KittyLovesTea

Thank you Chuckieroy for this sample. I love Earl Grey and any time I receive any (including variation blends) it puts a huge smile on my face. Like this :D

Enough here for three tea bags by the looks of it so I can brew a teapot this morning of this for me and my husband. He loves when I get the teapot out.

This tea whilst raw is dark brown in colour and amongst it I can spot large whole purple flowers, some dried apple pieces and a few tiny blue cornflower petals. It’s nice to see that each ingredient listed can be seen easily in the tea itself.

Once brewed the tea has become a light almost reddish brown in colour with a sweet and floral finish, smelling very much like your classic Earl Grey.

Side note – I will be having a drop of milk in my tea but no sweetener.

The taste is very pleasing and it was a nice surprise. At first sips it tastes like your average Earl Grey and it bears some strength but then a sweet and fruity apple tang comes into the after taste and it’s finished with a subtle floralness. It really does go well together, better than I thought it would when I read the ingredients.

The more I drink the sweeter it becomes thanks to the apple, so much so that if I added my own sweetener it would be too sweet. The drop of milk has also made this a very smooth and creamy blend which is perfect for me in the morning.

It’s a shame that Kally Tea doesn’t ship to the UK because I would have liked some more of this. :(

No notes yet.

No notes yet.

Wow a Teavivre Pu Erh that no one else has reviewed. I feel honoured to be the first :)

I’m full of Chinese food now and I rummaged in my bag to find my sample of this. It’s in a rather large silver sealed bag instead of the usual Teavivre sample bags and I can feel that the tea is a large piece of cake. That sounds nice … a large piece of cake. It would see I have more than one stomach, one for Chinese food and one for puddings.

Anyway I opened the bag and pulled out this large piece of broken off cake. It weighs 21g so I’m going to have to half it. There we are I now have 10g in my Gongfu. It’s a mixture of dark and medium browns in colour with a rich and slightly smoky fragrance.

Tea:10g 5 steeps:30s,1m,2m,3m,4m 100ºC/212ºF

The table above was taken from the Teavivre website so I will try following those rules, if it’s too strong then I will lower the steeping times.

Steep 1 – 30 seconds
The colour is reddy brown similar to mahogany and it smells sweet, woody, earthy but fresh. The flavour is actually quite subtle, it’s fresh and light but it has a mature sort of taste.

Steep 2 – 1 minute
The colour now is almost black and looks like cola. It tastes earthy and thick, a little sweet and woody to. Despite it’s strength it’s still fresh and smooth. The quality is starting to make itself known and I’m impressed so far.

Steep 3 – 2 minutes
It still keeps increasing in strength but remains smooth and rich but fresh. For being ripe there is still a sweetness there and no harshness at all like some lower quality Pu Erh has. This is smooth all the way with that sort of caramel finish. Smoky, woody caramel.

Steep 4 – 3 minutes
The caffeine has made me a little tea drunk, it’s pretty awesome. It’s still the same colour as cola. The sweetness is increasing but not as much as some Pu Erh, this really has balanced perfectly.

Steep 5 – 4 minutes
In a few words this tea is: rich, sweet, woody, earthy, smooth, light, fresh, mellow, smoky and a little fruity. The strength has weakened a little in this steep but I think it would easily hold for another few.

I think this is the best ripe Pu Erh I have ever tasted. It’s not heavy or bitter which is what I was expecting and it was also very consistent throughout. Delicious.

This is a brand new experience for me as I have never had the pleasure of drinking Lan Gui Ren before. I really don’t know what to expect at all but thought it would be fun to find out.

Upon opening this vacuum sealed package I pulled a face as I was asking myself “What the hell is this?”. The tea itself looks like my cats catnip biscuits. They are dark green, small and rolled into odd ball shapes. They really do look like a cross between a cat biscuit and some sort of health snack. These strange little tea pieces smell floral but also astringent and sharp. It’s an interesting smell, it must be the ginseng.

By look and smell I would never guess this was an Oolong. I’m brewing this gongfu style starting with 1 minute for first two steeps (as recommended) and by an additional minute each subsequent steep.

Steep 1 – 1 minute
The tea is yellow in colour with a roasted scent much associated with Oolong. Yum, it tastes like roasted rice cakes with spinach which sounds like an odd combination but it’s very nice. It has that slight sweetness and after taste similar to watermelon but not as fruity or fresh.

SIDE NOTE – Amazing sweet after taste that lingers in my mouth beautifully.

Steep 2 – 1 minute
A second steep has increased the toastedness but it seems to dissolve quickly until all you can taste is a floral sweetness that starts to taste like hard boiled sweets. My mind is completely blown by this tea … it’s amazing and I’m only two steeps in! Sweet rice cakey goodness.

Steep 3 – 2 minutes
Golden brown now in colour. The sweetness is blending in a little bit more now and it tastes more like your average sweet Oolong.

I think this is amazing. I love it. Finishing my review early because my Chinese food is here (beancurd in black bean sauce). Double yum!

Thank you Chuckieroy for this tea. It was funnily enough one that I regretted not getting. Plus with my area being snowed under already and the whole weekend is due to snow I would say it’s the perfect time to drink this blend.

The tea smells super duper strong. Cinnamon is definitely the main character but is combined with a sort of clove/orange to smell like mulled wine. It’s a wonderful winter smell … I’m thinking of Christmas again now.

Once steeped the tea is that wonderful red rooibos colour but this smells sweet and rich, similar to the raw smell but much sweeter.

Very similar tasting to a few other teas I have and they all remind me of mulled wine. This version is sweeter and less rich. It does have a red wine taste about it.. sweet, fruity, dry but mix it with cinnamon and spices and you get a red wine with more character and it becomes somewhat lighter. That’s what this tea is about, the rooibos is sweet while the cinnamon gives it depth yet keeps it light while the spices give it pure flavour and the sweet sprinkles make sure it remains sweet and unheavy.

It’s a nice blend but I am thankful I didn’t buy it as I have a few others that are so similar but I am enjoying this tea and I may buy it in the future.

Thank you Chuckieroy for this tea. He is my watermelon friend. :)

I brew this at work this morning to get me through the heavy snow storm that started last night.

I brewed 2 tsp with boiling water for 10 minutes. The liquid brewed to become a lovely pink colour and it had a pure sweet essence of watermelon.

The flavour was as good as the taste but it seemed a little fruitier than just the watermelon. It’s still very tasty and I think it would be perfect as an iced tea.

Thank you Teavivre for this sample.

The tea itself is a mixture of dark brown and light brown leaves compacted together into broken cake pieces. They have a sweet and earthy smell equal to most raw Pu Erh. I shall be steeping with a table taken from the Teavivre website.

Teapot Gongfu Tea:2pieces 4 steeps:30s,1m,2m,3m 100ºC/212ºF

Once the tea is rinsed it bears a much sweeter and woodier scent.

Steep 1 – Yellow in colour. A slight smell of fresh cut wood. The taste is sweet and slightly smoky and vegetal. Even though it’s light it’s also on the rich side.

Steep 2 – Darkening in colour to become a little golder. The flavour has increased to double the first steep. Now it’s very rich but still remains sweet. Also picked up floral and perfume tones but on a subtle basis.

Steep 3 – Much sweeter with a dry perfume after taste. The richness has also increased along with smokiness but it manages to stay refreshing.

Steep 4 – I do like that the sweetness has continued all the way through and now that it’s settled it’s become woody again. It tastes like a forest, it has the sweet wood, the green fresh leaves and the rich soil flavours all in one.

Overall I do like this Pu Erh very much as it remained consistently good throughout the 4 steeps. It’s also fairly strong and potent which I have to be in the right mood for. If I was going to say anything negative it would be that the tea left my mouth bone dry and it had that strange perfume taste that gathered at the back of my throat.

A Japanese tea to go with my Japanese film marathon (I’m currently watching Tokyo Gore Police).

The tea looks like dark green crisp and dry leaves that have been cut into small, thin pieces. It smells a little vegetal, like broccoli.

Once brewed the loose tea smells much stronger and very much like broccoli or cabbage. Yum Yum.

The tea colour is light yellow and it has a very subtle yet sweet smell of fresh vegetable soup. It tastes as it smells, very vegetal with sweetness and a little floralness. There is an edge of not bitterness but green harshness to it. It’s very nice :)

Perfect, now I feel like I’m in Japan watching the films. :)

Now I’m craving Oolong and I have a song playing over and over in my mind (White Rabbit – Jefferson Airplane) whilst I’m sat here wire wrapping Quartz crystal points. This was the first Oolong I grabbed from my cupboard.

I can’t recall having much aged Oolong before but it sounds rich and deep which I’m finding delightful. In 1990 when this tea was made I would have been no more than 2 years old… wow!

As I open the vacuum sealed packet I am greeted by small dark brown almost black small tea pieces that have a strong and deep fragrance. I’m finding it difficult to answer what it smells of but it’s very familiar … soy sauce maybe?

Steeping 3 times in my gongfu for 1 minute, 2 minutes then 3 minutes.

Steep 1 – Burnt orange in colour with a smell that reminds me of cigar smoke. The taste is smoky and rich but also earthy and astringent. Sort of like Lapsang Souchong mixed with Pu Erh but on a weaker basis. Roasted chestnuts is a fairly good description.

Steep 2 – Brownish red now in colour but with that same cigar smoke scent. My husband smokes a cigar at birthdays and Christmas so I am quite used to the smell but it’s surprising how similar they are. It sort of tastes like cigar now too which is how it smells. I still like roast chestnuts though as the comparison but now it’s almost like burnt chestnuts. If Lapsang Souchong is the smokiest tea then this must be second.

Steep 3 – Again it’s burnt orange in colour with the same scent. Other than cigar or chestnut I’m finding it really difficult to describe. Muddy perhaps? Smoky and muddy? There is a little sweetness which helps to keep it on the rich yet light side. It’s also a little dry and nutty.

I think this may be one of the strangest teas let alone Oolongs that I have ever tried but I’m really getting a taste for it now. I may have to order some more of this :) Thinking about it I should have kept it for my birthday… I want some Pu Erh that is from my birth year too but money is low at the moment :( Maybe next year?

I’m in the mood for something light and floral and I couldn’t think of anything more perfect than jasmine pearls. I usually go for Teavivre’s ‘Superfine Jasmine Downy Dragon Pearls Green Tea’ but today I thought I would try this brand.

What surprised me first of all was that this brands ‘pearl jasmine’ came seal packed like many Oolongs do to ensure freshness. When I opened the sealed pack I could see small dark green with silver striped balls with a beautiful sweet jasmine scent. One thing I did notice is that there is no fuzziness at all which I have noted comes with the fresher and higher quality pearls.

I am brewing with three steeps: 1 minute, 2 minutes, 3 minutes. I used 7g of pearls in my gongfu with 80°C water.

The tea once steeped for 1 minute is light yellow and remains fresh, mellow, floral and sweet. Just as jasmine pearl tea should be. It’s very light with only a hint of jasmine and it’s a very pleasant first steep. It’s the sort of tea I could drink every day. :)

My second steep now. The pearls have now unravelled. The tea is still yellow in colour but the jasmine scent is stronger. It’s a little stronger, sweeter and more floral now. Much more preferable to the first steep. It’s still light but now it’s more like a green tea as it has some depth instead of very little.

My third steep. Everything (colour, scent and taste) has weakened slightly and resembles the first steep again.

Overall it’s a nice jasmine pearl tea but at the best steep it was the same quality as what you would expect. Meaning it’s suitable for every day drinking but not for those special occasions. Still it is what it’s called and nothing more and I do love jasmine pearls … if this is the lesser grade then I cannot wait to try their higher grades. :)

No notes yet.

No notes yet.

I’m half chuckling that people say this tastes like curry whilst the other half of me is thinking that I really don’t want to drink a curry tea… I wanted it to be sweet.

The raw mixture looks and smells perfect. It smells like apple and caramel in a fairly strong way. It also looks aesthetically pleasing with it’s little red candy pieces, brown caramel pieces and white/yellow apple pieces.

Once steeped the tea becomes reddish brown in colour with a sweet and slightly sour apple smell.

Yummy. I can taste sweet caramel with a hint of apple but it’s smooth and a little creamy… like vanilla but not quite. The apple tastes fresh enough with that slight sweet and sour tang that it naturally has but the caramel and candy give it that oomph in sweetness for a nice boost. I can’t taste curry like other people have stated but I haven’t tasted every single curry in the world so it is still possible that it does.

I wish I had this tea for Halloween… I want to bob for apples and eat ream caramel apples now. :( So long to wait until next Hallows Eve. Watches the clock and waits …. I will be here a long time.

No notes yet.

I’m in the mood for something sweet and also pre bagged for ease as my newly tattoo’d arm is absolutely killing me. Plus I’m rather engrossed into the FA cup football matches as I have placed a cheeky bet for the wholesome sum of £2 and I’m sat here in anticipation with my fingers crossed.

This tea was part of a sampler box I received for Christmas with lots of different flavours, each in a tiny box with two samples per flavour.

The bag looks like normal rooibos and other than a slightly sweeter than average smell it pretty much is the same as original rooibos. Not sure why I wanted to try this since I dislike rooibos at the best of times but I just got the craving for it.

I will be adding a touch of milk (which I don’t usually do). It was nice to see the milk slowly mixing into the red tea :)

Once brewed the tea smells like normal rooibos, the sweetness has vanished. :(

The taste is like your average rooibos too. There is maybe a smidgen of sweetness but I would certainly not say it was sweet enough to be categorised as caramel. I would have to add sweetener into it before it became as sweet as it’s name sake and that would feel like a waste because I shouldn’t have to manually turn something into what it should have been in the first place. Alright I need to calm down it would seem :/

So to sum things up this was rooibos and nothing more. As far as rooibos teas are concerned this was as fresh and tasty as expected but it did not over exceed anything above average. Such a shame… I will just have to pick something sweeter for my next drink to make up for it.

Thank you reasoned_melody for my 24g pouch of this tea. Cookie dough is one of my favourites and I have wanted to try this for a while now.

I opened the pouch and took a sniff not really knowing what to expect but I was greeted with a chocolate odour. I take it these cookies are chocolate based then? :) Chocolate chip maybe. The mix looks like your standard white tea (similar to peony) but with a few twigs and delicious sweet extras.

A 7 minute steep is a fairly long time but I am sat here eagerly waiting with what little patience I have. So far I can note the colour is lightly honeyed (yellow and orange) with a chocolatey and somewhat baked essence that is becoming stronger and stronger. It really is like cookie dough but more store bought than home made.

The flavour is interesting at the beginning. It’s creamy and sweet with a touch of being nutty and chocolatey. There is deffinately some sort of baked flavour there (different to an Oolong but also in a way rather similar). The chocolate flavour is more of the cocoa nibs so it resembles a cup of hot chocolate rather than a chocolate bar or real chocolate chips but it helps to sweeten the mixture so it’s not too bad.

I don’t like that this contains artificial flavouring. Surely if you create a blend correctly you will find you don’t need to add artificial extra’s? Butiki do a great job using natural flavours as do many other companies and I imagine it can’t be too difficult as long as you test it properly and have the passion to create.

I’m not so sure I would pick this cup out of a line up either. Put this tea amongst other chocolate based teas and it would be hard to differentiate the differences. Smell would be an easier job than taste I think.

Overall it’s a fairly average tea and I was hoping it would be so much more. Perhaps my standards were too high, as I said cookie dough is one of my favourite foods so perhaps my bar was held too high in advance? Either way this tea was nice but far from extraordinary.

I’ve just spent 3 hours at my local tattooists to finish off a half tattoo sleeve and once I got home the pain started to hit me. It feels like very bad sun burn but it’s all over my arm and it’s gotten to the point where I am having to preoccupy myself. What better way to do that other than to write a tea review?

My second Earl Gray sample from Canton Tea Club and I am looking forward to my teapot full of this. Upon opening the packet I noticed this smells stronger than their classic version, the orange is much more potent but still remains sweet and somewhat waxy. It smells like someone has been peeling an orange, it’s so fresh and juicy. :) Also the colour is a little lighter in comparison and with the occasional silverish yellow leaf and blue cornflower it looks quite attractive.

Steeping 10g sample spread over 3 teabags in my teapot and taken without milk. Lets get started.

The dark brown tea soup smells just as strong as it’s raw form but also richer. The Darjeeling is really standing out in comparison to the classic. It’s strong and rich with only a touch of waxy orange and a green/floral taste. I would say this is double the strength of the classic but even so it’s still smooth and flows nicely.

The flavours take you on a journey. It starts off thick and rich and you start to think it’s too strong but then it cools down to a waxy orange affair and ends with a light floral/perfume after taste.

Definitely my favourite out of the two blends but it’s not my favourite ever Earl Grey. I do admire this blends strength and I think that’s why I prefer it overall.

My second pot of tea tonight with my husband whilst watching 300 (again…my husband loves that film).

I know this is a breakfast tea but we felt a strong caffeine boost would be perfect for us right now as we have both had such a long day.

I will be adding a drop of milk to my tea but no sweetener. The tea bags were sealed individually in foil packets but upon being opened they looked like any other slightly dusty black tea bag.

Once brewed this tea smells rich and malty with a touch of sweetness. Upon tasting I can note it’s strength is adequate but for me it could have been a little stronger. Despite being on the stronger side there is no bitterness (which may be due to the milk) making is strong yet smooth. The thing that strikes me the most about the tea is the malty taste and smell which is unusual for most bog standard black tea’s…it’s almost like a Yunnan black tea but not malty enough, it makes for an interesting drink. I do love malty Yunnan.

I can feel the caffeine kick already after half a cup which is impressive enough and I have roughly another 2 cups to go. My husband even said it tasted like the special tea I have (he means the Black Dragon Pearls from Teavivre) so I’m glad that I’m not the only one that can taste the malt.

The tea is fresh but around your top average teabag standard so it’s far from being anything special. Still it’s very nice for an every day tea with that slight difference.

Earl Grey is one of my favourites and I was more than thrilled to receive this sample. My husband is also a lover of Earl Grey so tonight we are sitting down and having a large teapot which uses my 10g sample which works out to roughly 3 teabags.

Before I steep I should note the loose tea looks like your average Earl Grey (dark brown small twisted and finely cut leaves) but with it came a tremendously strong whiff of fresh orange. Almost like orange essential oil, waxy yet sweet.

In my teapot goes the water and all I will be adding is a little milk.

The tea has steeped very nicely in my new teapot. With the milk added it smells very sweet and orangey with a slight earthy background.

Sipping a few times has definitely put a smile on my face. It’s naturally sweet, strong and smooth which is exactly what I look for in an Earl Grey. The reason I love Earl Grey so much is mostly because of the bergamot and I think what I look for the most with Earl Grey teas is strong but fresh bergamot/orange. This is strong but not quite to my personal liking, in other words I like this tea but I do not love it. It’s just missing that extra orange oomph that makes me go wow.

Still this does beat most bagged Earl Greys and it is certainly fresh and potent. My husband who drinks Earl Grey every day agree’s that while he can tell this is fresh it would be hard to differentiate between this and another fresh Earl Grey. But considering this was the basic Earl Grey and along with this I receive a sample of organic Darjeeling Earl Grey I would say I have not been off to a bad start.

So yes it’s true, this is a classic Earl Grey and while it’s not as special as it could be it’s still pretty darn tasty.

I just looked at my previous notes for this and saw I listed it as bitter and a little unpleasant. Well it’s amazing what a spoon of 0 calorie sugar and a splash of milk can do. :D Now it’s almost perfect.

My fifth flavoured Pu Erh of the day :) I’m on a roll!

The little tuocha’s are so cute, I love using them. The tuocha’s are dark green in colour with a slight sweet ricey fragrance. Sort of like rice pudding without the cream.

After a 10 second rinse the tea smells much more like cooked rice but not as thickly so as Genmaicha. I haven’t cooked rice in a while and this smell is making me crave it.

Ooh I forgot to mention I am using my gongfu with two of these tuocha’s. Copying other peoples steeping time of 30 seconds (as that seems about right).

Steep 1 – The same sticky rice smell with a light yellow colour. The Pu Erh is mellow and a little floral with a light rice flavour. The smell is thicker than the taste which is good because stodgy rice would not be nice. It’s also still sweet but naturally so and not overpowering.

Steep 2 – A little darker in colour and thicker in smell. The taste is also much stronger now with a thick floral perfume flavour taking over the light rice which is now mostly in the after taste. It’s also picked up more of a toasted flavour.

Steep 3 – Now it’s a light gold colour rather than yellow. Now it’s twice the strength it was before and a little bitterness is noticeable along with a fairly harsh and dry perfume taste. The sweetness has almost gone but the rice remains at the back of the throat as the after taste. Not as pleasant as the first steep.

Steep 4 – Same gold colour but more toasty in smell. Not as strong as the previous steep (thankfully) but that wonderful rice flavour has still been over taken by this perfumey one.

I’m leaving my steeps there, it started off well but ended abruptly shortly after. I have never had a Pu Erh that has changed so much between first and second steeps. The first steep was pleasant where as the second and third were much too strong for my personal liking. It’s low score comes down to this tea’s problems with re steeping which is mandatory for most Pu Erh.

No notes yet.

This will be my fourth cup of flavoured Pu Erh today. The snow has stopped falling but a few inches have settled, for how long is anybodies guess. The snow is beautiful to look at but it’s cold and dangerous. Last year it snowed on my birthday but it doesn’t look like there is much chance of that happening this year, it’s arrived too early. (My birthday is 6th February).

The tea whilst raw is dark brown with small red strawberry pieces and it smells absolutely amazing! It’s real strawberry and it smells so sweet and juicy, very natural like and thankfully not the leaf. I’m licking my lips due to the smell alone which for the record is quite potent.

Once the tea has steeped it’s dark brown in colour and smells just as strong, fresh and naturally delicious as it’s raw form.

Wowzers this tastes as lovely as the smell! The first few sips reveal sweet strawberry which is then followed by a rich and smooth Pu Erh after taste. The strawberry is slightly more dominant but with it being so sweet and fresh I put that as being a positive thing. Besides I can taste the Pu Erh fairly well despite being overtaken. This is another blend that reminds me of sweets.

Earlier I drank Mother of Pearl- Della Terra and noted that was mostly strawberry flavoured (and Pu Erh based) and I think any fan of that tea would love this. This tea is stronger than MOP and sweeter without having to add anything extra.

I think this tea alone would be worth placing another order from NBT for but considering I also love their Orange Pu Erh and Orange Black I’m thinking I should do so sooner rather than later.

In a few words this tea is … Tantalizingly strawberry tastic!