we’re left with simply a murky Oolong-like aroma. Perhaps even better than its aroma (if it can really be call that…), Scarlet Robe has a full Ti Kuan Yin grit, while also possessing a unique taste I can’t say I’ve exactly experienced before. The taste is perhaps similar to a Dan Cong in that it’s peaty and crisp, but this tea has a mild dewy aftertaste. Also, the leaves are certainly black enough to be either a Dan Cong or a Wulong. In truth, apart from Ti Kuan Yin, I don’t much trust my identification skills when it comes to Oolong. I don’t really drink as much Oolong as I’d like because… IBS. And while we’re on the subject, Note: if you’re susceptible to irritable bowel, you probably want to steer clear of this one (and probably Oolong altogether). At any rate, it’s an amazing dirt-ridden Chinese Oolong experience I cannot recommend enough. ;)
Survey Says (Goldfish’s website, once I checked it): Scarlet Robe is actually a Da Hong Pao, a Wuyi, and not just any Wuyi but one whose lineage can be traced back to a rock discovered in the Song (960-1279 CE, so like probably a thousand years before IBS was codified), usually reserved for dignitaries visiting China and which can sell for as much as $35,436.00 per ounce. o.0;; Nope. There wasn’t much chance I was going to be able to correctly identify it. Goldfish is kind of phenomenal like that.
選別 parting.gifts 