Insence&Tea

This review is going to be done in my new yixing teapot from teavivre so some of the points I’m making will be about the teapot.

Dry smell: This tea has a very nice dry smell. It has no fishiness. It is lighter and sweeter smelling than various other puerhs I’ve tried. It has a light aroma of wet tree bark and a dough like smell.

Taste: This tea has a nice dry flavor. I can sense a woody flavor and also a wet earthy flavor. It is a lot darker flavor than I expected. Although it is not sweet like it smelled, it has no astringency and is very smooth. I can still taste what I sensed as the doughy smell. It tastes like a cracker. This is a nice smooth Puerh and I’ll be ordering more soon.

Wet smell: The wet smell is a lot like the dry smell, it is just lacking the sweet scent. The pot adds a deep earthy smell

What the pot does: I drank this tea a couple times before I got my yixing pot from my gaiwan. I was somewhat skeptical of how much the yixing would actually affect the flavor but there is a notable difference. It gets rid of the natural sharpness the tea has and flattens it out. I can tell it is absorbing some of the flavor because it is slightly lighter, and I am very excited to see what the pot provides after it is fully seasoned.

No notes yet.

Dry leaf: This is one of the most fantastic tea I’ve ever smelled. It has a very light oolong smell but has a very sweet, fruity smell. It is almost like a candy or fruit juice extract. It doesn’t have hardly any vegetal smell.

Wet smell: The wet smell is even better. It has the same fruit candy smell with a slight bit of astringency. It has a slightly more vegetal smell.

Taste: This tea is great. The first taste you get is a very sweet taste. If I didn’t know I would swear it had sugar in it. As the liquor moves to the back of your mouth the fruity taste comes out that reminds me of a bed bath and beyond store. It is still very sweet at this point. Next as you start to swallow there is a slightly astringent, vegetal taste. When you swallow there is a smooth feel and long lasting creamy, fruity flavor. This is a fantastic tea and I wish I had ordered more.

First I want to thank natures tea leaf for the sample!!!

Dry leaf: The dry tea leaves are really pretty. They are tightly rolled and filled with light and dark greens. They have a very sweet yet vegetal flavor. They remind me of dark green vegetables mixed with celery and rock sugar.

Wet leaf: The wet leaf is deeeeelicious. It smells so fantastically sweet. It still has dark green vegetal smells but no more celery note. I can still smell something that reminds me of a rock salt. The leaves expand to be very large and full.

Taste: This is a really good tea. It has a nice, sweet, and light taste. It has a lettuce like vegetal taste, but it also has a nice sweetness. It is a lot sweeter than most oolongs I have tried and not nearly as vegetal. I really enjoy this tea and will definitely be ordering more

First I want to thank thank the sTEAp Shoppe for this wonderful sample!!!

Dry smell: The dry smell is like a mix between mint chocolate chip ice cream and a crunch bar. It is a very sweet, sugary smell with a slightly fruity note underneath.

Taste: This is the first mate I’ve ever had and it has a very interesting taste. I can taste the mint and the cocoa flavors, but what I assume is the mate flavor is the strongest. It’s a kind of sweet and sour taste. It’s not a flavor like anything tried before but it’s good. There is an extremely sweet mint chocolate chip aftertaste that lasts for a long time after your last sip.

I can’t drink hot teas still because of my surgery so I thought I would make some of this. This is my first bagged tea since I started with loose leaf a while ago, and man I was surprised. It was so bland and unflavorful, full of chemicals and artificial flavors, and all around bad. Looks like I’m going to have to find a cheap black tea to make iced from now on.

Well this has been a horrid week. I have been overloaded with homework and have 5 big tests on monday. I’m also getting my wisdom teeth pulled friday so there goes study time and I haven’t been able to drink tea since last friday because it will “make me bleed more.” I have resorted to this because It has no tea in it and it is sooooo wonderful. It is strong and bold with a nice sweetness. I’m glad I can still drink this or I might go crazy

Thanks, Bonnie, for the sample

Dry smell: This tea smells very sweet and lightly like a malty milk chocolate.

Wet smell: This tea smells very similar to the black dragon pearls. It has a nice but deep malty chocolate smell. It has more of a cocoa scent when it is wet.

Taste: This tea is really good. It does remind me a lot of the black dragon pearls. It has a really deep cocoa flavor. There is a difference though, it has a kind of a sweet, starchy floral taste. It has a nice deep flavor.

First off, thank you Bonnie so much for the opportunity to try this tea

Dry smell: When I first opened this tea I first caught a light earthy smell. It’s hard to explain but it’s a very warm smell. Under the earthiness there is a light smell of vanilla extract. The strangest smell was something I couldn’t place. The closest I could come was the smell of the breading of a donut.

Wet smell: After the tea gets wet it gives off a very sweet, creamy smell. The vanilla smell is gone but got replaced by the smell of sweet dry hay like on a farm. It’s strange but the donut breading smell seems to have gotten stronger.

Taste: The taste was a lot milder than I expected. The first taste I got was very dry and had a deep flavor. It tasted slightly of cocoa and the bark from a tree. There is absolutely no bitterness. When you swallow your throat feels reeeaaalllyy smooth and it leaves a really moist feeling in your mouth.

This is another one of Verdant’s absolutely amazing teas and I am going to order some if I get the chance.

First off THANK YOU Bonnie for the opportunity to taste this tea

Dry smell: The dry smell is a lot different than I expected. It has a very sour, green vegetal smell that reminds me of grass and dandelions in the summer. It has a wet tree bark smell, a slight hint of a green apple. I was expecting a much darker smell so I’m not quite sure what to expect from this tea.

Wet smell: The wet smell is delicious in a really strange way. It is very dark and I can smell the dark aroma of forest. It still has a sour aroma but became a lot deeper and richer than when it was dry.

Taste: This is a strange tea, unlike anything I’ve ever tasted before. It has a really light flavor that I can’t place. It’s a smooth, creamy flavor of spices. I think the strangest part of this tea is that when I start to swallow, there is an extremely sweet flavor on the roof of my mouth. It is like sugar is melting right on top of my throat. It’s a strange flavor.

This is an interesting tea, I’m not sure if I like it or not. I was a good experience anyways

Dry leaf: This has a very creamy chocolatey smell. If I had to place it I’d say it smells like chocolate mocha filling that would go on a brownie. It has a very similar cocoa smell to teavivre’s black pearls, but it smells sweeter and has more of a creamy note.

Wet Leaf: The wet leaf has an extremely dark, chocolatey flavor. It reminds me of chocolate cereals from when I was younger. On top of the chocolate smell there is a smell kind of like a dried plant. It’s hard to place but it’s a strong, wonderful aroma.

Flavor: The taste is sooooooo surprisingly sweet. It has absolutely no bitterness or astringency. I am extremely surprised by how good this tea is. Verdant knocks another one out of the park. It has a dark cocoa flavor but it still isn’t overly strong. I’m not tasting any cinnamon but I am getting some vanilla and caramel flavor, especially on the swallow and aftertaste. The feeling in the mouth is incredibly moist and smooth. When you swallow there is a light vegetal taste and your throat feels very smooth.

Overall this is an absolutely amazing tea and I will be buying some as soon as I can

First off I need to thank dhart1214 for the sample of this wonderful matcha.

This is my first matcha so I don’t have much to compare it too I put it through a sieve and into a normal bowl (because I don’t have any real matcha supplies) I heated my water to about 165 and poured 70 ml of water on a tsp of the match. I wasn’t sure what to expect but due to the smell I thought the caramel would be overwhelming. Despite using a makeshift method, the result was surprisingly good. I didn’t get hardly any bitterness that I have heard other people describe and the caramel was an enhancement to the green tea flavor instead of being overwhelming. Luckily dhart was kind enough to share a fair amount, so I will definitely be able to make at least a couple more bowls :)

First off I need to thank dhart1214 for the sample of this wonderful matcha.

This is my first matcha so I don’t have much to compare it too I put it through a sieve and into a normal bowl (because I don’t have any real matcha supplies) I heated my water to about 165 and poured 70 ml of water on a tsp of the match. I wasn’t sure what to expect but due to the smell I thought the caramel would be overwhelming. Despite using a makeshift method, the result was surprisingly good. I didn’t get hardly any bitterness that I have heard other people describe and the caramel was an enhancement to the green tea flavor instead of being overwhelming. Luckily dhart was kind enough to share a fair amount, so I will definitely be able to make at least a couple more bowls :)

Dry leaf: The dry leaf smelled a lot different than I expected. I has a much darker and creamier aroma than I expected. The first thing that came to mind was a really light milk oolong. The leaves are very light colored and super flat.

Wet Leaf: At first I thought that this tea smelled like a light sencha, but as I smelled more I found this very bright sweet note. If I had to compare it to something it would be like a buttered pea. It has that creaminess about it, but once you bite into it a dark, sweet, and bright flavor comes out.

Taste: When this tea first hit my tongue there was a crisp vegetal note that didn’t have the sweetness I was expecting. As I began to swallow, however, I got that sweet oolong creaminess. After I swallow this tea is my absolute favorite, because I was left with a very sweet pea flavor running down my throat. It left a refreshed feeling in my mouth and a very smooth feeling in my throat.

No notes yet.

Thanks teavivre, for the sample

Dry leaf: The leaves are really small, dark brown twisted leaves. The smell is really nice. It has a dark black tea smell, but that is underneath the sweetness that this tea possesses. It has a chocolatey smell but the strongest smell is a certain sweetness. It reminds me of the roses my grandma grows in her garden. It’s a deep rose smell though, more than a floral smell.

Wet leaf: When wet, the rose smell comes out really strong. If I didn’t know better I would think that I was steeping rose buds. The rose combined with chocolate makes this smell like a nice dessert. It has a dark sweetness that gives it a very moisturizing smell.

Taste: The taste is nice. It is a lot lighter than I expected and very sweet. The chocolatey flavor reminded me of a much lighter version of the Fengqing dragon pearl. On top of that is the sweet rose flavor. It has a deep flavor, despite how light it is.

I really enjoyed this tea. It was nice how soothing the tea was and I can’t wait to brew it again.

First let me just say that this is the first Pu-erh I’ve had the opportunity to taste, so I don’t have much to compare it to, but I’ll explain my first impressions.

Dry tea smell: I didn’t know what to expect but when I first opened the packaged I was surprised by the extremely strong smell. It had a distinct fishy/oceany smell to it. Under the initial smell was a very moist scent. It reminded me of a moist forest floor and old decomposing leaves. It wasn’t a bad smell, it was just a very different smell from the teas I’m used too.

Wet smell: The tea leaves smell very much the same wet as they do dry. They have the same fishy smell with the underlying moist leaf. It was a little bit lighter smelling.

Taste: Luckily none of the fishy smell translated to flavor. It had absolutely no bitter or tart flavors. The taste was really damp. It reminded me of a misty forest. It’s a very interesting, refreshing, heavy flavor. I did enjoy it, but it will probably be one of those teas I only drink once in a while. It has pushed me to order a few more Pu-erhs to see if they’re my thing or not

Dry smell: The dry smell is light but thick. It smells like a mix of strong green vegetables. It is a mix of bean and pea smells that could go along with a meal like steak.

Wet Smell: The wet leaf smell is still light but loses the thickness that the dry leaf had. Now it has more of a thick nutty smell mixed with an array of dark green vegetables.

Taste: This tea is very light at first. There is no flavor that just comes out and immediately hits you. It’s almost like it starts off with a warm flavorless crispness. The next flavor that comes out reminds me of edamame. It has the same crisp bean flavor but with a smoothness at the back. When you begin to swallow you notice the nutty and dark green vegetable flavor. Even with the strong finish the aftertaste is very light and pleasant.

This tea would be great after dinner when still have things to do but want to add a little relaxation. It’s a nice light tea overall.

Dry smell: This tea has a really strong, creamy smell. Its almost like someone mixed the tea with a vanilla coffee creamer. It smells very sweet and smooth on top of the typical oolong smell.

Wet smell: The wet smell also has a creamy, vanilla smell but it is not nearly as strong. It has a nice grassy smell along with a hint of a roasted scent.

Taste: The first steeping is very sweet and creamy. There is no floral flavor as of yet and the creaminess adds a smoothness to the oolong flavor. The second steep still has some of the creamy flavor but the floral, vegetative notes are starting to come out. The third steeping is amazing. There is still a creaminess there but it isn’t overpowering. The floral notes are coming out underneath the vegetative taste but not strong. There is a wonderful balance in flavor with a very smooth swallow and aftertaste.

This is an amazing tea and I’m just about to go order more. ENJOY

Dry smell: The dry smell of this tea was very typical of a green tea, I picked up some citrus notes but overall it smelled like your typical green tea.

Wet smell: This is when the tea begins to shine. As soon as water hits the tea it begins to give off this strong, wonderful aroma. It reminded me of a sencha at first but as I smelled further I began to pick up on some spice smells, not unlike cinnamon. After this I hit a smell that was almost like a tropical fruity smell but tart as if it wasn’t ripe.

Liquid: As the tea first entered my mouth the first thing I noticed was it very dry and vegetal. The first tastes are like fresh cut grass and hay. As I began swallowing I picked up the same tropical fruity taste as the smell and it was mixed with the perfect amount of tartness. The aftertaste is a darker, cinnamony citrus taste combined with a great smooth feeling.

Overall this is a very good tea even though I prefer darker teas and I will probably be keeping it stocked up in my cupboard for a long time to come.

No notes yet.

Dry smell: When I opened the package I was first hit with the smell of vegetables. It reminds me of fresh picked produce from a farm. Then on further smelling I can detect a nice roasted smell with light floral notes.

Wet smell: The wet smell is a bit more like a wet smokey smell. I can still smell the vegetable smell but it reminds me more of a nice, roasted oolong.

Liquid aroma: The aroma is very deep and rich. I can definitely still smell the smokiness and now the floral notes are coming out.

Liquid taste: The taste is very rich right off the bat. It doesn’t have the bright green oolong flavor, but a darker note. There isn’t much floral flavor which is nice because I don’t like super floral teas. This is a great relaxing afternoon tea and I will definitely be ordering more

My grandma had this tea in her cupboard and no longer wanted it, so being the tea fiend I am, I snatched it away. The smell is sooooo sweet and smells exactly like processed honey. I made this tea with less than it recommended because I was afraid of the strength and sweetness. Even with less tea than the recommended amount this tea is overpoweringly sweet. It is like you are drinking hot honey. This may be good mixed with herbal teas as a honey flavored sweetener but there is no way I can drink this plain.

Dry smell: This has the typically smell of an english breakfast tea, but when I compare the smell to my black tea from enjoying tea, this one smells considerably lighter. The smell is a little bit sweeter than usual and seems like it will make a nice light tea for the morning.

Wet smell: The wet smell is also slightly sweeter smelling than I am used to. It doesn’t have as much of the slightly bitter smell from my enjoyingtea black tea.

Tea color: A nice dark golden color

Tea flavor: This is an excellent, light but flavorful morning tea. It tastes very dainty in the beginning, but as you swallow you get a smooth mellow melting feeling. The swallow and aftertaste is very smooth but has the typical breakfast black taste that I love. Overall this is a very nice tea to start off a relaxing morning.