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The dry leaves smell pleasant, and a bit enchanting. I’m inexperienced with Darjeeling teas so I can’t comment on quality. Looking inside the bag, the tea is a variety of colors: dark gray, dark red/brown, and yellow/silver.

I’ve heard that this variety of tea is very astringent and it didn’t disappoint. Not something I’d want to end my day on, but enjoyable on this morning. I steeped this twice, first at 4 minutes and then 6 minutes. The second cup was still flavorful and had a crispness to it.

First of all, this tea tastes absolutely disgusting if you brew it at the suggested temperature (near boiling). I’ve gone through quite a few nests just trying to find the right temperature and time. So I went for a low temperature, and it doesn’t taste bad at all.

It certainly has a bit of earthyness to it, but the main flavor is floral (chrysanthemum). This reminds me of green tea with flowers. The liquor color from this attempt is pale yellow. Which I think is the color range you want to aim for. If it gets much darker (amber almost), you won’t enjoy it at all. Strangely enough, I think the earthy notes add a rustic warmth of their own.

Still drinking this, I’ve gone through about 2/3 of my 100g tea pouch. Its a very light tea, so it really fills up the pouch. If one were to get this in a tin, they would have to provide an “overflow” pouch as well.

Its very light and has a bit of sweetness to it. Not overly sweet, just enough to make the drink a more interesting.

This is just a follow up note. See my previous one for more tasting notes.

I prefer this company’s Monk’s Blend tea over Teopia. This is smooth, slightly fruity and sweet, though not overly sweet. You can taste the hint of vanilla and that unifies the overall flavor. It has a very nice fruity fragrance too, which makes it lovely to stick your nose in your cup for another sip. Best enjoyed hot.

You cannot buy this tea from the company itself or a retail outlet. I think they only sell it commercially, so you have to pick it up at a tea room or restaurant that sells it. I live in Peterborough, Ontario and there are two places to pick this up here; The Magic Rolling Pin and the tea room based out of The Whistlestop Café. You’ll have to look around for a place in your town that sells it.

This type of green tea is my absolute favorite. I decided to get this instead of the two other options from David’s: Butterfly Jasmine and Dragon Pearls. This is a bit cheaper, and I have faith that it still tastes good. Besides, unless I am brewing those in a glass teapot I can’t see it unfurl. Hence why I picked this tea over the other two, because I don’t mind if it doesn’t look fancy.

Anyways, this didn’t disappoint me. I like it because it takes green tea (which is enjoyable by itself) and adds a nice floral taste to it (not too little, not too much). I’m normally not a fan of flowers and tea, especially rose and lavender. But I love the smell of jasmine and it tastes fantastic with green tea. To me, this is not a “refreshing” tea its a relaxing tea.

In the future, I may buy a small pouch (25g) of the Butterfly Jasmine just to discover if it tastes much different. When I run out of Silk Dragon Jasmine tea I will most certainly refill my tin. Like I said earlier, this type is one of my favorites and it is going to stay in my permanent collection.

1yr reflection: Wow I can’t believe I liked this one so much… because it’s not that good. Removed rating

This reminds me very much of Coco Chai Rooibos. Except well this is a black tea instead of rooibos and its also much harsher.

Just smelling the canister can overpower your senses. You would expect this to be somewhat weaker when its brewed but it isn’t. Once the liquor hits your tongue, the spices punch you in the face (I mean this in the best way possible). Its the sort of thing I’d expect a “rugged” guy to drink, and not what a nice old lady would.

I recommend drinking this in the morning. Especially if you can’t seem to keep your eyes open.

I’ve been wanting to buy this since it came out but never got around to it. In the canister the coconut and vanilla are really strong scents. And since I bought this during December at the mall, I had to ask the ladies to break out a new bag of Buttered Rum. There was hardly anything left in the canister.

Onto brewing this stuff. It reminds me a lot of the Bourbon Vanilla tea from Teaopia. Except that is lacking the coconut, but otherwise smells and tastes similar. Between the two teas I really prefer this one, it is really smooth and the coconut completes it.
The liquor tastes so rich and full of character, while still remaining refreshing too. It doesn’t weigh you down, it gets you to relax and put up your feet. The aftertaste is good too, the coconut, rum flavoring, vanilla and cornflowers just linger for a bit. Then you just taste the creamy black tea fading away. (I brewed this for 6 mins and the black tea was still enjoyable, not bitter)

When it comes to flavored black tea I prefer blends like this. I don’t like it when David’s Teas loads the blends with candy. Even though I don’t specifically drink tea for its health benefits, I do like to minimize my sugar intake.

I have not had a good cup of Earl Grey tea in a long time. The bergamot is very present in this tea, and its enjoyable. Usually I have bagged Earl Grey tea, since that is what most places carry when I ask for tea (bleh). And in the bagged tea you never taste the bergamot and the black tea itself is kind of bland and bitter.

This tastes sharp and the bergamot is so zesty! I will definitely buy more when I run out of this.

I’ve decided that I don’t really enjoy cider-type drinks. So I added some black tea (mystery brand!) and milk (1 teaspoon of winterberry wine, 1 teaspoon of black tea and I eyeballed the milk). Unfortunately the black tea I used gets undrinkable after 3 mins, so the spices didn’t get to sit for the full 6 mins.

I like this combination a lot better. Its like a sweet and fruity chai with a bit of a kick (not much of one unless you spike it w/ something else).

Like I said, I am not crazy about cider but I am looking forward to working it into some other teas I want to get rid of. Some peppermint or sencha are next on the list of things in my mind to throw in with Winterberry Wine. Or perhaps I will mix the Chocolate Chili Chai with this too, since I hardly drink that.

Will I buy more Winterberry Wine when I run out? No. But I am enjoying mixing it with other tea I have. :)

Note: This isn’t a bad drink, I just don’t care for cider (“fruity spiced water”).

Finally finished my bag of this and overall I’m not very impressed. Whether it is the tea or the fact that maybe I don’t like like white teas in general I don’t know.

I probably won’t stock up on this again, even if I don’t have anymore white tea in my cupboard. Its one of those “meh” teas for me. When I have more experience with white tea I will form a stronger opinion on this one.