The Good: Does not taste bad, Environmentally-conscious packaging
The Bad: Not at all flavorful, Comparatively expensive.
The Basics: Dr. Tea’s Licorice Oolong tea is a troublingly flavorless tea that does not live up to the promise of being licorice flavored.
Lately, I’ve been finding all sorts of teas at a local discount store. The store has overstock from several neighborhood businesses and sometimes I find myself wondering just where they get some of their stock. One of the things that I’ve recently picked up that I have no idea about the source store is Dr. Tea’s Licorice Oolong tea. This was my first experience with Dr. Tea’s and it will be a very tough sell to see if I ever go back to them.
Basics
Licorice Oolong is a tea from Dr. Tea’s. It is a tea that seems to have caffeine and a fairly weak tea. Sadly, it does not have any of its promised primary flavor. Licorice Oolong comes in a 4.4 oz. tin. These are essentially tea buds that are dry and curled in on themselves. When I make pots of tea, I tend to use one heaping Tablespoon of the tea per pot. A tin of Licorice Oolong makes about five full pots of tea.
Ease of Preparation
Licorice Oolong is a true tea (with tea leaves), which means preparation is as easy as boiling a pot of water! Licorice Oolong tea, as the directions state, requires water that is boiling. The tea can be made by coating the bottom of whatever vessel one uses with the tea buds and adding water. This is a pretty simple tea to prepare.
This tea is recommended to take two to three minutes to steep and with boiling water, the tea was ready at the three minute mark and letting it steep longer does not truly change the results. Letting the tea steep more than five minutes does not net any additional flavor, nor does it denature the flavor of the tea. These tea buds cannot be reused to make a second cup or pot of tea.
Taste
Smelling only really like tea, Licorice Oolong does not foreshadow the taste at all. In fact, it does not smell like licorice at all. This tea is not very aromatic, which is surprising for a licorice-based tea. Instead, this smells like generic tea that, like a lot of Oolong teas, is reminiscent of tea from a Chinese restaurant.
The Licorice Oolong tea is mostly dominated by the flavor of the oolong tea. This means it is basically a diluted green tea flavor on the tongue. The licorice flavor asserts itself only as a mild anise aftertaste. The flavor of the licorice does not ever come to the forefront of the flavor palate. Instead, this is basically a diluted tea flavor with a mildly intriguing aftertaste.
With a teaspoon of sugar, the Licorice Oolong tea somehow manages to have the water in the tea accented! That is strange and it completely kills the licorice secondary flavor. This tea has no aftertaste after thirty seconds, which makes it an even tougher sell.
Nutrition
That Dr. Tea’s’s Licorice Oolong is lacking in flavor is unsurprising and the tea company does not even include ingredients for it! Licorice Oolong tea is part of the Dr. Tea’s ultimate tea diet flavor. Licorice Oolong tea is devoid of any nutritional value. It contains no calories, fat, sodium, carbohydrates or protein.
Storage/Clean-up
Dr. Tea’s's Licorice Oolong is a fairly light tea. As a result, cleanup is rather simple, save on fabrics. The mugs and steeping pot easily rinse out. This tea will stain if it is left on fabrics, so simply do not let the tea cups or mugs linger on light colored materials that might stain!
Licorice Oolong is easy to clean up after - the tea may be disposed in the garbage, or composted if you have a good garden and/or compost pile. One of the nice things about this tea - like most - is that so long as it is kept cool and dry, it can last for a long time and it is easy to clean up.
Overall
Given how flavorless Dr. Tea’s Licorice Oolong tea is, it is unsurprising I had never heard of this tea. This is a tea that is very easy to pass by.
For other tea reviews, please check out my reviews of:
Stash Christmas Eve tea
Republic Of Tea Cuppa Chocolate Tea Chocolate Peppermint Tea
Celestial Seasonings Jammin’ Lemon Ginger Tea
1.5/10
For other drink reviews, please check out my index page!
© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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