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Swap from Cameron B aka Obligatory Tea #1.

I’m generally getting dried kiwi. Dry leaf aroma, wet leaf aroma… I can mostly taste dried grass and hay, but as I let the tea sit in my mouth, the kiwi and apple appear (mostly the kiwi), but they’re weak. The aftertaste is the best part – it’s like I’ve just eaten dried kiwi. Yummers! Funny how the flavoring works.

Not a keeper though it was nice to try.

From the Lewis and Clark TTB.

Prepared gongfu method with gaiwan. 5 second rinse. Steeping times: 5 sec, 5, 5, 5, 10, 10, 10, 10, 20, 30, 45, 60.

Dry leaf aroma: initially floral and mineral, then fresh fruit such as persimmons, clementines, and Asian pears.
Wet leaf aroma: Much simpler, though not any less lovely. Sweet, buttery, mostly floral.
Liquor: Light yellow, clear, full-bodied, and smooth. The leaves unfurl sooner than I expected – during the first infusion -, allowing to pour forth flavorful sweet, floral notes, which are consistent throughout the session.

Swap from Cameron B.

Great aroma, reminds me of cider donuts. I love the smell of this apple/cinnamon. Then it gets weird. When the tea is piping hot, it tastes like hot apple cider. But when it cools down just a bit it becomes weaker. Then the apple/cinnamon flavor bounces back in the aftertaste. This is basically chamomile tea with something a little extra.

From the Lewis and Clark TTB.

Brewed Western-style. Steeping times: 30 sec, 45, 60, 90, 120.

The wet leaf aroma of has notes of earth, portobello mushrooms, and bread. The first infusion yields a reddish brown broth with a light earth note. In the subsequent infusions, the color changes to that of coffee, the earth is stronger (though not as strong as in other shu I’ve had), and a woody taste comes forth. Creamy and full-bodied in each cup.

Rich in spite of the lightness. Eat something substantial and not just an English muffin before you drink this, folks – it might briefly give you nausea.

I wish I could go beyond tasting earth and wood…at least I know I like it!

From the Lewis and Clark TTB.

I don’t drink fruit tisanes because they’re not my thing (my last couple run-ins – both fig teas, one which was from DAVIDsTea – went into the sink), but “watermelon mint” sounded too appealing. I drank this hot-brewed because I didn’t feel like cold-brewing. Honestly, I was a little worried, but it was much better than I expected. The watermelon tastes good, though it is kind of on the light side for me, and it certainly goes well with mint, which takes over in the aftertaste. Good flavoring, too – not soapy or oily at all. I can guess that this one cold-brews well.

From the Lewis and Clark TTB.

This has a nice, pleasant apple-y aroma. I can taste both the black and rooibos easily and mostly just the apple flavor, which could be stronger. I don’t get much peach or cinnamon, though, and these could be much stronger as well.

From the Lewis and Clark TTB.

Brewed gongfu-style with gaiwan. Steeping times: 20 sec, 15, 20, 30, 45, 60.

The leaf consists of twisty forest green leaves, whose color brightens when they are first infused. Even though they were picked from the bush long ago, they appear as if their life is retained. At first the aroma is generally sweet and buttery. But as the leaf cools, the notes change: kettlecorn and sweet potatoes with marshmallows (like the Thanksgiving dish), and then squash and zucchini. Each infusion produces a pale green liquor – almost neon – that is medium-bodied, creamy, vegetal and sweet.

From the Lewis and Clark TTB.

Brewed gongfu-style with gaiwan. Steeping times: 3, 3, 3, 3, 6, 6, 6, 6.

I haven’t had many Tieguanyin’s, so picking out the complexities was difficult for me. Trying to go beyond “floral” here.

The leaf has a flora aroma, an early spring air filled with the delicate fragrances of purple, light blue, dark blue, pink, and yellow flowers. I imagine bumblebees and honeybees, dusted with pollen, flitting from flowerbed to flowerbed. The liquor is pale yellow, clear, and bright. Full-bodied yet light. The texture becomes creamier and more buttery with every infusion, and the taste changes to candy sweet, evocative of candied flowers.

The tightly rolled light green leaves quickly unfurl. Each one is surprisingly small and thin for a lightly oxidized oolong.

From the Lewis and Clark TTB.

“Wisdom begins in wonder,” says Socrates on the baggie I picked.

A malty, chocolatey aroma rises from the teapot when I take away the lid. The leaves even look like chocolate. The liquor – golden, full-bodied, thick – has the same notes as the aroma, only they are 10x stronger, bolder. It tastes a little aged. I ate Nutella on toasted bread with this and the two complement each other wonderfully. Freshest chocolate fudge, dark pure honey. With this pair, the tea overpowers the actual chocolate. That’s not something I find in a tea very often.

This is one heck of a cozy tea. Not hugging, but the kind that warms every inch and part of your being. For the darkest, coldest winter night, while a heavy snow falls.

From the Lewis and Clark TTB.

Brewed with shudei kyusu. Steeping times: 1 min, 30 sec, 1 min.

The wet leaf aroma is savory: buttery and sweet with pumpkin and squash. A pleasure to smell in the late afternoon. The first infusion is clear and light on the tongue, yet full-bodied and flavorful. Reminiscent of the sweet seaweed-like quality of kukicha. A graceful infusion.

The second is thicker, more like soup broth. It retains the sweetness form the first infusion, though it also has squash notes. I botched the third infusion: it’s much thicker, darker in color (too dark), and bitter (although I can still taste the tea’s essence). I should have let the leaf steep for a shorter a time.

This is a lovely Japanese green. Too bad there aren’t more in this box.