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Typical green pellets, strong with fresh vegetal scents. The brewed tea is rich orangey yellow with a light floral aroma. Floral notes and a buttery finish complete this simple tea. A good choice for an afternoon cup, or late night, when a stronger black or Darjeeling would be too brisk for the moment.

The black long dry leaves were nothing like the small green pellets I expected to see when I opened the bag. A strong sweet scent filled the canister, a promise of a good brew to come.

As the leaves are quite bulky I used 2 tsp. per cup of 210F water, and steeped at 2 minutes.

A lovely rich reddish orange liquor was the result. It was mildly fragrant, but richly flavorful. Despite the resemblance to black tea, this was all Oolong. Vegetal and sweet with a rich floral finish. It reminds me of a mild muscat tasting Darjeeling.

A good drink when something lighter than the heavy blacks (which i usually prefer) is called for. This is one rich flavorful Oolong tea.

Rich powerful aromas fill the senses and hint at the powerful flavor the tea to come….

The leaf is large and loose, more green than black, and richly scented as mentioned earlier. A soft scent of the leaf lingers in the brewed tea, which a bright, clear orange red in the cup.

As expected (this is my second purchase of this tea) the flavor is full and big. Tastes of yeast and malt with a soft flowery finish. This is the black tea that definitely counts among the favorites in my tea cupboard.

if at any time it comes to be available, i recommend a purchase. You’ll become hooked as I am.

A wonderful scent of flowers escaped the canister as I pulled loose the lid. That scent translated well into the steeped tea as the leaves bloomed and swelled in the swirling scented water.

Pale golden liquor filled the cup as i poured the first cup. The flavor was light and flowery, no bitterness or astringency, no malt or yeast, but sweet and full in the mouth, a short finish the didn’t linger on the palate, but that’s not a bad thing.

As I had eaten the last of my tea cookies this morning with my Irish Breakfast brew, I drank this one without the benefit of residual sweetness in the mouth; it was still a wonderful drink, calming and soothing on this rare cold and rainy day in southern California.

I had always steered clear of the blended teas for fear they were inferior to the single harvest teas that went into the blends. This tea proved me so wrong.

The liquors rich root beer brown, as dark as a good cup of coffee. The aroma is light in the cup, a bit sweet and vegetal.

On the tongue the flavor of this tea really pops, full bodied, rich and so much more than the sum of it’s parts! Yeasty and malty, exactly what I like in a black tea, but also a bit of astringency that recalls a good Darjeeling. The finish is soft for such a powerful cup, and slightly sweet with a hint of dark chocolate.

This is a powerful tea, great for mornings, or anytime a quick jolt of energy is needed. This one’s on my list of teas to keep on the shelf!

Gene

I had a bad feeling about this, as the dry leaf had no detectable aroma. Does no aroma translate to no flavor? No, it does not!

As i pulled the tea basket from the pot after brewing I caught the wonderful, albeit weaker, scent of black tea. A good sign. The tea itself was a pale root beer color, not the green color I had expected. Another good sign.

The flavor was mild, but complex, with vegetal and floral notes giving way to a soft malt then finally to a soft butteriness.

This tea is definitely not your typical green tea, but yet not a black tea either. It is, however, flavorful and attractive, even to this dedicated black tea drinker.

I used 2 tsp. per 8 oz. cup, at 185F for 3 minutes. I may use more leaf next time, just to see what will happen.

This is a tea I’d recommend.

Gene

Rich and aromatic. The small black leaves let up a very faint scent of smoke and greens, typical of the type, but less pronounced than others I’ve tried.

A beautiful liquor the color of weak cola filled the cup, and to my surprise, scented the air around me with a wonderful smokey floral aroma. The first taste to reveal itself was that of light smoke; not Lapsang strong, but present and tempered with a wonderful maltiness in good balance. The finish was floral and vegetal, with a final buttery flavor, perhaps what others call creaminess.

I’m whittling down the number of teas which I’ll reorder and stock in quantity; this one makes that list!

Gene

I always inhale the scent of a tea instantly upon opening the canister. These pearls smell of malty sweetness, earthy and vegetal. All in all, they smell exactly as a good black tea should.

4 pearls per cup plus, I used 16 pearls for my 3 cup tea pot. Brewed at 205F for 1 minute, the tea is pale root beer brown, yeasty and mild in scent.

The taste too was mild, fresh, and sweet. Not as much malt as I’d like, but that may be my fault, either too little tea (too few pearls) or not enough time (2 minutes instead of only 1 minute.)

The resteep of this one will be 2 minutes at 210F, just to see that happens.

Light bodied and mild as brewed, a good evening cup when something strong and bracing isn’t quite called for.

I plan to push this tea a bit, and get out that rich maltiness the dry leaves seem to promise.

The mild scent of the dry leaves stumped me. It was mild, floral, and sweet. No strong malty or yeasty overtones as I’d expect with black tea. Their appearance recalled some Golden Monkey in leaf type only, not color.

As i always do with a first brewing of a new tea, I followed instructions, 1 tsp. per cup of water, plus one extra. 4 tsp in 3 cups of water at 205F.

The tea was deep rich yellow, mildly scented and mild tasting. Very sweet (again, not sugary, but free of astringency or bitterness) with mild floral notes. Again, not typical of black tea, but not bad, either. All the flavor a good tea, without the extras of malt and astringency.

All things considered I enjoyed this tea. It’s a mild tea that is good for times when a big bodied black is too much.

I’m sure this tea can be much more, so next time it’ll be 2 tsp. per cup, same time, same temp. We’ll see how that goes.

Gene

The beautiful golden color of this tea really set it apart. Although it resembles Golden Monkey (one of my favorites), it isn’t quite as strongly scented or flavored as GM. The soft scent of yeasty bread with just a slight vegetal aroma wafting around in the background.

I brewed this lightly tonight, 2 tsp per cup @ 205 for 2 minutes. I’ll resteep tomorrow for 3 minutes, then compare with fresh steeping @ 205 for 3 minutes. It will be fun to compare the tastes of the three brews.

A typical black tea color of reddish brown filled my cup after the pour. The steam lifted the mild aroma of malt and yeast heavenwards, while the first sip was amazingly sweet. No bitterness or astringency apparent. Then the wonderful taste of malt caught my attention. Not too pronounced, but definitely there. A very pleasant, fresh, mild cup of tea.

I know from the samples I tried before that this tea can be big and bold, perhaps an extra minute of steeping is the key to the boldness capable. But I’m really liking this lighter version. A restful cup before bed, with a couple of cookies. This is what tea drinking is all about.

8/25/13 Resteeped yesterday leaves for 3 minutes at 205F. The tea is very similar to yesterdays’ brew; mild, sweet, less malty than yesterday, but still a good mild fresh cup. I seriously doubt any goodness is left in these leaves, but i will steep a second time with this tea in the future.