This should be the second last tea in this Renegade Tea sample box! It’s certainly the last oolong, anyway.

Here’s what the Renegade Tea Farmers have to say about this tea:

“Red Sunrise has an intense orange colour and the aroma of fresh tobacco. This well-oxidized oolong has the flavour combination of sweet fruits and berries, honey and flowers with some light tannins.”

First Impressions

The dry leaves were fairly small and very dark. They smelled floral and stronger than the previous teas I’ve been drinking.

Tasting Notes

The first steep definitely reminds me of a sunrise/sunset – the tea liquor is orange (at least, that’s the first word that popped into mind). It’s got sweet floral notes and it’s very pleasant to drink, given that it’s got no bitterness or astringency. Interestingly, during my first session with this tea, the word “velvety” came to mind when I drank it.

For the second cup, I steeped the tea for a bit longer – about three minutes – and got a much darker tea. It looked pretty much like a black tea, actually. There was a strong floral taste, it was still slightly sweet and there was a bit of astringency; I probably should not have steeped the tea so long, I also tried 2 minutes and that was perfect.

In terms of taste, the tea had similar notes throughout my sessions with it. The sweetness, which is never very strong, decreases dramatically around the third steep. Without that slight sweetness, the tea feels like it’s spent. However, I did find that a longer steeping time help, as did using freshly boiled water. For the fourth steep, 5 minutes + freshly boiled water brought back a bit of sweetness without astringency and made the tea quite pleasant. I think five is the maximum amount of times you can steep this.

Conclusion

I really enjoyed this tea! Clearly, I prefer teas that are slightly stronger rather than lighter. Perhaps it’s just me, but when I have limited time to drink tea, I like to have something that I can savour from the start.